ETA

:For other meanings of ETA, see Eta.

Political support

The political party Batasuna, formerly known as Euskal Herritarrok and "Herri Batasuna", defends the goals of ETA. It has generally received about between 10% and 20% of the vote in the Basque areas of Spain.

Related Topics:
Batasuna - Euskal Herritarrok - Herri Batasuna

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Batasuna's political status has been a very controversial issue. It is considered by many, including the Spanish courts, to be the political wing of ETA, although the party itself denies that this is the case. The Spanish Cortes (parliament) began the process of declaring the party illegal in August 2002 by issuing a bill entitled the Ley de Partidos, a move which was strongly disputed by many who felt that it was too draconianor even unlawful --since allegedly any party could be made illegal almost by choice, just for not clearly stating their opposition to crime after a terrorist attack. Judge Baltasar Garzón suspended the activities of Batasuna in a parallel trial, investigating the relationship between Batasuna and ETA, and its headquarters were shut down by police. The Supreme Court of Spain finally declared Batasuna illegal on March 18, 2003. The court considered proven that Batasuna had several links with ETA and that it was, in fact, part of ETA. In line with that decision, Batasuna was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States in May 2003 and by all EU countries in June 2003.

Related Topics:
Cortes - 2002 - Baltasar Garzón - March 18 - 2003 - United States - EU countries

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A new party called Aukera Guztiak (All the Options) was formed for the elections to the Basque Parliament of April 2005. Its supporters claimed no heritage from Batasuna, asserting that their aim was to allow Basque citizens to freely express their political ideas, even those of independence, and their rights not to condemn some kind of violence more than other it they did not see it fit. Nevertheless, most of their militants were former Batasuna supporters or affiliates, and the Spanish Supreme Court unanimously considered the party to be a sequel to Batasuna and declared a ban on it.

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After Aukera Guztiak had been banned, and less than two weeks before the election, another political group born as a schism from Herri Batasuna, the Communist Party of the Basque Lands (EHAK/PCTV, Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista/Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas) made the announcement that they would offer the votes they obtained to the now banned Aukera Guztiak platform. They obtained 9 seats (12,44% of votes) at the Basque Parliament http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2005/03/espana/elecciones_pv/resultados/. As of September 2005, EHAK/PCTV is under investigation to discover whether or not their situation is legal.

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During many years, Spanish politicians not related to Basque nationalism felt obliged to carry an escort with them to avoid ETA attacks. In 2005, though, ETA announced that it would no longer target Spanish politicians. However, the Spanish government has criticised this move, and continues to demand that ETA renounce violence entirely. So far, ETA has refused to disarm, but neither has commited blood crimes from 2003, probably mostly because of the huge number of arrests being made by the Spanish Police than because of a self-imposed ceasefire.

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