ABSTRACT
On March 22, 2006, ETA declared, for the first time in its history, a permanent cease-fire. In a videotaped statement, three hooded ETA members announced that this initiative had for its objective “the launching in the Basque Country of a democratic process for building a framework where our rights as a people can be recognized and where all political options can be explored.”1 In the three years prior to this move, the terrorist group had limited its activities to low-level detonations that sometimes caused injuries from flying debris but not death. In addition, ETA had made a habit of contacting the Basque daily newspaper Gara to warn that explosions were forthcoming in specified locations. Its intent clearly was not to kill, but simply to make a statement about its continued armed struggle and operational capacity while recalling the crux of the conflict: ETA does not accept the rule of the Spanish state over the Basque Country. Before the 2006 announcement of a permanent cease-fire, there was much speculation that ETA would, if not disband, at least cease its violent activities. After all, its last killing dated to May 2003; some of its leaders were captured in France; the leader of the outlawed radical nationalist party Batasuna Arnaldo Otegi was talking about choosing the “peaceful route”; and influential jailed members publicly advocated abandoning the armed struggle after having concluded that it ultimately played into the hands of the enemy (the Spanish state). The announcement of the permanent cease-fire has triggered a lot of hope in the Basque Country, but also much caution about what could realistically be expected. The abandonment of the cease-fire in 2007 dashed hopes in the short-term.
