More news from Spain

This is a follow up to News from Spain. In that post I quoted a Reuters article which in part discussed the Spanish withdrawal from Iraq and said that “Bush warned (that the withdrawal) had emboldened the terrorists.” Keep in mind that Spain’s withdrawal of troops is inextricably part of the March election in which the Partido Popular (PP), a staunch ally of Bush, was voted out and the Socialists, led by Zapatero, were voted in. Long before the March 11 bombings, Zapatero made withdrawal part of his campaign.

The view (by some) of the new Spanish government

Once Zapatero said he would keep his campaign promise to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq, the cries went up that Spain was caving in to terrorists and that the new government would be unable to cope with terrorism ever again. You can find plenty of such editorial rantings, but I want to highlight the views of my favorite whipping boy, Paul Wolfowitz, and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. As reported by American Forces Press Service on March 17, 2004, Wolfowitz felt that “A withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq would encourage global terrorists that their strategy of violence and mayhem is working to undercut U.S.-coalition resolve[.]” Specifically, Wolfowitz said such a withdrawal “would send a terrible message to terrorists if they think that, by killing innocent civilians, particularly on the eve of a democratic election, that they can make us cut and run[.]” Although Wolfowitz was speaking mostly about the effects of a Spanish withdrawal on the "coalition," he nonetheless expressed a not-so-implicit message that such a withdrawal would be a "terrible message" that Spain had given in to terrorists and would encourage terrorists. Hastert was a bit more explicit, as reported in this AP article:

Speaking to Capitol Hill reporters on another subject, Hastert, R-Ill., called Spain "a nation who succumbed ... to threats of terrorism, changed their government."

Asked if he was referring to Spain, he said: "Well I'm saying, they changed their government because of the perception of threat."

"Here's a country who stood against terrorism and had a huge terrorist act within their country and they chose to change their government and to in a sense appease terrorists," Hastert said.

Boy, one would suspect that the new government of a "nation who succumbed to terrorism" would have ongoing terrorism problems. In Spain, the terrorist threat is both foreign and domestic. This post will address the domestic part of the threat.

The domestic threat: ETA

For more than 30 years, a Basque separatist group known as ETA has been committing acts of terrorism in Spain. ETA is an acronym for “Euskadi Ta Askatasuna,” which in the Basque language means “Basque Homeland and Freedom.” Recall that the Aznar government initially blamed ETA for the March 11 bombings in Madrid. If Spain's new government had sent a "terrible message" and "succumbed to "threats of terrorism," it would be reasonable to assume that ETA would be in a position to further its cause through acts of terror because the government under Zapatero would be weak. It appears that just the opposite is the reality.

Spanish government under Zapatero regarding Eta

• Early statements by Zapatero

As noted by this April 10, 2004, article in the London Times, Zapatero said before the election that "What I am working towards is to finish off terrorism and ETA is not going to get a minute’s rest." The same Times article and one from the Guardian addressed public statements by Arnaldo Ortegi, one of the leaders of the Basque political party Batasuna, which is believed to be the political arm of ETA (in the same way that Sinn Fein is the political organization for the Irish Republican Army). The Times article noted that "Following the socialist victory in Spain’s general election on March 14, ETA called for dialogue with the incoming government while pledging to maintain its campaign of violence for independence." (emphasis added). By April 10, however, Ortegi at least was saying something different. As reported by the Guardian, "Asked by the Basque country's Deia newspaper if he thought ETA was willing to abandon violence, Mr Otegi said: 'I am convinced of it.'" Both the Guardian and the Times quoted Ortegi as saying that "Their (ETA's) latest statements, taking a clear position towards the new government of Spain to sit down and talk, point in that direction." As will be explained throughout this post, the sincerity of such statements is dubious, but, if Zapatero’s government was soft on terrorists–as Wolfowitless and Hastert would have you believe–then surely Zapatero would take Ortegi’s words as true. Instead, according to the Guardian, here was Zapatero’s reaction: "The only communique I await from ETA, as do the vast majority of Spaniards, is one in which it abandons violence." Does that sound like someone who is going to succumb to terrorists?

• Agreement between Spain and France

On September 16, 2004, AFP reported an agreement between the Zapatero government and France related to terrorism:

France and Spain are to set up a joint police corps to combat terrorism by Islamic extremists, Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said following a meeting with his French counterpart here.

"Today we are going to take a very important step in the anti-terrorist fight within the European Union in signing the first accord for a joint Spanish-French inquiry corps," Aguilar announced after conferring with French Justice Minister Dominique Perben.

The body will consist of police and magistrates and will seek to crack down on the armed Basque separatist group ETA--an area where Paris and Madrid are already cooperating closely--"but also, and of course right away, on Islamic terrorism, notably (its) financing," Aguilar said.

The announcement came the day after Spanish police arrested 10 people, most of them Pakistanis, suspected of involvement in Islamic extremism in an operation in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

Perben said Spain had agreed to grant French police the same powers as its own when they need to operate over the border as part of a reciprocal agreement.

Please note that 1) this joint effort was instituted to crack down on ETA and Islamic terrorists, and 2) Spain arrested suspected Islamic terrorists in September. Spain’s recent efforts against Islamic terrorists will be examined in a subsequent post.

• October 2 arrests

By early October 2, 2004, the joint effort between Spain and France had produced results. On that day, many ETA members were arrested. The information which follows came from the BBC, CNN, USA Today, the AP, and Reuters. In a series of raids in seven villages in France and one in Spain, 20 members of ETA were arrested, including the leader of ETA and the top female in the organization. Mikel Albisu Iriarte, a/k/a Mikel Antza, has been ETA's political chief since 1993, according to Spanish authorities. A spokeswoman for the Spanish Interior Ministry Spanish described Albisu as "the top, he is number one" in ETA, and Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said the arrest was of "extraordinarily high importance." Maria Soledad Iparraguirre, a/k/a Anboto, is wanted in connection with 14 killings, and she is believed to have run ETA's extortion unit, which financed ETA attacks through the collection of “protection” money from businesses and individuals.

In addition to the arrests, the raids uncovered seven weapons caches. Among the seized weapons were more than 2200 pounds of explosives (including 880 pounds of dynamite), assault rifles, submachine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, detonators, and 40,000 rounds of ammunition. The existence of these weapons caches is one reason why any statements from Batasuna or ETA that ETA is willing to give up violence are dubious at best.

The raids were carried out by 140 Spanish and French police agents, and Spanish Interior Minister Alonso said the operation was hugely important and an example of outstanding collaboration between the two countries. The Spanish Socialist Party said “The blow struck against the terrorist organization today is an important step forward on the road to peace and shows that the end and the defeat of ETA is possible.” Alonso said “This operation is historic,” but quickly added that “Despite this grave blow [to ETA] . . . we continue on maximum alert, and won't let our guard down one single minute.”

Thus, while Zapatero’s government–with the help of France–has made progress in its fight with ETA, it remains vigilant and active, or, to put it in words George W. Bush should understand, Spain is staying the course in fighting domestic terrorism.

• Additional actions in October

On October 6, 2004, the BBC and CNN reported that Spanish authorities had arrested five more suspected ETA members and recovered two Russian-made SAM-7 shoulder-fired missiles.

This was followed by the discovery of two more ETA weapons caches on October 17, 2004, by French police. These caches included 30 mortars, about 30 machine pistols, 40 assault rifles, 90 handguns, 48 anti-tank rocket launchers, 25 kilograms of dynamite and 30 detonators, an anti-tank rocket launcher, and around 93,000 bullets.

Reuters reported that "At the end of October, ETA said in a letter to Basque television that it would be open to negotiations with Spain[.]" This, however, is another statement of suspect sincerity.

• Letter from the "old guard" made public in early November

On November 2, the Guardian reported that a letter written in August by six high-ranking members of ETA recommended an end to violence.

Six senior members of the Basque separatist group ETA, who represent the old guard, have called on the organisation from their prison cells to lay down its arms, it was reported yesterday.

The call from ETA's former leader Francisco Múgica, alias Pakito, and five other veterans is contained in a letter addressed to ETA's leadership that was leaked to the Diario de Noticias newspaper in Pamplona, northern Spain, yesterday. In it, the authors recognise that ETA's campaign is failing to bring the Basque country closer to independence.

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Instead their letter recognised that ETA had been crippled to the point of uselessness by the hundreds of arrests by French and Spanish police in recent years. "It is not a question of fixing the rear-view mirror or a burst tyre. It is the motor that does not work," the authors said.

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They suggested, instead, that ETA try to use the support for separatism shown by Basques, who have traditionally given about 10% of the lo cal vote to political parties that back the group's separatist aims.

"Our capital and political potential is still there, let's exploit all its possibilities: the institutional fight and the fight of the masses," they said.

Now that sounds rather promising. If Zapatero's government was supposed to be weak on terrorists, why would Eta's old guard be writing such a letter?

However, another portion of the November 2 Guardian article provides further reason to question the sincerity of statements from ETA regarding reducing violence. The article contained a reaction from Ortegi:

Arnaldo Otegi, former leader of the now-banned Batasuna separatist party, claimed the letter had been leaked to give a false impression of what ETA prisoners thought.

He invited Spanish journalists to go to the country's jails and ask ETA's prisoners "what they really think".

That's not consistent with what he said in April and certainly does not indicate a willingness to lay down arms.

The November 2 article concluded by noting that "It was revealed yesterday that Spanish police had arrested another five suspected ETA members in and around the northern city of Bilbao." These arrests are at the least more evidence supporting Zapatero's statements about ETA and negating a claim that his government would be soft on terrorists.

• Batasuna's proposal

The next developments occurred about two weeks later. On November 13, 2004, Berria, a newspaper in the Basque region, reported on a proposal to be made the following day by Batasuna.

The proposal to be presented at the Donostia (San Sebastian) Cycle Stadium tomorrow clearly indicates that Batasuna has given priority to the building of a process aimed at resolving the conflict. Batasuna is keen for the document it will be presenting tomorrow to be a contribution towards building a peace process. In tomorrow’s event it will be stressing the need to build a process through dialogue, because it believes that the conditions are in place to support such a move.

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Starting at 17.00 hours tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, Batasuna will be presenting its document entitled Orain herria, orain bakea, konponbiderako ekarpena (The people now, peace now, contribution towards a solution) to the public present at the Donostia Cycle Stadium.

As a result of the analysis made of the course of the past 25 years Batasuna’s priority is this: “The building of a peace process, so that the scenario of the armed, political confrontation in our country can be overcome once and for all.”

The next day, there were several reports of the rally at which the proposal was presented. The ones I reference here came from the BBC, Reuters, and the Independent (British newspaper). At the rally, Batasuna presented a two-part proposal. The first part would be an agreement between all the Basque political parties and unions regarding a referendum on whether to seek independence. The second part would be an agreement between ETA and Spain and France to demilitarize the conflict.

This sounds really promising, for as reported by the Independent,

Batasuna's dramatic plea is the party's most important political gesture since it was banned nearly two years ago...But [Ortegi's] assertion that peace was now the priority, and his promise to stick to democratic methods breaks from the usual belligerent rhetoric and could bring a truce nearer.

Still, there are reasons to be cautious and vigilant. The primary reasons are that Batasuna did not condemn ETA's use of violence and did not call for ETA to lay down its arms. The Zapatero geovernment, speaking through Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, played down Batasuna's proposals, saying, "In a democracy, you can only listen to the voices of those who talk, and not to guns." Another reason was discussed in the November 2 Guardian article, which noted that the "old guard" of ETA (those who wrote the letter discussed abouve and are in jail)

may no longer have any sway over the increasingly young Eta members who are believed to run what is left of the group.

"In ETA, old guys fade away quickly," Teo Uriarte, a former member who now opposes Basque nationalism, told the Associated Press.

Others warned that ETA's new leaders would now feel they had to prove that the group could still kill. "If its weakness is being highlighted, it may try to show its hardest face," said Francisco José Alcaraz of the Terrorism Victims' Association.

This reflects a general level of distrust of ETA. The BBC's Katya Adler wrote an analysis in which she quoted reactions from Spaniards regarding Batasuna's proposal:

With wry smiles, many Spaniards shrugged their shoulders.

They had hoped for a miracle - the announcement of a definitive end to Basque separatist violence by the militants' political mouthpiece, Batasuna.

But few had really believed it would happen.

"A group of us were discussing this, this morning and we decided to lay bets on what Batasuna would say," said Alejandro, a student in Madrid, "but out of eight of us not one person thought they would explicitly condemn violence.

"How can they? Their party has always depended on terrorists."

"All this makes me so sad," said Marian, an interior designer from Bilbao, the regional capital of the Basque country.

"It's another wasted opportunity. Batasuna promised a 'new way out' of the Basque conflict but what they've announced today is meaningless and it's old hat."

So now you know some of the reasons why many Spaniards doubt the sincerity of Batasuna and ETA. Another reason occurred the day before Batasuna's proposal. As reported by Reuters, "Two bombs exploded at a Spanish army post in the Pyrenees on Saturday, causing serious damage but no injuries in what appeared to be an attack by Basque separatist guerrilla group ETA."

Nevertheless, some in the Basque region were optimistic. According to this report from the BBC, Deia, a newspaper close to the Basque Nationalist Party, said the following: "There are no reasons for rushing to celebrate, but it would be a serious mistake if this initiative were to go to waste." According to the same BBC report, the newspaper Gara, which is close to Batasuna, said the proposal was a "firm commitment to the civil resolution of the conflict" and "In spite of the spectacular trappings of the public presentation of Batasuna's new political proposal, it does not appear to be a mere publicity pose or an ad hoc response to obtain media prominence." An article from the International Herald Tribune stated that "commentators in the Basque region saw the party as trying to coax a weakened ETA to the negotiating table."

The Spanish government took a different approach, as evidenced by this November 16 article from the International Herald Tribune:

The Spanish justice minister on Monday rejected a new proposal from Basque militants for dialogue with the intention of ending the region's long conflict, saying the proposal lacked an explicit renunciation of violence.

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In a radio interview Monday, Justice Minister Juan Fernando López Aguilar rejected the idea of negotiations with a group that has not renounced violence.

"We don't want a single word with ETA or anything in its entourage," he said.

Of Batasuna, López Aguilar said: "I don't see how a party that has never condemned violence can act in any sphere of public life."

This is consistent with what Zapatero said upon becoming Prime Minister and shows that the current Spanish government has no intention of succumbing to its domestic terrorists. And what was ETA's reaction? ETA sent a written statement to the Basque public broadcasting company that said "As long as the occupation forces continue in our country, there will be no peace." So much for giving up violence.

• November 16 arrests

Two days after Batasuna made its proposal, the Spanish government further showed that it was not decreasing its attack against ETA. The following information came from the BBC, Reuters, and the AP. In the early morning of November 16, 150 Spanish police office carried out a series of raids which resulted in the arrest of 17 more ETA members who comprised a network providing infrastructure, support, and information on targets.

• Latest ETA bombings

On December 3, the AP reported that

Five small explosive devices detonated Friday at Madrid gas stations after a telephone warning from the armed Basque separatist group ETA, reports said.

Interior Ministry officials said there were no injuries and only minor damage, the news agency Efe said. It said the gas stations were evacuated before the blasts.

Earlier, the Basque newspaper Gara said it had received a call from a person speaking on behalf of ETA who said five explosive devices had been placed at gas stations along major highways leading out of Madrid.

Again, so much for any thoughts of the end of violence by ETA. However, perhaps it is a good sign that ETA issued a warning so that the areas could be evacuated.

And then today (December 6), ETA set off small bombs in seven cities covering acorridor from far north to southern Spain. Reuters and the BBC both reported that ETA called in specific warnings shortly before the explosions which allowed evacuations. As a result, there were no deaths or serious injuries. The Reuters article also said the following:

Analysts interpret the weak potency of the bombs and the warning calls as ETA's message that it is still standing and wants to negotiate, although talks have been rejected by Spain's mainstream parties as a capitulation to terrorists.

ETA-watchers also say the group apparently has decided not to risk even further public backlash by killing more people in the wake of the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, carried out by Islamic militants, when 191 people died.

(emphasis added). The emphasized portion of the previous excerpt reiterates the government's position on negotiating with ETA prior to these bombings, but would that change?

The short answer is "no." The attacks came on a holiday, Constitution Day, which marks the anniversary of the 1978 Constitution which returned Spain to democracy after 40 years under Franco. ETA opposes that constitution because it made the Basque territory a permanent part of Spain. Jose Antonio Alonso, the Interior Minister, said, "Today is Spanish Constitution Day and it has to continue being Spanish Constitution Day, not ETA Day. ... ETA maintains operational capabilities and that's why we are on maximum alert." The BBC article explained that "Zapatero said Eta had only one choice: to 'stop the violence and hand in its weapons.'"

So, Zapatero's government has not changed its stance. It is also worth noting that the leader of the opposition party--you know, the PP, the party favored by Bush--said he stood by the Socialist government's efforts to neutralize ETA.

Conclusion

Despite the recent violence, could ETA really be willing to negotiate? Should Zapatero negotiate with ETA? To me, the answer to both questions is likely "no," but the objective of this post is not to examine the ETA issue in that regard. The objective is to show that the view by many in this country that Spain caved in to terrorists and that Zapatero's government would be weak on terrorism is wrong as it concerns ETA.