ETA waged decades-long fight for Basque nation

Fri., Oct. 21, 2011

ETA was formed in 1959 during the right-wing dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco. Its name is a Basque-language acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, meaning Basque Homeland and Freedom. The group wants to create an independent state made up of Basque areas in northern Spain and southwestern France.

After initially seeking its goals through political means, ETA began to resort to violence, mainly car bombs and point-blank shootings. Its first killing was in 1968. ETA is blamed for 829 deaths. The group’s last deadly attack in Spain was a July 2009 car bomb that killed two policemen on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

Spain began to ban political parties linked to ETA in 2003, but this year a party with links to the group was allowed to field candidates in local elections on renouncing violence.

Associated Press

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ETA waged decades-long fight for Basque nation

Jesse Tinsley

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