When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? When it is punctuated by bombings. Yet, even after taking responsibility for a blast that killed two people, the Basque separatist group ETA claims that it is adhering to a permanent ceasefire declared in March.
That self-serving logic explains the failure of peace negotiations with the Spanish government better than the charges of obstructionism leveled by Basque militants at the Spanish government. There can be no halfhearted commitments to peaceful change. ETA and its political supporters must unconditionally renounce violence to be credible negotiating partners.
Basque Country is made up of seven provinces in northern Spain and southwest France. Its inhabitants have long chafed under rule from Madrid; they believe that the local language and culture have been suppressed by the central government. ETA is the armed wing of an independence movement that first took shape under dictator Francisco Franco.