Peace conference
October 17, 2011
An array of international public figures met in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian on Monday to advocate for peace in the Basque region, where radical separatists have waged a long campaign of violence.
At the conclusion of the meeting, participants, including local Basque politicians, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, called on those separatists to end their armed activities and start post-conflict talks with the authorities.
ETA, the militant group that wants an independent Basque homeland, has waged a four-decade campaign of violence that has killed more than 800 people. Now, expectations are high that the group will disband.
But the conference has been attacked by others, particularly in Madrid, who see it as meddling in a Spanish issue. Esteban Gonzalez Pons, spokesman for the conservative opposition People's Party, said in no uncertain terms that the event was inappropriate.
"Foreigners who go to a peace conference in the Basque Country thinking that they are in Ireland or South Africa frankly don't have a damned idea about what country they are in," he said. "Peace conferences take place in conflicts where there are two sides at war."
ETA's waning power
ETA has been severely weakened over the last decade, with Spanish and French police arresting many of its leaders and seizing its weapons. The group ended a 2006 ceasefire by bombing Madrid airport and killing two people the same year - a move that many believe ended any hopes ETA may have had of negotiating with the government in the future.
In recent months, ETA's political support has publicly pressured the group to renounce violence. It has not killed since announcing a new truce a year ago, and it occasionally makes announcements expressing its desire for a peaceful resolution to the Basque issue.
But while ETA's full demise has repeatedly been forecast, it still exists. The premier of the semi-autonomous Basque region, Patxi Lopez, also expressed doubts about the conference, but said ETA should see it as an opportunity to disband.
"If ETA and those around them need this to bring about their end, then they should take advantage of it fully to bring the curtain down," Lopez said.
Run-up to elections
Most critics of the conference said it gives ETA a degree of credibility and international attention that it does not deserve, thus making real peace more difficult to achieve. With both of Spain's two main parties skeptical of international peace efforts, and with a general election on November 20, the ETA issue is often the focus of heated campaign debate.
No members of the local Basque or national Spanish governments attended, and Cayo Lara, of the United Left coalition, berated the Socialists and People's Party for their stance on this issue.
"If the conference helps to make sure ETA disappears forever and that terrorism in Spain becomes just a black page in our history, then we should welcome it," he said.
There have been rumors that ETA could announce its disbandment in the next few days. But if it does so, the San Sebastian peace conference is unlikely to get much of the credit.
Author: Guy Hedgecoe, Madrid / acb
Editor: Mark Hallam