Recordings reveal ETA inmates' anxiety for end to armed struggle

ETA inmates are reportedly waiting for the imminent announcement by the Basque terrorist organization that it will disband, according to jail-house conversations captured on tape by the authorities.

Some prisoners are so convinced that ETA will soon make the announcement that there is a general feeling of nervousness and restlessness, even anxiety, among them, according to the authorities.

"The decision has been taken, but I do not understand what they are waiting for," one inmate said a few weeks ago.

The conversations of some of the 600 ETA prisoners being held in Spanish jails have been monitored. Based on the discussions, security officials say that ETA is, in part, breaking up.

"If we said it's over, it's over. That has been decided," another prisoner says in one of the recordings.

ETA is reported to be at its weakest moment. It has been two years since the Basque terrorist group launched an attack on Spanish soil, while it has also decided to stop collecting its so-called "revolutionary tax" - extortion payments from Basque businesses.

While ETA prisoners don't have precise information about what the Basque terrorist group is planning on doing, they are basing their premises on their own analysis of ETA's movements, the political steps being taken by the Basque abertzale radical left, and what their leaders have told them.

But above all, they know that without money ETA cannot continue to operate. In April, ETA sent letters to the association of Basque businesses (Confesbask) and its sister organization in Navarre, CEN.

In the letters, ETA stated that the so-called "revolutionary tax" will no longer be charged as part of the "permanent, general and verifiable" ceasefire announced on January 10.

This move, according to ETA investigators, is being seen by the inmates as the final step leading to the disbanding of the organization. ETA is waiting for the right moment to announce its decision to give up the armed struggle, they say.

ETA's last attack on Spanish soil took place on August 9, 2009 when four bombs ripped through several bars and restaurants in Palma de Mallorca. No fatalities were caused by the incident. However, a week earlier ETA bombed the Civil Guard barracks in the municipality of Calvià, in Palmanova, Mallorca, killing two officers. They were the last Spanish victims of ETA.

Police experts say that ETA is under a lot of pressure from its political allies, who want to break up the group and seek a peaceful solution for Basque independence.

Police reports do not mention the Bildu coalition, but do make reference to Sortu, the Basque radical left alliance that was not permitted to field candidates during the May 22 local and regional elections.

ETA has suffered a series of blows in recent years with the arrests of its biggest military leaders, Garikoitz "Txeroki" Aspiazu Rubina and Mikel "Antza" Kabikoitz Carrera Sarobe.