Life after ETA

While the general mistrust regarding the recent announcement by ETA is understandable, there is no excuse for refusing to accept the importance of this unique event. The terrorist group, which has been fighting for an independent Basque Country for more than four decades, has announced a definitive end to its campaign of violence, with no pre-conditions and in such a way as to make going back on it very difficult.

The time has not yet arrived for the political process to take place as if ETA no longer existed — let us not forget that it is yet to disband — but it can do so on the assumption that there will be no more killing. There is little sense in downplaying this fact by saying that violence is not the most important thing here, and that it is the same people and that those people continue to defend what they once were prepared to kill for. The end to the violence is the most important thing, even though other problems remain. In the first place, there will be no more victims; in the second place, an end to the violence was always the essential factor in being able to address those problems.

The political parties and their representatives, who have profited from their links to ETA for three decades, have not suddenly become democrats because the organization has renounced terrorism: they continue to flaunt ideas and an approach to politics that are unacceptable and that must continue to be challenged. These deep-rooted attitudes have been shown in recent statements and articles written by those on the left of the Basque independence movement. The belief that they speak on behalf of the Basque people, along with a refusal to accept the rules by trying to force talks outside the ambit of parliament as though their aspirations were somehow undeniable rights, show no signs of dissipating in light of ETA's ceasefire announcement either.

They will have to get used to the idea that theirs are simply different ideas, and not indisputable truths. One such issue is self-rule for the Basque Country. It is now the case that this debate can no longer be sidelined by arguing that it is simply a pretext to justify violence. But neither is it acceptable to argue that its non-recognition in the Constitution is in some way a reflection of a defect within Spanish democracy. Almost no country in the world would be a democracy under that definition.

Spain's democrats will also have to adapt to the new situation. The argument that without terror attacks the Basque radical left is somehow going to disappear does not seem to be the case, at least in the short term. It is possible, as has happened in Northern Ireland, that the opposite happens. This will force democrats, including the nationalists, to put together a strategy in defense of self-rule that involves all parties. And there is no reason why that should necessarily take into account the priorities of the nationalist left in the Basque Country. For example, on the question of bringing forward regional elections so that they can take their place in the Basque parliament as soon as possible; or on lifting the ban on parties linked to ETA. Then there is the issue of ETA activists serving prison terms being brought to jails closer to the Basque Country. These are all issues that rather than being addressed now, as though we all owed something to the Basque nationalist left, will instead have to be discussed calmly, and within the framework of the law following the elections in November.