What is Etas cause?
It wants to establish an independent socialist Basque state straddling northern Spain and the southern end of France’s Atlantic coast. The Basques consider their culture distinct from those of their neighbours and speak a language unlike any other in Europe. The Basque language (called Euskara) is believed to predate the arrival of the Indo-European languages to the continent, of which French, Spanish, German, Icelandic, Welsh, Serbo-Croat and almost all others are the modern descendants. The Basque region, home to large fishing ports, heavy industry and wealthy banks, has historically been one of the richest in Spain. Euskadi Ta Askatasuma (Basque Homeland and Freedom) was established in 1959 under the fascist Franco dictatorship, when the Basques’ language was banned, their culture suppressed and intellectuals imprisoned and tortured for their political and cultural beliefs. Eta’s most spectacular success was the assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco in 1973. He was Franco’s m
