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Basque Country: Crisis in the peace process

01 January 2000

On 21 January the Basque armed organisation ETA assassinated a lieutenant- colonel in the Spanish Army, finally breaching the ceasefire it had formally abandoned two months before, on 28 November. Since the announcement of the end of the ceasefire there had been many efforts to persuade both the government and ETA to resume the peace process. One of the most significant initiatives was a demonstration in Bilbao on 15 January, bringing together 55,000 people. The demonstration had been called not only by parties supporting the regional government but by the parties of the Basque "patriotic left"; the two contingents marched separately. During December 726 people took part in a one-week hunger strike demanding respect for the rights of Basque political prisoners. Prisoners themselves have also been staging hunger strikes, some lasting more than fifty days. It is expected that the run-up to the March general election will see a general hardening of attitudes so that any progress towards a negotiated solution is unlikely.