Basque for "
Basque Homeland and Freedom."
The
ETA, founded in
1959, is a
Basque separatist group that fights for an
independent Basque state in northern
Spain. They use
urban warfare, mainly
car bombs and other
explosives to
attack prominent
politicians,
judges,
policemen and
soldiers. The
organization finances its campaign through
kidnapping,
bank robbery and a so-called "
revolutionary tax" on Basque businesses -- a payment that is widely regarded as
extortion.
On September 16,
1998, they declared a "
unilateral and
indefinite"
cease-fire, but in November
1999, they started
bombing again.
The
Basque people are the oldest
indigenous ethnic group in
Europe. They have lived uninterrupted in the same region since
the beginning of recorded history. The country has a population of about 3 million. In a recent
election the ETA's representatives received only 200,000 votes: at this point the majority of Basques do not support the campaign of
violence.