Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
latest news
best of news
syndication
commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

The Birth of The ETA in Fascist Spain

by Militante Saturday, May. 25, 2002 at 8:08 PM

The ETA are the legacy of the popular front of communists, socialists, anarchists, and republicans; who fought for freedom and equality against General Franco's Fascism during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939); the international class struggle against imperialism new and old continues...

errorThe Basque: A Culture of Resistance

by Annie Tute Nere Collective

The Birth of The ETA in Fascist Spain

----------------

Franco's oppressive regime ruled Spain and resistance sparked up in every corner, including the formation of a new and unique group, the ETA.

The young Basques were frustrated and ready to call on their rich heritage of resistance, but upon meeting with the famed Basque Nationalist Party, they were shocked and disappointed to find this older generation was simply content with hiding and waiting for Franco to die.

These young Basques, including Jose Luis Alvarez, were not content with this response. Alvarez had just recently spent time in jail for belonging to a student movement and though he admits that he and others lacked political philosophy after jail time and the disappointing meeting the Basque Nationalist Party, they knew something had to be done against Franco's oppression of Euskera(Basque language) and the people.

In 1952 five of these students organized their own
movement. They structured the newfound group, Aberri Ta Askatasuna (Homeland and Liberty), into small cell units in different areas, one in San Sebastian and the other in Bilbao, to with stand the Gaurdia Civil's penetration and oppression. They quickly found however that "ata' in a certain dialect of Euskera "ata' translated to "duck', which led to the new name- Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and official founding date.

ETA immediately began undertaking it's anti-Franco
activities. They published an underground journal, Ekin (to act, to persist), promoting the forbidden Basque language and agitating for an end of Spain's imperialist regime in Basque country. By the end of 1959 the ETA had grown to over 200 members who studied devoutly other liberation movements.

From their examination of liberation movements the
ETA began to use more confrontational tactics, this is not surprising due to the fact that their long history was based on strong resistance. Statues and walls through out the country started to bare the message: GORA EUSKADI!

As the message spread and the walls became covered, the ETA kept pushing forward. The ETA's first claimed act of revolution was the bombing of the elevator in the Gauardia Civil headquarters. Then in 1961 they derailed a train carrying Spanish statesmen celebrating the anniversary of the 1936 coup d'etat. There were no casualties but the ETA had sent a message that could not be ignored like those sprayed across statues, Franco's regime entered Basque Country at their own risk.

Franco's government responded quickly with mass arrests and torture of 100 Basque people. However the prisoners were soon released as Franco was not concerned with stopping the ETA but extracting revenge . This would define the future of the ETA movement under Franco's regime, a cycle.

The ETA also during this time began to develop political ideology, mainly that stemming from Marx, towards a society based on Socialism. With a socialist ideology the ETA began to move further away from the Basque Nationalist Party. The ETA turned its attention on organizing and working with the working class. As the ETA began to key the phrases of class struggle and revolution, Franco became more worried. His worry turned to more oppressive action when two ETA members killed a Guardia Civil. The eye for an eye cycle continued when the Guardia Civil assassinated a known ETA member. The acts of defiance and oppression became more violent and open. The ETA hope that these provocations would first provoke the Basque people, and then would lead to a general uprising.

The resistance and fight with Franco's regime continued. The new slogan waved by the ETA read: Iraultza ala hil! (Revolution or Death!). Other groups (primarily Anarchist and Catalan) began to issue their support to the ETA's fight. When 3 ETA members were condemned to death, demonstrations broke out, not only in Pamplona and Bilbao, but also in Barcelona and Madrid, not mention support poured in from France, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Australia. Due to this pressure Franco canceled the executions and commuted the sentences to life in prison.

The ETA was not defeated by the oppression and imprisonment. ETA commandos carried out one of their most effective and dangerous political assassinations in December of 1973. After staking out Franco's right hand man, Admiral Carrero Blanco, the man who was sure to fill Franco's shoes after his passing, and carry on Francoism in Franco's tradition, the ETA commandos set a trap for him at his routine church service. At 9:30am Carrero Blanco's car pulled up and parked. Then a large crash and explosion, the car was blown several stories in the air care of dynamite packed deep under the pavement of the spot he always parked.

This action led to the popular anti-fascist joke in Spanish. "Una bache mas, un carbon menos" (One more pothole, one less asshole).

By 1975 the ETA were suspected of killing 38 and countless attacks against the state. In response Franco had two Basque political prisoners assassinated by firing squad. Riots broke out and one angry mob set fire to the Spanish embassy in Lisbon. But Franco was not going anywhere.

The ETA remained an active fighting force up until Franco's death. However the mass uprising they had hoped for never came to fruition. Today the ETA has once again been launched into the media spotlight with various car bombings and actions against the Spanish government, which has once again led to great oppression against the Basque and various anarchist and revolutionary groups due to supportive ties to the ETA. Though nationalism is a false divide and usually implemented by the State to keep the masses ignorant, Basque country, much like countless others, still remains absorbed by western capitalist powers (France and Spain). The Basque struggle for freedom is an important one, it is one of the countless battles still being waged against centuries of fascist oppression.

Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy