Timeline Basques
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Some 2.5 million Basques inhabited 4 provinces of northern Spain and 3 provinces of southwest France, an area measuring some 100 by 100 miles, about the size of New Hampshire. The people refer to themselves as Euskaldunak, i.e. speakers of Euskera, the Basque language.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.T4)(SSFC, 8/21/05, p.D6)
In 2000 the Euskera language was spoken by about 30% of the Basque people.
(WSJ, 12/4/00, p.A20)
778 Aug 15, At the Battle at Roncesvalles the Basques beat Charlemagne.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
1321 In the Battle of Beotibar the Guipuzcoans defeated the Navarrese in the Basque region of Spain. Part of the lore connected with the battle is the valour shown by the Loyola brothers, ancestors of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.
(GenIV, Winter 04/05)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beotibar)
1873 Many Basques fled Spain during the 2nd Carlist War.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A2)
1933 Nov 5, Spanish Basques voted for autonomy.
(MC, 11/5/01)
1937 Apr 26, German planes from the Condor Legion--sent to Spain by Adolf Hitler to help fascist General Francisco Franco overthrow the communist Popular Front regime-- attacked the Basque town of Guernica in Spain. Bombs fell for three hours and escaping villagers were shot down by machine-gun fire from the air. The attack killed as many as 1,600-1,650 Basque civilians and injured 900. Although the alleged target was a bridge of military significance some distance from the town, dazed survivors described a merciless four-hour bombing and strafing attack by German pilots directed toward the village and its inhabitants. The Guernica atrocity became synonymous with the horror of modern warfare and inspired one of the 20th century's greatest works of art, Guernica, by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.
(440 Int’l., 4/26/97, p.2)(WSJ, 4/28/97, p.A1)(AP, 4/26/98)(HNPD, 4/26/99)
1937 Apr 27, German bombers of the Condor Legion devastated Guernica, Spain. [see Apr 26]
(HN, 4/27/98)
1958 Dec, Julen Madariaga helped found ETA. EKIN (engage), a Basque nationalist group, transformed into Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (E.T.A., Basque Homeland and Freedom). ETA was the only armed group that emerged in the Spanish state during Francoism [see July 31, 1959].
(www.cla.wayne.edu/polisci/kdk/westeurope/sources/birtheta.html)(Econ, 9/11/10, p.62)
1959 Jul 31, In Spain dissident student members of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), inspired by Marxist-Leninist teachings, formally founded ETA, which stands for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, meaning Basque Fatherland and Liberty in the Basque language. Its founders focused on Gen. Francisco Franco's suppression of the Basque language and culture.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA)(AP, 7/30/09)(www.cfr.org/publication/9271/)
1968 The ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom, a Basque separatist group, began fighting for independence. Its political wing was Herri Batasuna.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A10)
1983 Dec, Segundo Marey, a French furniture dealer, was kidnapped from his home in France as a suspected Basque terrorist. In 1998 former Interior Minister Jose Barrionuevo and Rafael Vera, former director of state security, were arrested for the kidnapping and misappropriation of government funds for the crimes along with Julian Sancristobal, former civil governor of Vizcaya province.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.A16)
1983-1987 Spain waged a "dirty war" against Basque rebels. A former interior minister and 11 others went on trial in 1998 for kidnapping linked to the war in which 27 [28] people were killed. The killings were attributed to the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups known as GAL.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)(WSJ, 5/26/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/24/98, p.A12)
1986 Jul 14, In Spain Jose Ignacio De Juana Chaos (b.1955), a former police officer who joined one of ETA's most active commando units, took part in a Madrid car bombing. The car bomb on República Dominicana Square killed 12 Civil Guard policemen. 45 people were wounded.
(AP, 8/2/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1aki_de_Juana_Chaos)
1987 Jun 19, In Spain a bombing killed 21 people and injured 45. In 2003 two top members of the outlawed Basque separatist group ETA were sentenced to 790 years in prison. The Hipercor bombing was a car bomb attack by the Basque separatist organisation ETA at the Hipercor shopping centre on Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona, Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Hipercor_bombing)(AP, 7/26/03)
1988 The intelligence agency, CESID, kidnapped 3 street people to test an experimental tranquilizer they hoped to use on a fugitive Basque separatist leader.
(SFC, 9/18/96, p.A10)
1992 Leaders of the Basque Separatist Group (ETA) were captured. The acronym stands for Basque Homeland and Liberty.
(WSJ, 1/3/96, p.A-6)
1995 Dec.11 A car bomb killed six and injured 15 in southern Madrid. Authorities suspected Basque separatists.
(WSJ, 12/12/95, p.A-1)
1996 Jun 12, Judge Jose Jimenez Alfaro lost most of his right hand when a letter bomb exploded at his courthouse in Madrid. He had sent policemen to jail for Spain’s "dirty war" war on Basque rebels in the 1980s.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)
1996 Jul 20, The Basque separatist group ETA set off 3 bombs at tourist sites. One at the airport of Reus, and 2 at the beach resorts of Cambrils and Salou.
(SFC, 7/21/96, p.A18)
1997 Feb 10, A Supreme Court Justice, Rafael Martinez Emperador, was shot dead in Madrid. In Grenada a car bomb exploded and killed one person and wounded 7. Guerrillas of the ETA, Basque Homeland and Liberty, were blamed.
(USAT, 2/11/97, p.5A)
1997 Feb 17, A Basque court guard, Modesto Rico Pasarin (33), was killed by a car bomb attributed to the ETA. He was the 4th victim in a week.
(SFC, 2/18/96, p.A8)
1997 Jul 12, Kidnapped Basque politician Miguel Angel Blanco was found mortally dead shortly after a deadline set by his militant Basque captors.
(AP, 7/12/98)
1997 Jul 13, In San Sebastian Miguel Angel Blanco (29), a Basque town councilor and low-ranking member of the Popular Party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, died of head wounds from the ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom, a Basque separatist group. Almost 800 people have died since the ETA began fighting in 1968.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)
1997 Jul 14, More than 2 million people took to the streets across Spain to mourn the death of Miguel Angel Blanco and to condemn the Basque separatist guerrillas who killed him.
(SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 27, In San Sebastian, some 30,000 marched in support of the ETA separatist movement.
(SFC, 7/28/97, p.A11)
1997 Oct 4, Princess Christina Federica de Borbon y Grecia (32) married Inaki Urdangarin (29), a Basque professional handball team player.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, p.A17)
1997 Oct 14, A separatist guerrilla group killed a policeman while trying to bomb the new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Jose Maria Aguirre was killed when he helped foil the ETA attack. One of three gunmen, Kepa Arronnategui, was captured.
(SFC,10/16/97, p.A14)(SFC,10/18/97, p.A10)
1997 Oct 18, There was an attempt to assassinate Spain's King Juan Carlos. In 2011 British officers arrested Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui (44), a suspected Basque separatist, in connection with the attempted assassination.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
1997 Oct 19, In Bilbao the new Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened. The 256,000 sq. ft. titanium, limestone and glass structure was designed by American (Canadian-born) architect Frank Gehry and funded entirely by the Basque regional government under the direction of Thomas Krens, director of the Guggenheim.
(WSJ, 7/2/96, p.A12)(USAT, 10/8/97, p.1D)(WSJ, 10/16/97, p.A20)
1997 Dec 1, Spain’s Supreme Court convicted 23 leaders of the Herri Batsuna (Unified Country) Basque separatist coalition. Each was sentenced to 7 years in prison and fined $3,500. In 1999 the Constitutional Court annulled the sentences and 22 leaders were released.
(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A10)(SFC, 7/21/99, p.A12)
1997 Dec 5, In San Sebastian a politician’s bodyguard was shot to death hours before authorities arrested 19 of 23 leaders of the pro-Basque independence party, Herri Batasuna. Protestors also commandeered a bus and burned it.
(SFC,12/6/97, p.A8)
1997 Dec 11, Jose Luis Caso, a former town councilor in Renteria, was killed by two suspected Basque separatists in Irun.
(SFC,12/12/97, p.B6)
1997 Dec 27, In Bilbao thousands marched on behalf of the 23 Basque separatists of the Herri Batasuna separatist group, who were recently sentenced to 7 years each in prison.
(SFEC,12/28/97, p.A18)
1998 Aug 31, Jose Antonio Ardanza, 14-year president of the Basque country, dissolved the regional parliament and set elections for Oct 25. He urged ETA extremists to lay down their arms.
(SFC, 9/1/98, p.A9)
1998 Sep 16, The Basque separatist ETA announced an indefinite cease fire to begin Sep 18. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar responded with a hard-line crackdown that ended cooperation between Basque moderates and Spanish political parties.
(SFC, 9/17/98, p.C4)(SFC, 5/24/99, p.A1)
1998 Nov 3, Prime Minister Jose Aznar authorized preliminary talks with the Basque ETA.
(SFC, 11/4/98, p.A12)
1999 Mar 10, Nine Basque separatists were arrested.
(WSJ, 3/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 20, Some 60,000 people marched in Bilbao to protest recent arrests of members and supporters of the ETA.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, p.A23)
1999 Nov 28, The Basque ETA announced that it would end a 14-month cease-fire due to inaction over their call for independence.
(SFC, 11/29/99, p.A12)
1999 Nov, In Spain Ekin, a civic support organization for the Basque separatist group ETA, was formed with the aim of "impelling independence, nation-building and socialism at street level." On Oct 1, 2011, the Gara newspaper's website said two unidentified spokesmen told it that "Ekin members have ended their endeavors as an organization."
(AP, 10/1/11)
1999 Dec 22, Police found a 2nd van loaded with 1,650 pounds of explosives in Alhama de Aragon. Two days earlier a van, bound for Madrid, was stopped with 1,980 pounds of explosives.
(SFC, 12/24/99, p.A20)
1999 Mark Kurlansky authored "The Basque History of the World."
(SFEC, 10/17/99, Par p.20)
2000 Jan 21, In Madrid Basque separatists ended a 19-month lull in their guerrilla war with a remote bomb that killed Lt. Col. Pedro Antonio Blanco Garcia (48).
(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 29, A Socialist politician was killed and Basque separatists were blamed.
(WSJ, 7/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 7, A bomb exploded in Bilbao and killed 3 suspected Basque separatists, who appeared to be transporting explosives.
(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 8, A car bomb exploded in Madrid, where 11 people were injured and in Zumaia where 1 man was killed. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 9, Francisco Casanova Vicente, army officer, was shot twice in the back as he arrived home in Pamplona. The murder was blamed on the ETA.
(SFC, 8/10/00, p.A11)
2000 Aug 20, A bomb killed 2 Spanish Civil Guard officers in Sallent de Gallego. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.A8)
2000 Aug 29, Manuel Indiano (29), a councilman in Zumarraga, was shot and killed outside his candy store. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/30/00, p.B10)
2000 Sep 13, Masked police raided the EKIN offices, the fund-raising wing of the ETA. 20 people were arrested.
(SFC, 9/14/00, p.C5)
2000 Sep 14, Ramon Rekalde, a former Socialist Party official, was wounded with a shot in the head in San Sebastian. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 9/15/00, p.D2)
2000 Oct 16, Col. Antonio Munoz Carinanos (58), a military doctor, was killed in Seville by 3 suspected Basque gunmen. 2 suspects were arrested.
(WSJ, 10/17/00, p.A1)(SFC, 10/18/00, p.A26)
2000 Oct 22, Maximo Casada Carrera (44), a prison officer, was killed by a car bomb in Vitoria. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 10/23/00, p.A11)
2000 Oct 30, In Madrid a car bomb killed Supreme Court magistrate Jose Francisco Querol (69), his driver and an escort. 35 were wounded and the ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 10/31/00, p.A12)(WSJ, 10/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 21, Ernest Lluch (63), a former government minister, was killed by suspected ETA gunmen in a Barcelona suburb.
(SFC, 11/22/00, p.C6)
2001 Feb 22, Two people were killed when suspected Basque separatists bombed a train station in San Sebastian. Separately French police arrested the alleged ETA military chief.
(WSJ, 2/23/01, p.A1)
2001 May 13, Basque elections were held in Spain. Nationalists won the regional elections.
(WSJ, 5/11/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A9)
2001 May 24, In San Sebastian Santiago Oleaga Elejabarrieta (54), financial director of the El Diario Vasco daily newspaper, was shot and killed. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 5/25/01, p.D6)
2001 Jul 10, In Madrid a policeman was killed by a bomb. Basque rebels were blamed.
(WSJ, 7/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 14, In Spain gunmen shot and killed a police officer, Mikel Uribe (44), in Leaburu and a bomb killed a local politician, Jose Javier Mugica (50), in Leiza. The ETA was blamed.
(SSFC, 7/15/01, p.A18)
2001 Aug 18, A Basque rebel car bomb exploded outside 2 resort hotels in Salou.
(WSJ, 8/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 27, A Basque bomb went off in the parking structure of Madrid’s main airport. There were no injuries due to a phoned in tip.
(WSJ, 8/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 1, In Spain suspected Basque militants exploded a car bomb in Vitoria that caused much damage to the city center.
(WSJ, 10/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 4, The EU made a joint announcement with Spain that the Basque ETA would be put on the list of terrorist organizations whose assets would be frozen by the EU.
(WSJ, 10/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 12, A bombing caused wide damage in Madrid. Basque separatists were suspected.
(WSJ, 10/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 6, In Madrid a rush hour car bomb blast injured 95 people. The ETA was suspected and a man and woman were arrested.
(SFC, 11/7/01, p.A13)
2001 Nov 7, Judge Jose Maria Lidon Corbi was shot to death as he drove out of his garage in Gexto, a suburb of Bilbao. The ETA was held responsible.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A19)
2002 Mar 21, A local Spanish official was shot to death by gunmen in the Basque region. Police suspected the ETA.
(WSJ, 3/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 22, Two new bombs rocked Spain's tourist coasts, making five in two days that the government blamed on Basque separatist group ETA trying to disrupt a European Union summit in Seville.
(Reuters, 6/22/02)
2002 Jul 5, In Spain a judge froze all bank accounts of Batasuna, the radical Basque political party.
(SSFC, 7/7/02, p.A18)
2002 Aug 19, Eduardo Chillida (78), Basque sculptor, died. He created monumental works and promoted peace in the Basque region. His work included "The Comb of the Winds," an iron tangle in San Sebastian.
(SFC, 8/21/02, p.A19)
2002 Sep 24, In Spain a booby-trapped sign bearing the logo of the armed Basque separatist group ETA exploded, killing one police officer and wounding three others.
(AP, 9/24/02)
2002 Dec 22, In Spain tens of thousands of people marched in silence through the coastal city of Bilbao to demand the dissolution of the armed Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 12/22/02)
2003 Feb 20, In Spain police shut down the daily Egunkaria, a Basque-language newspaper, and arrested its editor-in-chief and 10 other executives on suspicion of aiding the armed separatist group ETA.
(AP, 2/20/03)
2003 May 9, Spain's highest court barred nearly 1,500 Basque nationalists from running in municipal elections, calling them camouflaged members of the outlawed party Batasuna.
(AP, 5/9/03)
2003 May 30, In northern Spain a car bomb, allegedly placed by Basque separatists, exploded killing two police officers.
(AP, 5/30/03)
2003 Jul 25, In Spain 2 top members of the outlawed Basque separatist group ETA were sentenced to 790 years in prison for a 1987 bombing that killed 21 people and injured 45.
(AP, 7/26/03)
2003 Oct 12, In northern Spain 2 bombs exploded in a parking lot, destroying 11 freight trucks. No one was injured in the blast blamed on the armed Basque separatist group ETA,
(AP, 10/12/03)
2003 Dec 9, French police arrested Gorka Palacios Alday, the alleged military leader of the banned Basque separatist group ETA, along with three accomplices.
(AP, 12/9/03)
2004 Jan 16, Kepa Junkera, button accordionist, performed his rendition of Basque Trikitixa music at Stanford, Ca.
(SFC, 1/13/04, p.D1)
2004 Feb 18, The armed Basque separatist group ETA unilaterally declared a cease-fire for the northeastern region of Catalonia, but the move was immediately criticized by Spain's prime minister and politicians who refuse to negotiate with the militant group.
(AP, 2/18/04)
2004 Feb 29, Spain averted a bombing by the Basque separatist group ETA after the Civil Guard stopped a small truck and found about 1,100 pounds of bomb-making chemicals.
(AP, 2/29/04)
2004 Mar 11, In Madrid, Spain, a series of bombs hidden in backpacks exploded in quick succession at 3 stations, blowing apart four commuter trains and killing 202 people and wounding over 1,450. Spanish leaders were quick to accuse Basque terrorists but a shadowy group claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida. The toll was later adjusted to 190 dead
(WSJ, 3/12/04, p.A1)(AP, 3/13/04)(SFC, 3/13/04, p.A1)(SFC, 3/19/04, p.A3)(AP, 3/23/04)
2004 Mar 21, Spain's incoming Socialist government rejected an offer for dialogue from the Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 3/21/04)
2004 Oct 3, Two of Spain's most wanted alleged terrorists and at least 16 other suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA were captured in a vast French-Spanish police operation. Mikel “Antza" Albizu Iriarte was arrested with his girlfriend Soledad Genetxea.
(AP, 10/3/04)(Econ, 10/9/04, p.48)
2004 Nov 16, Spanish police arrested 17 suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA in a series of pre-dawn raids in northern Spain.
(AP, 11/16/04)
2004 Dec 6, In Spain bombs injured at least 18 people in 7 cities following warnings from callers claiming to represent the Basque separatist group ETA.
(WSJ, 12/7/04, p.A1)
2005 Jan 16, The armed Basque separatist group ETA threw its weight behind an initiative by its political wing to open dialogue with the Spanish government on solving the Basque problem.
(AP, 1/16/05)
2005 Feb 9, In Spain a car bomb exploded in a business park on the outskirts of Madrid just after the morning rush hour, injuring 43 people. Government officials blamed the Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 2/9/05)
2005 Feb 17, Spanish police arrested two suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA in Valencia, seizing explosives that they planned to use for imminent attacks.
(AP, 2/17/05)
2005 Apr 10, Spanish police seized a cache of explosives in an operation against the armed Basque separatist group ETA one week before a Basque regional election.
(AP, 4/10/05)
2005 Apr 17, In northern Spain the Basque region's ruling nationalists faced a test of their drive to secure more autonomy as elections got under way. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), led by Juan Jose Ibarretxe, lost 4 seats.
(AP, 4/17/05)(Econ, 4/23/05, p.51)
2005 May 25, A powerful car bomb exploded in Madrid after a warning call from the armed Basque separatist group ETA. 18 people were injured.
(AP, 5/25/05)
2008 May 19, Suspected members of a Basque separatist group allegedly exploded a car bomb in a northern Basque town, causing considerable damage but no injuries.
(AP, 5/19/08)
2008 May 20, Xavier Lopez Pena (49), the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA, was detained along with three other suspected ETA members in a sweep on an apartment in the French city of Bordeaux just before midnight.
(AP, 5/21/08)
2008 Nov 17, French police arrested ETA's alleged military chief, the most wanted Basque separatist still at large and a man Spanish officials branded a "bloodthirsty terrorist." Miguel De Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina (35), alias "Txeroki", was captured in Cauterets, a spa and ski resort in the Pyrenees near the border with Spain's autonomous Basque region.
(AFP, 11/17/08)
2008 Dec 3, In Spain's northern Basque region suspected ETA separatists shot and killed a businessman in the first attack linked to the group since the arrest of its military chief last month.
(AP, 12/3/08)
2008 Dec 8, French police arrested the suspected military chief and "No. 1 member" of ETA, a new blow to the banned Basque militant group just weeks after his alleged predecessor was caught.
(AP, 12/9/08)
2009 Feb 9, Spain's interior minister blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA for an explosion in the east of Madrid, which police said caused extensive damage but no casualties.
(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Mar 1, Basque voters chose a new government in Spain's most turbulent region, and for the first time the ruling Basque Nationalist Party saw a strong challenge from the Socialists.
(AP, 3/1/09)
2009 Apr 18, French and Spanish security forces thwarted a new ETA attack with the arrest of Jurdan Martitegi, the military chief of the Basque separatist group, and eight other suspected members.
(AFP, 4/19/09)
2009 Apr 18, Jon Anza Ortunez (47), a member of the armed Basque group ETA, was last seen. ETA blamed Spanish police for a role in his disappearance — a claim Spain denied. ETA said Anza had been transporting a large sum of money between the French cities of Bayonne, which is not far from the border with Spain, and Toulouse for the group when he vanished. In 2010 his body turned up in a morgue in France. French officials told Anza's family that he had fallen ill on a street on April 29 and was taken to a hospital in Toulouse, where he died May 11. At the time, no one was reportedly able to identify him.
(AP, 3/12/10)
2009 Jun 19, In Spain a powerful bomb exploded near the Basque city of Bilbao, killing a policeman in an attack blamed on the separatist group ETA.
(AP, 6/19/09)
2009 Aug 6, Juan Manuel Inciarte Gallardo (55), a suspected member of the armed Basque group ETA, was deported from Mexico and arrested in Spain, where he is wanted for allegedly killing five Spanish police officers and a pregnant wife of one of the officers. Inciarte allegedly took part in the slaying of the five police officers and the pregnant wife of one officer between 1983 and 1985. He was wanted on terrorism charges.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 19, French police with Spanish help detained three suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA in a French Alps ski resort and seized material for making explosives, after a series of bombings claimed by the group on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2010 Jan 28, Spanish police arrested two suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA in northern Spain and discovered a hidden cache containing explosives and bomb-making equipment.
(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Feb 5, Portuguese police seized a large amount of explosives at a home being used by Basque separatist group ETA as a base to prepare attacks in neighboring Spain.
(AP, 2/5/10)
2010 Feb 28, The leader of the armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France, in another setback for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken into custody in the last two years. Eta chief Ibon Gogeascoechea and two other suspected separatists, Jose Ayestaran and Beinat Aginagalde, were arrested in a joint French-Spanish police operation in the village of Cahan, France.
(AP, 2/28/10)(Econ, 3/6/10, p.69)
2010 Mar 16, A French policeman (53) was killed outside Paris by a member of ETA, the Basque separatist group. France's anti-terrorism police interrogated one suspect and tried to track down at least one other assailant who escaped. A police official said the suspected ETA commando unit was allegedly trying to steal cars when it was surprised by police.
(AP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 21, In Spain the Basque armed separatist movement ETA said it is ready to move forward on the path of political change, but it stopped short of renouncing violence as demanded by the Spanish government.
(AFP, 3/21/10)
2010 May 20, French police arrested the leader of Basque separatist group ETA and his second in command, calling it an important blow but not a death knell for the violent organization.
(AP, 5/20/10)
2010 May 21, Spain convicted 3 members of Basque separatist group ETA of detonating a car bomb at Madrid airport in 2006 that killed two Ecuadorians.
(Reuters, 5/21/10)
2010 Jun 24, The Police Service of Northern Ireland arrested Fermin Vila Michelena (40), a Basque separatist, in central Belfast. Michelena faced three Spanish arrest warrants over a string of ETA attacks. A ministry statement accused Michelena of membership in an ETA terror cell that committed four car-bomb attacks in Spain in 2001.
(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Sep 5, The Basque separatist militant group ETA declared a cease-fire in a video statement, suggesting it might turn to a political process in its quest for an independent homeland.
(AP, 9/5/10)
2010 Sep 6, The Spanish government rejected a new ceasefire announcement by the separatist group ETA and ruled out negotiations on an independent Basque homeland, saying the militants have been decimated by arrests and are desperate to regroup and rearm.
(AP, 9/6/10)
2010 Sep 19, Spain’s armed Basque separatist group ETA says it is willing to accept international mediation to help solve its long-running conflict with Spain's government. The statement came a day after the Spanish newspaper El Pais released a video on its website believed to have been filmed by ETA earlier this year as a training aid which shows a hooded gunman practicing assassination techniques by shooting into a car.
(AP, 9/19/10)
2010 Sep 26, In Spain the Basque separatist group ETA said it is willing to declare a permanent cease-fire, verified by international observers, in a bid to settle the troubled region's long-running conflict with the Spanish government.
(AP, 9/26/10)
2010 Dec 30, A Spanish court convicted four Civil Guard police officers of torturing members of the armed Basque group ETA who were arrested for bombing Madrid's airport in 2006. the officers were found guilty of beating and threatening Mattin Sarasola and Igor Portu after they were taken into custody in 2008.
(AP, 12/30/10)
2011 Jan 8, In Spain tens of thousands of people marched in the Basque region to protest the government policy of shipping separatist prisoners convicted of terror to jails far from their homes.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 10, The militant Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent cease-fire in what it called a firm step toward ending its bloody decades-long independence fight, but Spain's government quickly dismissed the announcement and demanded ETA disband outright.
(AP, 1/10/11)
2011 Jan 11, Police in Spain and France arrested two suspected members of ETA, suggesting the government in Madrid will keep up pressure on the violent Basque separatist group despite the latter's declaration of a permanent cease-fire.
(AP, 1/11/11)
2011 Feb 5, In Spain several hundred Basque separatists held small street rallies, hung posters and painted political graffiti on walls throughout the troubled northern region to support a new political party to be launched next week.
(AP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 7, In Spain Basque separatists launched Sortu (“Create") a new political party they say rejects violence by the armed group ETA, in an unprecedented step designed to move the troubled region toward peace.
(AP, 2/7/11)(Econ, 2/26/11, p.56)
2011 Mar 1, Spanish police arrested four suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA they believe may have been behind several attacks in recent years.
(AP, 3/1/11)
2011 Mar 10, In France the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA's armed cells and three other alleged members of the organization were arrested in Willencourt in northern Pas-de-Calais region. They included Alejandro Zobaran Arriola (29), who an Interior Ministry statement described as the head of ETA's "military apparatus." Another was the alleged logistics chief, Mikel Oroz Torrea (31).
(AP, 3/11/11)
2011 Apr 2, In Spain tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the troubled Basque region, calling for the government to legalize a new pro-independence party that says it rejects violence by armed separatist group ETA.
(AP, 4/2/11)
2011 Apr 10, Police in central France arrested a man and a woman allegedly linked to the Basque separatist group ETA following a pair of weekend shooting incidents against officers that injured at least one.
(AP, 4/10/11)
2011 Jul 6, French police arrested ETA suspect Daniel Derguy on terrorism charges in Cahors.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Jul 7, British officers arrested Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui (44), a suspected Basque separatist, in connection with a 1997 attempted assassination of Spain's King Juan Carlos. The arrest came a day after the arrest of ETA suspect Daniel Derguy on terrorism charges in Cahors, France.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Oct 1, In Spain the Gara newspaper's website said two unidentified spokesmen told it that "Ekin members have ended their endeavors as an organization." Ekin, a civic support organization for the Basque separatist group ETA, was formed in 1999 with the aim of "impelling independence, nation-building and socialism at street level."
(AP, 10/1/11)
2012 Jan 14, In Spain Jose Luis Alvarez Enparantza (b.1927), one of the founders of Basque separatist group ETA, died. His work "Leturiaren Egunkari Ezkutua" is regarded as the first modern novel written in Basque.
(AP, 1/14/12)
2012 Jan 15, Spain’s Interior Ministry said French police acting alongside Spanish counterparts have arrested three men at a railway station in France on suspicion of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA. They were identified as Jon Echeverria Oyarbide (33), Ruben Rivero Campo, and Inigo Sancho Marco.
(AP, 1/15/12)
2013 Jan 3, The Basque nationalist group known as Batasuna, legal in France but banned in Spain, announced that it is dissolving after 11 years.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013 Mar 30, Xabier Lopez Pena (alias Thierry), a former leader of armed Basque separatist group ETA, died from a stroke in a French hospital.
(AP, 3/30/13)
2013 Oct 21, Europe's top human rights court ordered Spain to release a Basque separatist militant, saying her extended detention was illegal, a ruling victims groups warned would let dozens of prisoners walk free. Ines del Rio was jailed in 1989 for her role in 23 assassinations and car bombings carried out by the Basque independence movement ETA.
(Reuters, 10/21/13)
2013 Oct 22, Spanish judges ordered ETA prisoner Ines del Rio freed after Europe's rights court ruled against her prolonged detention, opening the way to the release of dozens of other violent Basque separatists.
(AP, 10/22/13)
2013 Oct 27, In Spain several thousand people gathered in downtown Madrid to protest the release from jail of Basque separatists, convicted of attacks but freed under a European Court of Human Rights ruling.
(AP, 10/27/13)
2013 Nov 8, A Spanish court ordered nine imprisoned members of the Basque militant group ETA freed to comply with a controversial European rights ruling made last month.
(AFP, 11/8/13)
2014 Jan 11, In Spain tens of thousands of protesters marched in Bilbao in support of jailed members of the Basque separatist group ETA. A high court judge had vetoed the march, which was initially organized by prisoners' supporters to call for inmates to be moved to jails closer to their homes.
(Reuters, 1/11/14)
2014 Feb 21, In Spain international mediators said the armed Basque separatist group ETA has placed a small quantity of guns and explosives out of use in what is seen as a first step toward an unconditional total disarmament.
(AP, 2/21/14)
2014 Jun 8, In Spain tens of thousands of Basques held hands to form a 123-km chain stretching across the northern Spanish region calling for the right to hold a vote on independence.
(Reuters, 6/8/14)
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Subject - Basques
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Return to home
Some 2.5 million Basques inhabited 4 provinces of northern Spain and 3 provinces of southwest France, an area measuring some 100 by 100 miles, about the size of New Hampshire. The people refer to themselves as Euskaldunak, i.e. speakers of Euskera, the Basque language.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.T4)(SSFC, 8/21/05, p.D6)
In 2000 the Euskera language was spoken by about 30% of the Basque people.
(WSJ, 12/4/00, p.A20)
778 Aug 15, At the Battle at Roncesvalles the Basques beat Charlemagne.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
1321 In the Battle of Beotibar the Guipuzcoans defeated the Navarrese in the Basque region of Spain. Part of the lore connected with the battle is the valour shown by the Loyola brothers, ancestors of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.
(GenIV, Winter 04/05)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beotibar)
1873 Many Basques fled Spain during the 2nd Carlist War.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A2)
1933 Nov 5, Spanish Basques voted for autonomy.
(MC, 11/5/01)
1937 Apr 26, German planes from the Condor Legion--sent to Spain by Adolf Hitler to help fascist General Francisco Franco overthrow the communist Popular Front regime-- attacked the Basque town of Guernica in Spain. Bombs fell for three hours and escaping villagers were shot down by machine-gun fire from the air. The attack killed as many as 1,600-1,650 Basque civilians and injured 900. Although the alleged target was a bridge of military significance some distance from the town, dazed survivors described a merciless four-hour bombing and strafing attack by German pilots directed toward the village and its inhabitants. The Guernica atrocity became synonymous with the horror of modern warfare and inspired one of the 20th century's greatest works of art, Guernica, by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.
(440 Int’l., 4/26/97, p.2)(WSJ, 4/28/97, p.A1)(AP, 4/26/98)(HNPD, 4/26/99)
1937 Apr 27, German bombers of the Condor Legion devastated Guernica, Spain. [see Apr 26]
(HN, 4/27/98)
1958 Dec, Julen Madariaga helped found ETA. EKIN (engage), a Basque nationalist group, transformed into Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (E.T.A., Basque Homeland and Freedom). ETA was the only armed group that emerged in the Spanish state during Francoism [see July 31, 1959].
(www.cla.wayne.edu/polisci/kdk/westeurope/sources/birtheta.html)(Econ, 9/11/10, p.62)
1959 Jul 31, In Spain dissident student members of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), inspired by Marxist-Leninist teachings, formally founded ETA, which stands for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, meaning Basque Fatherland and Liberty in the Basque language. Its founders focused on Gen. Francisco Franco's suppression of the Basque language and culture.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA)(AP, 7/30/09)(www.cfr.org/publication/9271/)
1968 The ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom, a Basque separatist group, began fighting for independence. Its political wing was Herri Batasuna.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A10)
1983 Dec, Segundo Marey, a French furniture dealer, was kidnapped from his home in France as a suspected Basque terrorist. In 1998 former Interior Minister Jose Barrionuevo and Rafael Vera, former director of state security, were arrested for the kidnapping and misappropriation of government funds for the crimes along with Julian Sancristobal, former civil governor of Vizcaya province.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.A16)
1983-1987 Spain waged a "dirty war" against Basque rebels. A former interior minister and 11 others went on trial in 1998 for kidnapping linked to the war in which 27 [28] people were killed. The killings were attributed to the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups known as GAL.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)(WSJ, 5/26/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/24/98, p.A12)
1986 Jul 14, In Spain Jose Ignacio De Juana Chaos (b.1955), a former police officer who joined one of ETA's most active commando units, took part in a Madrid car bombing. The car bomb on República Dominicana Square killed 12 Civil Guard policemen. 45 people were wounded.
(AP, 8/2/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1aki_de_Juana_Chaos)
1987 Jun 19, In Spain a bombing killed 21 people and injured 45. In 2003 two top members of the outlawed Basque separatist group ETA were sentenced to 790 years in prison. The Hipercor bombing was a car bomb attack by the Basque separatist organisation ETA at the Hipercor shopping centre on Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona, Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Hipercor_bombing)(AP, 7/26/03)
1988 The intelligence agency, CESID, kidnapped 3 street people to test an experimental tranquilizer they hoped to use on a fugitive Basque separatist leader.
(SFC, 9/18/96, p.A10)
1992 Leaders of the Basque Separatist Group (ETA) were captured. The acronym stands for Basque Homeland and Liberty.
(WSJ, 1/3/96, p.A-6)
1995 Dec.11 A car bomb killed six and injured 15 in southern Madrid. Authorities suspected Basque separatists.
(WSJ, 12/12/95, p.A-1)
1996 Jun 12, Judge Jose Jimenez Alfaro lost most of his right hand when a letter bomb exploded at his courthouse in Madrid. He had sent policemen to jail for Spain’s "dirty war" war on Basque rebels in the 1980s.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)
1996 Jul 20, The Basque separatist group ETA set off 3 bombs at tourist sites. One at the airport of Reus, and 2 at the beach resorts of Cambrils and Salou.
(SFC, 7/21/96, p.A18)
1997 Feb 10, A Supreme Court Justice, Rafael Martinez Emperador, was shot dead in Madrid. In Grenada a car bomb exploded and killed one person and wounded 7. Guerrillas of the ETA, Basque Homeland and Liberty, were blamed.
(USAT, 2/11/97, p.5A)
1997 Feb 17, A Basque court guard, Modesto Rico Pasarin (33), was killed by a car bomb attributed to the ETA. He was the 4th victim in a week.
(SFC, 2/18/96, p.A8)
1997 Jul 12, Kidnapped Basque politician Miguel Angel Blanco was found mortally dead shortly after a deadline set by his militant Basque captors.
(AP, 7/12/98)
1997 Jul 13, In San Sebastian Miguel Angel Blanco (29), a Basque town councilor and low-ranking member of the Popular Party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, died of head wounds from the ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom, a Basque separatist group. Almost 800 people have died since the ETA began fighting in 1968.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)
1997 Jul 14, More than 2 million people took to the streets across Spain to mourn the death of Miguel Angel Blanco and to condemn the Basque separatist guerrillas who killed him.
(SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 27, In San Sebastian, some 30,000 marched in support of the ETA separatist movement.
(SFC, 7/28/97, p.A11)
1997 Oct 4, Princess Christina Federica de Borbon y Grecia (32) married Inaki Urdangarin (29), a Basque professional handball team player.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, p.A17)
1997 Oct 14, A separatist guerrilla group killed a policeman while trying to bomb the new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Jose Maria Aguirre was killed when he helped foil the ETA attack. One of three gunmen, Kepa Arronnategui, was captured.
(SFC,10/16/97, p.A14)(SFC,10/18/97, p.A10)
1997 Oct 18, There was an attempt to assassinate Spain's King Juan Carlos. In 2011 British officers arrested Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui (44), a suspected Basque separatist, in connection with the attempted assassination.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
1997 Oct 19, In Bilbao the new Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened. The 256,000 sq. ft. titanium, limestone and glass structure was designed by American (Canadian-born) architect Frank Gehry and funded entirely by the Basque regional government under the direction of Thomas Krens, director of the Guggenheim.
(WSJ, 7/2/96, p.A12)(USAT, 10/8/97, p.1D)(WSJ, 10/16/97, p.A20)
1997 Dec 1, Spain’s Supreme Court convicted 23 leaders of the Herri Batsuna (Unified Country) Basque separatist coalition. Each was sentenced to 7 years in prison and fined $3,500. In 1999 the Constitutional Court annulled the sentences and 22 leaders were released.
(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A10)(SFC, 7/21/99, p.A12)
1997 Dec 5, In San Sebastian a politician’s bodyguard was shot to death hours before authorities arrested 19 of 23 leaders of the pro-Basque independence party, Herri Batasuna. Protestors also commandeered a bus and burned it.
(SFC,12/6/97, p.A8)
1997 Dec 11, Jose Luis Caso, a former town councilor in Renteria, was killed by two suspected Basque separatists in Irun.
(SFC,12/12/97, p.B6)
1997 Dec 27, In Bilbao thousands marched on behalf of the 23 Basque separatists of the Herri Batasuna separatist group, who were recently sentenced to 7 years each in prison.
(SFEC,12/28/97, p.A18)
1998 Aug 31, Jose Antonio Ardanza, 14-year president of the Basque country, dissolved the regional parliament and set elections for Oct 25. He urged ETA extremists to lay down their arms.
(SFC, 9/1/98, p.A9)
1998 Sep 16, The Basque separatist ETA announced an indefinite cease fire to begin Sep 18. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar responded with a hard-line crackdown that ended cooperation between Basque moderates and Spanish political parties.
(SFC, 9/17/98, p.C4)(SFC, 5/24/99, p.A1)
1998 Nov 3, Prime Minister Jose Aznar authorized preliminary talks with the Basque ETA.
(SFC, 11/4/98, p.A12)
1999 Mar 10, Nine Basque separatists were arrested.
(WSJ, 3/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 20, Some 60,000 people marched in Bilbao to protest recent arrests of members and supporters of the ETA.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, p.A23)
1999 Nov 28, The Basque ETA announced that it would end a 14-month cease-fire due to inaction over their call for independence.
(SFC, 11/29/99, p.A12)
1999 Nov, In Spain Ekin, a civic support organization for the Basque separatist group ETA, was formed with the aim of "impelling independence, nation-building and socialism at street level." On Oct 1, 2011, the Gara newspaper's website said two unidentified spokesmen told it that "Ekin members have ended their endeavors as an organization."
(AP, 10/1/11)
1999 Dec 22, Police found a 2nd van loaded with 1,650 pounds of explosives in Alhama de Aragon. Two days earlier a van, bound for Madrid, was stopped with 1,980 pounds of explosives.
(SFC, 12/24/99, p.A20)
1999 Mark Kurlansky authored "The Basque History of the World."
(SFEC, 10/17/99, Par p.20)
2000 Jan 21, In Madrid Basque separatists ended a 19-month lull in their guerrilla war with a remote bomb that killed Lt. Col. Pedro Antonio Blanco Garcia (48).
(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 29, A Socialist politician was killed and Basque separatists were blamed.
(WSJ, 7/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 7, A bomb exploded in Bilbao and killed 3 suspected Basque separatists, who appeared to be transporting explosives.
(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 8, A car bomb exploded in Madrid, where 11 people were injured and in Zumaia where 1 man was killed. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 9, Francisco Casanova Vicente, army officer, was shot twice in the back as he arrived home in Pamplona. The murder was blamed on the ETA.
(SFC, 8/10/00, p.A11)
2000 Aug 20, A bomb killed 2 Spanish Civil Guard officers in Sallent de Gallego. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.A8)
2000 Aug 29, Manuel Indiano (29), a councilman in Zumarraga, was shot and killed outside his candy store. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/30/00, p.B10)
2000 Sep 13, Masked police raided the EKIN offices, the fund-raising wing of the ETA. 20 people were arrested.
(SFC, 9/14/00, p.C5)
2000 Sep 14, Ramon Rekalde, a former Socialist Party official, was wounded with a shot in the head in San Sebastian. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 9/15/00, p.D2)
2000 Oct 16, Col. Antonio Munoz Carinanos (58), a military doctor, was killed in Seville by 3 suspected Basque gunmen. 2 suspects were arrested.
(WSJ, 10/17/00, p.A1)(SFC, 10/18/00, p.A26)
2000 Oct 22, Maximo Casada Carrera (44), a prison officer, was killed by a car bomb in Vitoria. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 10/23/00, p.A11)
2000 Oct 30, In Madrid a car bomb killed Supreme Court magistrate Jose Francisco Querol (69), his driver and an escort. 35 were wounded and the ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 10/31/00, p.A12)(WSJ, 10/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 21, Ernest Lluch (63), a former government minister, was killed by suspected ETA gunmen in a Barcelona suburb.
(SFC, 11/22/00, p.C6)
2001 Feb 22, Two people were killed when suspected Basque separatists bombed a train station in San Sebastian. Separately French police arrested the alleged ETA military chief.
(WSJ, 2/23/01, p.A1)
2001 May 13, Basque elections were held in Spain. Nationalists won the regional elections.
(WSJ, 5/11/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A9)
2001 May 24, In San Sebastian Santiago Oleaga Elejabarrieta (54), financial director of the El Diario Vasco daily newspaper, was shot and killed. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 5/25/01, p.D6)
2001 Jul 10, In Madrid a policeman was killed by a bomb. Basque rebels were blamed.
(WSJ, 7/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 14, In Spain gunmen shot and killed a police officer, Mikel Uribe (44), in Leaburu and a bomb killed a local politician, Jose Javier Mugica (50), in Leiza. The ETA was blamed.
(SSFC, 7/15/01, p.A18)
2001 Aug 18, A Basque rebel car bomb exploded outside 2 resort hotels in Salou.
(WSJ, 8/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 27, A Basque bomb went off in the parking structure of Madrid’s main airport. There were no injuries due to a phoned in tip.
(WSJ, 8/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 1, In Spain suspected Basque militants exploded a car bomb in Vitoria that caused much damage to the city center.
(WSJ, 10/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 4, The EU made a joint announcement with Spain that the Basque ETA would be put on the list of terrorist organizations whose assets would be frozen by the EU.
(WSJ, 10/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 12, A bombing caused wide damage in Madrid. Basque separatists were suspected.
(WSJ, 10/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 6, In Madrid a rush hour car bomb blast injured 95 people. The ETA was suspected and a man and woman were arrested.
(SFC, 11/7/01, p.A13)
2001 Nov 7, Judge Jose Maria Lidon Corbi was shot to death as he drove out of his garage in Gexto, a suburb of Bilbao. The ETA was held responsible.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A19)
2002 Mar 21, A local Spanish official was shot to death by gunmen in the Basque region. Police suspected the ETA.
(WSJ, 3/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 22, Two new bombs rocked Spain's tourist coasts, making five in two days that the government blamed on Basque separatist group ETA trying to disrupt a European Union summit in Seville.
(Reuters, 6/22/02)
2002 Jul 5, In Spain a judge froze all bank accounts of Batasuna, the radical Basque political party.
(SSFC, 7/7/02, p.A18)
2002 Aug 19, Eduardo Chillida (78), Basque sculptor, died. He created monumental works and promoted peace in the Basque region. His work included "The Comb of the Winds," an iron tangle in San Sebastian.
(SFC, 8/21/02, p.A19)
2002 Sep 24, In Spain a booby-trapped sign bearing the logo of the armed Basque separatist group ETA exploded, killing one police officer and wounding three others.
(AP, 9/24/02)
2002 Dec 22, In Spain tens of thousands of people marched in silence through the coastal city of Bilbao to demand the dissolution of the armed Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 12/22/02)
2003 Feb 20, In Spain police shut down the daily Egunkaria, a Basque-language newspaper, and arrested its editor-in-chief and 10 other executives on suspicion of aiding the armed separatist group ETA.
(AP, 2/20/03)
2003 May 9, Spain's highest court barred nearly 1,500 Basque nationalists from running in municipal elections, calling them camouflaged members of the outlawed party Batasuna.
(AP, 5/9/03)
2003 May 30, In northern Spain a car bomb, allegedly placed by Basque separatists, exploded killing two police officers.
(AP, 5/30/03)
2003 Jul 25, In Spain 2 top members of the outlawed Basque separatist group ETA were sentenced to 790 years in prison for a 1987 bombing that killed 21 people and injured 45.
(AP, 7/26/03)
2003 Oct 12, In northern Spain 2 bombs exploded in a parking lot, destroying 11 freight trucks. No one was injured in the blast blamed on the armed Basque separatist group ETA,
(AP, 10/12/03)
2003 Dec 9, French police arrested Gorka Palacios Alday, the alleged military leader of the banned Basque separatist group ETA, along with three accomplices.
(AP, 12/9/03)
2004 Jan 16, Kepa Junkera, button accordionist, performed his rendition of Basque Trikitixa music at Stanford, Ca.
(SFC, 1/13/04, p.D1)
2004 Feb 18, The armed Basque separatist group ETA unilaterally declared a cease-fire for the northeastern region of Catalonia, but the move was immediately criticized by Spain's prime minister and politicians who refuse to negotiate with the militant group.
(AP, 2/18/04)
2004 Feb 29, Spain averted a bombing by the Basque separatist group ETA after the Civil Guard stopped a small truck and found about 1,100 pounds of bomb-making chemicals.
(AP, 2/29/04)
2004 Mar 11, In Madrid, Spain, a series of bombs hidden in backpacks exploded in quick succession at 3 stations, blowing apart four commuter trains and killing 202 people and wounding over 1,450. Spanish leaders were quick to accuse Basque terrorists but a shadowy group claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida. The toll was later adjusted to 190 dead
(WSJ, 3/12/04, p.A1)(AP, 3/13/04)(SFC, 3/13/04, p.A1)(SFC, 3/19/04, p.A3)(AP, 3/23/04)
2004 Mar 21, Spain's incoming Socialist government rejected an offer for dialogue from the Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 3/21/04)
2004 Oct 3, Two of Spain's most wanted alleged terrorists and at least 16 other suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA were captured in a vast French-Spanish police operation. Mikel “Antza" Albizu Iriarte was arrested with his girlfriend Soledad Genetxea.
(AP, 10/3/04)(Econ, 10/9/04, p.48)
2004 Nov 16, Spanish police arrested 17 suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA in a series of pre-dawn raids in northern Spain.
(AP, 11/16/04)
2004 Dec 6, In Spain bombs injured at least 18 people in 7 cities following warnings from callers claiming to represent the Basque separatist group ETA.
(WSJ, 12/7/04, p.A1)
2005 Jan 16, The armed Basque separatist group ETA threw its weight behind an initiative by its political wing to open dialogue with the Spanish government on solving the Basque problem.
(AP, 1/16/05)
2005 Feb 9, In Spain a car bomb exploded in a business park on the outskirts of Madrid just after the morning rush hour, injuring 43 people. Government officials blamed the Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 2/9/05)
2005 Feb 17, Spanish police arrested two suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA in Valencia, seizing explosives that they planned to use for imminent attacks.
(AP, 2/17/05)
2005 Apr 10, Spanish police seized a cache of explosives in an operation against the armed Basque separatist group ETA one week before a Basque regional election.
(AP, 4/10/05)
2005 Apr 17, In northern Spain the Basque region's ruling nationalists faced a test of their drive to secure more autonomy as elections got under way. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), led by Juan Jose Ibarretxe, lost 4 seats.
(AP, 4/17/05)(Econ, 4/23/05, p.51)
2005 May 25, A powerful car bomb exploded in Madrid after a warning call from the armed Basque separatist group ETA. 18 people were injured.
(AP, 5/25/05)
2008 May 19, Suspected members of a Basque separatist group allegedly exploded a car bomb in a northern Basque town, causing considerable damage but no injuries.
(AP, 5/19/08)
2008 May 20, Xavier Lopez Pena (49), the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA, was detained along with three other suspected ETA members in a sweep on an apartment in the French city of Bordeaux just before midnight.
(AP, 5/21/08)
2008 Nov 17, French police arrested ETA's alleged military chief, the most wanted Basque separatist still at large and a man Spanish officials branded a "bloodthirsty terrorist." Miguel De Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina (35), alias "Txeroki", was captured in Cauterets, a spa and ski resort in the Pyrenees near the border with Spain's autonomous Basque region.
(AFP, 11/17/08)
2008 Dec 3, In Spain's northern Basque region suspected ETA separatists shot and killed a businessman in the first attack linked to the group since the arrest of its military chief last month.
(AP, 12/3/08)
2008 Dec 8, French police arrested the suspected military chief and "No. 1 member" of ETA, a new blow to the banned Basque militant group just weeks after his alleged predecessor was caught.
(AP, 12/9/08)
2009 Feb 9, Spain's interior minister blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA for an explosion in the east of Madrid, which police said caused extensive damage but no casualties.
(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Mar 1, Basque voters chose a new government in Spain's most turbulent region, and for the first time the ruling Basque Nationalist Party saw a strong challenge from the Socialists.
(AP, 3/1/09)
2009 Apr 18, French and Spanish security forces thwarted a new ETA attack with the arrest of Jurdan Martitegi, the military chief of the Basque separatist group, and eight other suspected members.
(AFP, 4/19/09)
2009 Apr 18, Jon Anza Ortunez (47), a member of the armed Basque group ETA, was last seen. ETA blamed Spanish police for a role in his disappearance — a claim Spain denied. ETA said Anza had been transporting a large sum of money between the French cities of Bayonne, which is not far from the border with Spain, and Toulouse for the group when he vanished. In 2010 his body turned up in a morgue in France. French officials told Anza's family that he had fallen ill on a street on April 29 and was taken to a hospital in Toulouse, where he died May 11. At the time, no one was reportedly able to identify him.
(AP, 3/12/10)
2009 Jun 19, In Spain a powerful bomb exploded near the Basque city of Bilbao, killing a policeman in an attack blamed on the separatist group ETA.
(AP, 6/19/09)
2009 Aug 6, Juan Manuel Inciarte Gallardo (55), a suspected member of the armed Basque group ETA, was deported from Mexico and arrested in Spain, where he is wanted for allegedly killing five Spanish police officers and a pregnant wife of one of the officers. Inciarte allegedly took part in the slaying of the five police officers and the pregnant wife of one officer between 1983 and 1985. He was wanted on terrorism charges.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 19, French police with Spanish help detained three suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA in a French Alps ski resort and seized material for making explosives, after a series of bombings claimed by the group on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2010 Jan 28, Spanish police arrested two suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA in northern Spain and discovered a hidden cache containing explosives and bomb-making equipment.
(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Feb 5, Portuguese police seized a large amount of explosives at a home being used by Basque separatist group ETA as a base to prepare attacks in neighboring Spain.
(AP, 2/5/10)
2010 Feb 28, The leader of the armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France, in another setback for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken into custody in the last two years. Eta chief Ibon Gogeascoechea and two other suspected separatists, Jose Ayestaran and Beinat Aginagalde, were arrested in a joint French-Spanish police operation in the village of Cahan, France.
(AP, 2/28/10)(Econ, 3/6/10, p.69)
2010 Mar 16, A French policeman (53) was killed outside Paris by a member of ETA, the Basque separatist group. France's anti-terrorism police interrogated one suspect and tried to track down at least one other assailant who escaped. A police official said the suspected ETA commando unit was allegedly trying to steal cars when it was surprised by police.
(AP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 21, In Spain the Basque armed separatist movement ETA said it is ready to move forward on the path of political change, but it stopped short of renouncing violence as demanded by the Spanish government.
(AFP, 3/21/10)
2010 May 20, French police arrested the leader of Basque separatist group ETA and his second in command, calling it an important blow but not a death knell for the violent organization.
(AP, 5/20/10)
2010 May 21, Spain convicted 3 members of Basque separatist group ETA of detonating a car bomb at Madrid airport in 2006 that killed two Ecuadorians.
(Reuters, 5/21/10)
2010 Jun 24, The Police Service of Northern Ireland arrested Fermin Vila Michelena (40), a Basque separatist, in central Belfast. Michelena faced three Spanish arrest warrants over a string of ETA attacks. A ministry statement accused Michelena of membership in an ETA terror cell that committed four car-bomb attacks in Spain in 2001.
(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Sep 5, The Basque separatist militant group ETA declared a cease-fire in a video statement, suggesting it might turn to a political process in its quest for an independent homeland.
(AP, 9/5/10)
2010 Sep 6, The Spanish government rejected a new ceasefire announcement by the separatist group ETA and ruled out negotiations on an independent Basque homeland, saying the militants have been decimated by arrests and are desperate to regroup and rearm.
(AP, 9/6/10)
2010 Sep 19, Spain’s armed Basque separatist group ETA says it is willing to accept international mediation to help solve its long-running conflict with Spain's government. The statement came a day after the Spanish newspaper El Pais released a video on its website believed to have been filmed by ETA earlier this year as a training aid which shows a hooded gunman practicing assassination techniques by shooting into a car.
(AP, 9/19/10)
2010 Sep 26, In Spain the Basque separatist group ETA said it is willing to declare a permanent cease-fire, verified by international observers, in a bid to settle the troubled region's long-running conflict with the Spanish government.
(AP, 9/26/10)
2010 Dec 30, A Spanish court convicted four Civil Guard police officers of torturing members of the armed Basque group ETA who were arrested for bombing Madrid's airport in 2006. the officers were found guilty of beating and threatening Mattin Sarasola and Igor Portu after they were taken into custody in 2008.
(AP, 12/30/10)
2011 Jan 8, In Spain tens of thousands of people marched in the Basque region to protest the government policy of shipping separatist prisoners convicted of terror to jails far from their homes.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 10, The militant Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent cease-fire in what it called a firm step toward ending its bloody decades-long independence fight, but Spain's government quickly dismissed the announcement and demanded ETA disband outright.
(AP, 1/10/11)
2011 Jan 11, Police in Spain and France arrested two suspected members of ETA, suggesting the government in Madrid will keep up pressure on the violent Basque separatist group despite the latter's declaration of a permanent cease-fire.
(AP, 1/11/11)
2011 Feb 5, In Spain several hundred Basque separatists held small street rallies, hung posters and painted political graffiti on walls throughout the troubled northern region to support a new political party to be launched next week.
(AP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 7, In Spain Basque separatists launched Sortu (“Create") a new political party they say rejects violence by the armed group ETA, in an unprecedented step designed to move the troubled region toward peace.
(AP, 2/7/11)(Econ, 2/26/11, p.56)
2011 Mar 1, Spanish police arrested four suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA they believe may have been behind several attacks in recent years.
(AP, 3/1/11)
2011 Mar 10, In France the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA's armed cells and three other alleged members of the organization were arrested in Willencourt in northern Pas-de-Calais region. They included Alejandro Zobaran Arriola (29), who an Interior Ministry statement described as the head of ETA's "military apparatus." Another was the alleged logistics chief, Mikel Oroz Torrea (31).
(AP, 3/11/11)
2011 Apr 2, In Spain tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the troubled Basque region, calling for the government to legalize a new pro-independence party that says it rejects violence by armed separatist group ETA.
(AP, 4/2/11)
2011 Apr 10, Police in central France arrested a man and a woman allegedly linked to the Basque separatist group ETA following a pair of weekend shooting incidents against officers that injured at least one.
(AP, 4/10/11)
2011 Jul 6, French police arrested ETA suspect Daniel Derguy on terrorism charges in Cahors.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Jul 7, British officers arrested Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui (44), a suspected Basque separatist, in connection with a 1997 attempted assassination of Spain's King Juan Carlos. The arrest came a day after the arrest of ETA suspect Daniel Derguy on terrorism charges in Cahors, France.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Oct 1, In Spain the Gara newspaper's website said two unidentified spokesmen told it that "Ekin members have ended their endeavors as an organization." Ekin, a civic support organization for the Basque separatist group ETA, was formed in 1999 with the aim of "impelling independence, nation-building and socialism at street level."
(AP, 10/1/11)
2012 Jan 14, In Spain Jose Luis Alvarez Enparantza (b.1927), one of the founders of Basque separatist group ETA, died. His work "Leturiaren Egunkari Ezkutua" is regarded as the first modern novel written in Basque.
(AP, 1/14/12)
2012 Jan 15, Spain’s Interior Ministry said French police acting alongside Spanish counterparts have arrested three men at a railway station in France on suspicion of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA. They were identified as Jon Echeverria Oyarbide (33), Ruben Rivero Campo, and Inigo Sancho Marco.
(AP, 1/15/12)
2013 Jan 3, The Basque nationalist group known as Batasuna, legal in France but banned in Spain, announced that it is dissolving after 11 years.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013 Mar 30, Xabier Lopez Pena (alias Thierry), a former leader of armed Basque separatist group ETA, died from a stroke in a French hospital.
(AP, 3/30/13)
2013 Oct 21, Europe's top human rights court ordered Spain to release a Basque separatist militant, saying her extended detention was illegal, a ruling victims groups warned would let dozens of prisoners walk free. Ines del Rio was jailed in 1989 for her role in 23 assassinations and car bombings carried out by the Basque independence movement ETA.
(Reuters, 10/21/13)
2013 Oct 22, Spanish judges ordered ETA prisoner Ines del Rio freed after Europe's rights court ruled against her prolonged detention, opening the way to the release of dozens of other violent Basque separatists.
(AP, 10/22/13)
2013 Oct 27, In Spain several thousand people gathered in downtown Madrid to protest the release from jail of Basque separatists, convicted of attacks but freed under a European Court of Human Rights ruling.
(AP, 10/27/13)
2013 Nov 8, A Spanish court ordered nine imprisoned members of the Basque militant group ETA freed to comply with a controversial European rights ruling made last month.
(AFP, 11/8/13)
2014 Jan 11, In Spain tens of thousands of protesters marched in Bilbao in support of jailed members of the Basque separatist group ETA. A high court judge had vetoed the march, which was initially organized by prisoners' supporters to call for inmates to be moved to jails closer to their homes.
(Reuters, 1/11/14)
2014 Feb 21, In Spain international mediators said the armed Basque separatist group ETA has placed a small quantity of guns and explosives out of use in what is seen as a first step toward an unconditional total disarmament.
(AP, 2/21/14)
2014 Jun 8, In Spain tens of thousands of Basques held hands to form a 123-km chain stretching across the northern Spanish region calling for the right to hold a vote on independence.
(Reuters, 6/8/14)
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Subject - Basques
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