New attacks on ETA

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Last year the "democratic" successors of Franco conducted a referendum in Euskadi (the Basque provinces of northern Spain) over new 'statute of autonomy'.

The statute was very linited in the amount of political autonomy it permitted; but it was designed to defuse the most politically explosive question in Spanish politics.

Alf', ugh there was a majority voro, " accept the statute and sue suently, elections were held toseq sque parliament, the radice a Bique nationalist organisatio! Basqi (militar) continued its military campaign against the Spanish state.

ETA is a small organisation which has nonetheless since Franco's time had massive popular support.

The support has been shown in two ways. First, in the large numbers of votes gained by the parties of Herri Batasuna (Popular Unity) which have been the public face of ETA in recent Second, in the fact that the Basque population has given tacit backing to ETA's long and extraordinarily effective terrorist campaign against capitalists and members of the repressive forces of the Spanish state.

No evidence Most of the population refuse, for instance, to give evidence against ETA terrorists to the police or in court.

So far this year over 100 people have been killed in the war between ETA and the Spanish state, most of these from the i Spanish police and armed forces who now occupy "autonomous" Euskadi in even greater numbers than ever before.

The campaign is a source of chronic humiliation to the government and the armed It continues to exhibit the lack of authority of the postFranco government and its complete failure to secure pacification of the Basque country through fake concessions to national rights.

The continued terrorism and unrest in Euskadi is used constantly as a pretext by the sections of the army which see the only way of regaining full bourgeois control of Spain as being through a military coup.

The nationalist politics of ETA cannot, of course, resolve the problems facing Basque or Spanish workers.

But an essential part of a socialist programme in Spain will include the support of Basque and other minority national rights and the unconditional defence of ETA (militar) against the state.

Consistently, however, the main workers' parties in Euskadi have taken a diametrically opposite position.

They have allied with the ruling Centre Democratic Union (UCD) in a viciously reactionary campaign against ETA.

The Communist and Socialist Parties have frequently supported reactionary demonstrations "against violence" most recently on November 7 in Zarawe (near San Sebastien) when 3,000 people marched in a demonstration against the killing (claimed by ETA) of a policeman and his girlfriend.

But this time also they joined a new agreement forming a Front for Peace and against Violence together with the right wing Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and Adolfo Suarez' UCD.

As well as the CP and the Socialist Party (PSOE) a participant in this reactionary pact in defence of the Francoist armed forces is the party Euskadiko Eskerra (Basque Left) which is the political front of the other branch of ETA-ETA (politicomilitar).

It is likely that this new move will more or less dissolve the small amount of prestige which ETA (PM) retains.