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ETA MASSACRES EVENTS. Cont'd.

 

• May 1999: The first and only meeting to date between Eta and the Spanish Government in Zurich, Switzerland.

   

• September 1998: Eta announces its first indefinite ceasefire since its campaign of violence began, effective from 18 September.

   

• June 1998: Car bomb kills Popular Party councillor Manuel Zamarreno.

   

• April 1998 Northern Ireland peace agreement signed. Eta is understood to have been heavily influenced by the Northern Ireland peace process. Eta has traditionally had relations with the Irish republicans and the political wing Herri Batasuna has been schooled by Sinn Fein on strategy for negotiation.

   

• March 1998: Spain's main political parties engage in talks to end violence in the Basque region. The government is not involved.
• Leaders jailed
  • February 1998: Herri Batasuna elects new provisional leadership.

  • December 1997: 23 leaders of Herri Batasuna jailed for seven years for collaborating with Eta. The case centres on an video featuring armed and masked Eta guerrillas, which the party tried to show during general election campaign. This was the first time any members of the party have been jailed for co-operating with Eta.

  New government

  • July 1997: Eta kidnaps and kills Basque councillor Miguel Angel Blanco, sparking national outrage and bringing an estimated six million Spaniards onto the streets.

     

  • 1997: Start of Eta's campaign against local Popular Party politicians.

     

  • March 1996: Right-wing Popular Party wins general election. There is speculation that the change of government would lead to a crackdown against Eta, which later proves wrong. But Eta apparently views the Popular Party as heir to General Franco's dictatorship.

  Violence continues

  • 1995: Attempt to assassinate the leader of the opposition Popular Party (later Prime Minister), Jose Maria Aznar, with a car bomb.

     

  • June 1987: Twenty-one shoppers are killed in an attack on a Barcelona supermarket. Eta apologises for the "mistake".

     

  • 1980: 118 people are killed in Eta's bloodiest year so far.

     

  • 1978: Eta's political wing Herri Batasuna is founded.

     

  • December 1973: Basque nationalists assassinate Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco in Madrid in retaliation for the government's execution of Basque militants.

  Franco years

  • 1968: Eta kills its first victim, Meliton Manzanas, a secret police chief in San Sebastian.

     

  • 1961: Eta's violent campaign begins with an attempt to derail a train transporting politicians. BBC Timetable report.