Thousands march in Spain against ETA negotiations

Tens of thousands of people, including victims of ETA bomb attacks, marched through central Madrid in the rain today to press the Socialist government not to negotiate a peace deal with the armed Basque separatist group.

The Madrid regional government put the number of participants at 1.4 million while the Interior Ministry said some 110,000 attended. Many journalists reporting on the march felt the ministry figure was more accurate.

The demonstration, led by the Association of Victims, was backed by some 80 social and political groups. Leaders of the main conservative opposition Popular Party, including Secretary General Mariano Rajoy and former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, also took part.

“We can’t let ETA have its way,” said Irene Villa, 27, who lost both her legs in an ETA bombing 15 years ago.

“We want to make sure that they (the government) does not negotiate with murderers and that terrorism is not be seen as a way to achieve a political end.”

Villa and other ETA victims in electric wheelchairs were applauded by thousands of people who lined the sidewalks and chanted “You are not alone.”

The victims were followed by leaders of the Popular Party, which like the governing Socialists has had several of its members killed by ETA.

“The objective is to defeat ETA, not negotiate with them,” Rajoy told reporters.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero insists it is open to talks with ETA only if it lays down its arms, a position backed by parliament and - according to a recent poll – by the vast majority of Spaniards.

Demonstrators waved Spanish flags and banners reading, “Zapatero Surrenders to Terrorism,” and Negotiations: In Our Name, No!”

Chants for Zapatero to resign could be heard all along the route.

The march started at Republica Argentina square at 5:30pm (4.30pm Irish Time) and was to finish in the downtown Plaza de Colon.

A similar rally on June 4 attracted hundreds of thousands people.

Francisco Alcaraz, president of the Association of Victims, claims the government is easing the standard hard-line approach against ETA in a bid to obtain a ceasefire.

“Only when the ETA killers served out their sentences will we be prepared to talk,” said Carlos Gonzalez, 44, who took part in the march.

ETA, whose initials stand for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has killed more than 800 people since beginning its violent campaign for independence in 1968.

The group, however, has not staged a deadly attack since May 2003, when two police officers died in a car bomb.

Zapatero this month said Spain was near “the beginning of the end” of ETA, and two leading newspapers said an ETA truce was imminent.

ETA, however, issued a statement last week that made no mention of a ceasefire. It reiterated ETA’s position that the Basque people have the right to determine their own future – a stance the government rejects – and it called for dialogue and “commitments” to end the nearly 40-year conflict.