Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

BASQUE FATHERLAND AND LIBERTY • 67deaths. From 1976 to 1980, when limited Basque autonomy wasgranted, the ETA caused 253 deaths. From 1981 to 1985 the figuredropped to around 190, and from 1986 to 1990 the figure fell toaround 159. Each year in 1990–1998 witnessed in excess of 50 ETAcauseddeaths. Most of the 50 victims killed by the ETA in 1991 wereinvolved in preparatory projects for the Barcelona Olympics, the fifthcentennial celebrations of Columbus’s voyage, or the Seville World’sFair, since these events were used by Spanish authorities to showcaseSpanish social and economic progress since the Franco era. Ironically,as democratization has proceeded in Spain, ETA violence hasrisen, and as more autonomy has been granted to the Basque region,terrorism by the ETA has increased even further, despite the layingdown of arms by ETA-PM.Figures of people killed by ETA violence vary from source to sourcedepending on whether the actions of certain breakaway groups, suchas Iraultza, are counted. If only the confirmed actions of the ETA areconsidered, from 1968 to 2008 the total is just over 800 deaths, but ifthe actions of other Basque terrorist groups are counted, the figure isin excess of 850 deaths. By the cease-fire of 16 September 1998, thenumber of deaths attributed to the ETA alone had risen to around 800.By the end of 2003, ETA had killed at least 817 victims, including 478military or police targets and 339 civilians. A cease-fire went into effectin June 2003 and ended on 30 December 2006.Some other notable ETA actions are as follows: On 20 December1973 the ETA assassinated Spanish Prime Minister Luís CarreroBlanco (1903–1973), whose limousine was blown five stories highby the detonation of an explosives-packed 25-foot-long tunnel underthe pavement over which he passed daily. On 12 September 1989the ETA-M assassinated public prosecutor Carmen Tagle in Madrid.During 1993 the ETA carried out four major car bombings, two on21 June in Madrid, killing seven people and injuring 22 others, andanother two on 29 October in Barcelona. The ETA plan to murderKing Juan Carlos in August 1995 was thwarted by continuing Spanishand French police anti-ETA cooperation. On 19 April 1995 theETA tried to repeat its earlier feat of mining a road with explosives,this time to kill José María Aznar, the outspoken anti-ETA leader ofthe Popular Party, but succeeded only in slightly injuring Aznar and12 others. On 10 February 1997 the ETA shot and killed SupremeCourt Justice Rafael Martínez Emperador. After a government raid