Thousands march for Basque independence in Spain
July 27, 1997
Web posted at: 4:31 p.m. EDT (2031 GMT)
SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (CNN) -- At least 20,000 people took to
the streets in this northern city Sunday, shouting slogans in
support of Basque independence and the militant separatist
organization ETA.
The march was called by ETA's political wing Herri Batasuna,
which is campaigning for Basque independence from Madrid.
Demonstrators waved Basque flags, carried portraits of ETA
prisoners and chanted "Independence" and "Long live the ETA
military."
Herri Batasuna again called for the transfer of some 500 ETA
prisoners scattered across the country to prisons in Spain's
northern Basque region, which is made up of three provinces.
A previous refusal of that demand led to the abduction and
shooting of ruling party official Miguel Angel Blanco on July
10. ETA fatally shot the 29-year-old Blanco after the
government refused to follow a 48 hour ultimatum to transfer
the ETA prisoners.
That killing shocked Spain and led to massive anti-ETA
demonstrations, with millions of people taking to the streets
to condemn ETA and its political wing Herri Batasuna.
In Sunday's protest, Herri Batasuna's spokesman Floren Aoiz
accused the Spanish government and the media of conspiring to
undermine the separatist movement and said that this was
tantamount to "throwing gasoline on the fire."
Herri Batasuna leaders also condemned a campaign by
mainstream politicians to isolate the separatist party and
curb its role in regional government.
Madrid has repeatedly refused to negotiate, saying ETA must
first renounce violence.
Several hours after the protest march passed peacefully,
about 30 hooded attackers firebombed barricades and clashed
with police in San Sebastian.
Uniformed Basque police, who had kept a low profile during
the march earlier in the day, were deployed onto the streets
and fired rubber bullets in the air to ward off the
attackers, witnesses said.
Reporter Al Goodman and Reuters contributed to this report.
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