Fernando,

Until the Madrid government admits and deals with the issue of total independence through autonomy, granted by the Cortes to Basque Country in 1936, many people believe that the Spanish government is "occupying" Basque Country.

The fact is, the independence was granted by the last legally elected government Spain had before the death of Franco.

Franco, by decree, overturned the ruling of the Cortes, and maintained a stranglehold over the people, and subsequently made their language, Euskara, illegal.

But - if Spaniards fail to recognize this fact - you can expect decades of violence in the future, and the problem will not go away.

Like I said before. The climate for ETA to exist is greatly the fault of the Madrid government. If they didn't want it to exist, they'd uphold the rulings of the Cortes in 1936, not conveniently dance away from it like most people who feel the Basques should not be free from the control of Madrid conveniently do.

I'm sorry. This issue is one that will never be resolved until real discussions for independence are started in good faith.

The very idea that Spaniards believe that what the Madrid government has offered the Basques as "generous" is disengenous to the situation at best.

Wolf