Champs-Élysées, enquête.

Champs-Élysées, investigation.

Depuis près de trente ans, la France et l'Espagne ont un ennemi commun : le terrorisme basque, et plus particulièrement l'organisation séparatiste ETA. L'ETA réclame l'indépendance du Pays basque, région à cheval sur la frontière franco-espagnole. Mais ses méthodes sont très critiquées par la majorité des Basques. On reproche à l'ETA plusieurs centaines d'assassinats depuis sa création, en 1959.

For nearly thirty years, France and Spain have had a common enemy: Basque terrorism, in particular the separatist organization ETA. The ETA demands independence for the Basque Country, a region which straddles the border between France and Spain. But the majority of Basques are very critical of its methods. They charge the ETA with several hundred assassinations since its creation in 1959.

Enquête pour Champs-Élysées, Nicolas Albrand.

Investigation for Champs-Élysées, Nicolas Albrand.

L'organisation séparatiste basque ETA a vu le jour il y a presque quarante-cinq ans. D'emblée, elle affiche comme principale revendication l'indépendance du Pays basque. Dès le début, en 1959, l'ETA se veut clandestine, révolutionnaire et violente : premier attentat à la bombe en 1960 ; choix du terrorisme comme moyen d'action en 1964. Dès lors, la lutte interne est farouche entre partisans et opposants à la lutte armée.

The Basque separatist organization ETA was created nearly forty-five years ago. Right away, it announced that the independence of Basque Country was its primary demand. Since the beginning, in 1959, ETA has aimed to be clandestine, revolutionary, and violent: first bomb attack in 1960; choice of terrorism as standard operating procedure in 1964. Since then, the internal struggle has been fierce between supporters and opponents of the armed fight.

Si les actions de l'ETA se concentrent essentiellement au Pays basque espagnol, la France est également impliquée dans l'histoire de cette organisation. Car depuis longtemps, le territoire français a fait office de base arrière du terrorisme basque. Des militants sont toujours détenus en France et, régulièrement, certains d'entre eux sont jugés par les magistrats français.

Though the ETA's actions are concentrated mainly in the Spanish Basque Country, France is also involved in this organization's history because, for a long time, French territory has served as a staging ground for Basque terrorism. Militants are always detained in France and, regularly, some of them are tried by French judges.

Vocabulary

à cheval

straddling

afficher

to announce

car

for, since, because

d'emblée

right away

une enquête

investigation

farouche

fierce

la lutte

fight, struggle

un magistrat

judge

réclamer

to call for, demand

reprocher à

to charge with, accuse of

une revendication

demand

se vouloir

to see oneself, claim/mean to be

Additional info

ETA

Abbreviation of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque country and freedom)

le Pays basque

Basque Country, the homeland of a Western European people whose origins are a mystery and whose language, probably the oldest in Europe, has no known ties to any other tongue. The Autonomous Community of the Basque Country in Spain comprises the herrialdes or provinces of Araba (in Spanish, Álava), Bizkaia (Vizcaya, whence the English name Biscay), and Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa); many Spanish Basques also live in neighboring Nafarroa (Navarre). The French herrialdes are Lapurdi (Labourd), Zuberoa (Soule), and Benafarroa (Basse-Navarre), which, along with the Bearn district, make up the department of Pyrénées-Atlantique in the Aquitaine region. Around 850,000 Basques live in Spain and 130,000 in France; the Basque diaspora numbers perhaps 170,000, mostly in the Americas. In Spain, the Basque government and the national government have recently been at loggerheads over a proposed referendum on increased Basque autonomy.