End of Eta ceasefire no surprise

Eta's announcement ending its ceasefire comes as no surprise.

Eta and its body of supporters, including the illegal party Batasuna and other radical Basque groups, have been growing increasingly frustrated.

The armed separatists are upset by the government's refusal to legalise Batasuna, the outlawed party regarded as Eta's political wing.

That upset increased during local elections in May when the Spanish authorities banned over 100 lists of candidates in the Basque region because of connections to Batasuna.

This all followed the government announcing the end of the Basque peace process after Eta's bomb attack on Madrid's airport in December that killed two people.

Although surveys suggest that about half of the people in the Basque region want more autonomy and a significant number of that percentage complete independence from Spain, Eta has only a very small number of real supporters and, according to some experts perhaps 30 full-time operatives.

One enduring difficulty that complicates the Basque issue is the sympathy and justification that Batasuna and other radical left-wing Basque groups give to Eta by explaining its murders, violence and mafia-style extortion as a response to the government's repression of Basque rights.

The vast majority of Spaniards find that attitude - in a democratic Spain where the Basque region is one of the most independent regions in Europe - irrational and repugnant.

By expressing its anger, firstly through the bombing of Madrid's airport and now through what amounts to a commitment to more violent attacks, Eta has lost the best opportunity of engaging in dialogue with a Spanish government that it has had for many years.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says the militant, separatist group has made another mistake. Only Eta supporters would disagree with that analysis. When Eta announced its ceasefire last year there was a sense of cautious optimism from politicians and Spaniards that this really could have been the beginning of the end of the Basque conflict.

But now, Spaniards are more cynical than ever about Eta's motives. It is very unlikely that in the near future a Spanish government will be prepared to engage Eta in a peace process. The prime minister says the response to Eta's announcement will be the same that Spanish governments have always given: a strong defence of democratic values and institutions through the strict application of the law.

But Joaquin, an office worker in Madrid says the government needs to recognise its mistakes, not just point to Eta's. "It's a difficult problem for the government", he says, "but unfortunately it is now obvious that Eta has got stronger."

Many Spaniards were against the government's failed peace process from the start and others have become frustrated by what they see as major errors by the government. For example, releasing the convicted Eta killer Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos from prison to stop him dying on hunger strike.

They also feel that Eta has used the period of the ceasefire to rearm. "I'm not surprised by this Eta announcement," says Alberto, "because when you talk with people who are terrorists you can't expect good things to come of it."

A point of view that brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets in Madrid and other cities, to protest against the government's policy of talking with Eta.

Spain is divided on how to deal with the conflict in the Basque region. A majority of Spaniards supported the government's attempt to bring peace through dialogue with Eta. A significant number are still in favour. One big difficulty for the government is that the main opposition, the conservative Popular Party, has refused to support it.

Rather than just a "complete absence of violence", one mantra of the government, the Popular Party insists that Eta must hand in its weapons and dissolve as an organisation before talking can take place.

This Eta announcement formally ending the ceasefire is - in a sour way - a political victory for the Popular Party. But Spaniards are growing tired of the divisions between their two main parties on this issue.

The example of the Irish peace process and the unity between Britain's Labour and Conservative parties is often looked to as an example of how Spain's main political parties - especially the Popular Party - should behave.

The other political division the government has to deal with is among the Basques. The banned political party Batasuna represented about 15% of the people in the Basque region on local councils and in the regional government before it was made illegal in 2003. Batasuna says this rupture of the ceasefire is Eta's fault but blames the government and the moderate Basque nationalist party for not doing enough during the now failed peace process.

But the main political force in the Basque region - the moderate nationalist PNV - is very supportive of the government.

CNN