Vol.64/No.6      February 14, 2000 
 
 
Basque freedom fight polarizes Spain  
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Masked participants in a January 15 protest of thousands, held in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao, calling for release of Basque political prisoners from French and Spanish jails. The following weekend there was a demonstration of 10,000 supporting Basque independence in Pamplona, and a Madrid march that reportedly drew a million people protesting a fatal bombing that the government blamed on the pro-independence organization ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom). Late last year ETA announced the end of a 14-month cease-fire after negotiations stalled when Madrid demanded concessions. Self-determination is widely supported in the Basque country, which straddles the border of France and Spain.  
 
 
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