They were shattered a year ago, however, by a car bomb in Madrid, with both the government and ETA blaming each other for wrecking the cease-fire. Now, hundreds of local officials who oppose ETA must go everywhere with bodyguards. Basque activists arrested by police are imprisoned in jails across Spain to prevent them collaborating behind bars. Some 430 ETA members are in Spanish prisons, and their relatives and at least one human rights organization say the dispersal is inhumane. The Basque parliament is fundamentally divided, its membership fractured into seven parties split into two main camps.
Nationalist parties hold the majority, and parties loyal to Spain hold the remaining seats.
Even the nationalists themselves are split, a state of affairs that has forced the Basque regional president to call early elections, due to be held sometime this year. Some people hope a clear-cut winner might bring some stability and reduce the violence. But early opinion polls predict little change in parliament. Many leaders in the region accuse the Herri Batasuna radical left party of being the political wing of the armed separatists. I don't want them to be involved in this war.