ETA its a terrorist group...they kill...and kill and nothing more.
If you live in Spain you can have all freedom that you want..people live free and decide what they wanna do.

Please TIMES dont talk if you dont understund about the subject.

A lot of good people lost they loved ones in hands of terrorists.

Before post stupidity ..please ask for advice.


dont give publicity for ASSASINS.

Thanks.

Jordy, barcelona, spain

To Jose María Aznar:

Nowadays, you do not represent the majority of Spaniards, so please, write about your point of view but not about the majority of Spaniards' point of view.

Bárbara, Oviedo,

Sir,

Really I do not undestand that a seriously paper you are, can write about terrorism in the manner that you do. ETA is a real terrorism organisation, and De Juana Chaos a really criminal, and you must to know that. Here in Spain we are very unsatisfated with your position that dont help to the peace in our country. We leave in a real democracy and this murder kill 25 persons. Only 18 years of prison, is really very cheap.

Rafael, Sevilla, Spain

Sir, Iñaki De Juana Chaos is a former policeman, whose father was a military from Burgos (out of Basque country). Few years later, he was killing 25 people in the name of Basque country's freedom. This is a real story about human misery and fanatical thoughts.

Victor , San Fernando, Spain

To Carmen ;
I have got my history book out, and many of them as a matter of fact.
Franco died in bed, and the constitution was based and approved by his appointed successor, the head of the monarchy.
What was a reduced area not invaded by the Moors in the early Middle Ages would later become the kingdom of Navarre, and at the time it did not have much to do with Spain, as it did not even exist, neither socially nor politically.
You mention the word ignorance. I would add to that demagogery, propaganda, brainwashing and blatant and utter modification of historical facts to justify the unjustifiable.
By your infuriated reaction, and your insistance on the Moors (who have nothing to do with the current situation - they were expelled in the seventeenth century) you are rightly appointing yourself in the group I was refering to.

Roger, London,

To Roger: Where are/is the deep-conservative-neofranquist Spain? They simply don’t exist.... Franco died in 1975 and Spain has a democratic constitution since 1978. Get your history book out and you will see the Basque country belongs to Spain since a handful of Christians managed to keep a stronghold in the Asturian mountains against the Muslim Crusaders in 8 A.D. The Principality of Asturias, in the extreme north of Spain was the only area of the Iberian Peninsula never invaded by the Moors. ETA is a terrorist group born during the Franco regime. So tell me, do we give the Basques back to the Moors or are ETA the deep-conservative-neofranquist Spain you are talking about??? Maybe you ought to read Stanley Payne or similar instead of Juana Chaos and his murdering nazi-marxist counterparts. Come on, there is no justification for ignorance, and much less if it defends murder or terrorism...

Carmen San Carlos, Madrid, Spain

There is no debate here, only sensationalist press, typical I should say of the treatment Spain gets in English media. When the Spanish national football team comes to England, all the questions are about racism. Is racism not a problem in England? How long has it been since there was a reference to the Irish Republican Freedom Fighters in the mainstream English press? Give me a break. In Spain, the Basques voted in favour of the national constitution, and the constitution provides a due process for increasing autonomy of regions. The only word for someone who plants bombs in protest against this system is "terrorist". You have published a picture along with a more than sympathetic article of an unappologetic convicted murderer who has decided not to eat; to pretend there are deeper issues to be discussed here is sensationalist journalism at its worst.

Bryan , Madrid, Spain

Sirs, I would like to express my sadness for the publication of the interiew with De Juana Chaos. He is a Killer. I completly agree with the letter of our ex President Aznar.

LOLA, Jaén, Spain

Deep-conservative-neofranquist Spain? So, if you support the position of a men who have killed 25 people, threatened thousands, and blackmailed hundreds you are a romantic liberal? Certainly politics have changed a lot in the UK.

Manuel Reglero, Madrid, Spain

Sir,
Mr. de Juana´s image depicts graphically the situation of the Basque People. A nation fighting for its right to be free, as any other nation, and subjected to the will of foreign and so called "democratic" powers: Spain and France. The international Community should intervene to reach a settlement for the Basque Country.

Jose, Bilbao, Basque Country

Dear sir.,
though I´m Spanish, I was born in London and lived my childhood in England. Therefore., England is part of my heart and that is why for me it´s even more painfull to read that your Newspaper has made an interview to De Juana Chaos, murderer of over 25 people, presenting him as a "romantic separatist" fighting against a State that "opresse" the basque country. Would you focus an interview in the same manner had the terrorist been arab or Irish and the 25 victims British?
Personaly, I consider that you owe Spain and the Spanish people who have suffered from terrorism, you sincere excuses. But honestly I don´t think you´ll do it since obviously, you are not too fond of Spain or its people.

Manuel, Alorcon-Madrid, Spain

Sirs,
I have been following the debate and opinions published in your website these last few days on this matter. Not suprisingly, there has been an uproar in the deep-conservative-neofranquist Spain, who fail even to acknowledge the rational need to enter a peace process with the Basque armed group in order to solve the conflict. Funny enough, Mr Aznar's government, who has wasted all its breath in attacking the Socialist government's faint talks with ETA, did back in 1998 hold talks with ETA themselves.

Roger, London, UK

Sir,
Your article had at least one error which I would like you to correct... the sentence of 12 years and 7 months was not because of "2 opinion articles", since 1978 there is freedom of expresion in Spain and nobody would have been condemned because of an opinion... to suggest that is to insult the Spanich democracy and for that I would like an apology.
He was condemned because in those "opinion" articles he threatened with death to several people. Keeping in mind he had already killed 25 people (whom where not given the option to live he refuses), the law condemned him for a crime of "terrorist threat"
Thank you in advance for correcting this error.

Rocío, Zaragoza, España

Thanks to Jose M. Aznar, we've reached the perfect bipartidism in Spain: PP against ETA. Emulating the McCarthy age in the United States, all that's moving outside PP is ETA.
Yes, De Juana is a (political) killer, ETA is a (separatist) terrorist group, but the point is that De Juana has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for WRITING two newspaper articles.
Yes, you can individually express your political thoughts, but if you organize to defend it, you are equaled to ETA, and thus outlawed. Political parties, cultural associations, newspapers, rock music groups,.. has been outlawed. Spain is the nation with the greater number of terrorist in the world: more than 200 thousand. Even the basque Premier (Ibarretxe) is in court for meeting with Batasuna on 19th April at the Office of the Premier following ETA’s declaration for a permanent ceasefire!!
That's the truth.

Pedro Garcia, Bilbao, Spain

In spite of what Basque Nationalists say, the "Basque Problem" is not political in its core. It is a problem created by people who whink that Spaniards do not deserve them. And they think so because they are richer and privileged. They have channeled this sense of superiority (which they rationalized by claiming ethnic and lingusitic differences which are false in terms of present Basque society) by means of an "independence" struggle that barely masks their contempt, sadism against the "inferior" and intolerance. Although they claim Irish similarites, I rather think that the most similar example would be as if Lombardians started killing Sicilians and bombing Rome because they felt different for being richer. In theory what we have in the Basque Country is nothing special: A conflict as old as the world: Rich people despising poorer fellows and claiming being superior. What makes it specially indecent is the racism it carries and the glorification others project on it.

Oscar Martin, madison, Wisconsin

Sir,

I completly agree with former President Aznar. It is incredible your journal has echoed the lies of such an assassin. When will you publish an interview with his victims? When a picture of the pain and suffering of the 25 families he destroyed?
A few basks want an "open discussion" about the independence. Ok, whenever you want... but without guns, please. I cannot talk with a 9mm Parabellum gun in my mouth, sorry.
I hope your newspaper will understand once and for all who are the victims, and do whatever is in your hands to help them. For example, by giving them the opportunity of expressing themselves through the AVT (Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo).
Thank you,

Jaime, London E2, UK

Two ideas:

1) I don´t support Eta, and I ask them to stop for once, for good, and for ever.

2) let´s be honest and face it.The so-called Spanish democracy allow "separatists" the right to express their ideas, but don´t let Basques choose whether they want to be independent or not. So, making it plain, I can say I want independence for the Basque Country, but I am not allowed to be independent. Great democracy!

To finish, those who shout against De Juana´s release -he´s in prison right now cos he´s been given 12 extra years for two articles!!!- did they shout against Galindo´s release? Galindo, a Guardia Civil officer, charged with the murder of a least two Eta gunmen, was released after a year in prison. The two Eta gunmen were brutally beaten, tortured, and burned.

Joseba, Bilbao,

'The Times' has the right to interview whomever it deems newsworthy, even people announcing their intention to terrorize British citizens.
But if a killer is put out of his business, they ought to keep him so.
Being against the death penalty, one must accept the possibility of the killer using his own death -- after the ones he deliberately provoked, let us not forget -- against those he hates and, in several cases, killed.
He wishes to die, those he killed didn't.
Maybe he'll die the way he's chosen. His victims didn't have that luxury.

l mig, Porto, Portugal

I am not going to defend De Juana Chaos for his terrible crimes, for which he has served his sentence of almost 20 years in prison, but nobody can't ignore that his last two years of imprisonment and the deny for his freedom are, in theory, for writing two opinion articles in a newspaper. How many of you read the articles? Well, I did and he doesn't threat anybody but denounces, what he thinks, an abusive management by several prison directors that he has met during his many years as an inmate. And for these two articles he is getting 12 years. This is simply called revenge. And finally, if everybody agrees that this peculiar idea of independence for Basque Country is only pursued by a few fanatics extremists why the Spanish Government does not let Basque citizens to democratically decide their own future with, for instance, a referendum? Thanks British media for giving the opportunity for everybody's opinion to be published.

karlos , Macclesfield,

Sir, ETA is not a Basque separatist group. And, of course, ETA is not a Basque independence movement. ETA is only a terrorist group, a simple band of killers.

Your report is a way to give free publicity to the terrorist. De Juana Chaos has not regret killing 25 people. He's only a killer, not a martyr, as he would like.

As it has already been said, this terrorist has been condemned by the Spanish Court of Justice. There is no reason to speak about a “political sentence” because it has only strictly applied the law.

A law enacted by a Constitutional State as Spain is.

Julio, Valladolid, Spain

Aznar government released ETA terrorists outside the prisons during its attempt of process of peace with ETA. Aznar transferred “Juana Chao "from a prison in the Canary Islands to another near the Basque country. The present government politic is more strong with the terrorists than the previous. It has not granted anything to them. The ex-president "Partido Popular " is using dangerously and shamefully the terrorism to destabilize the actually government. They were invented that Al_qaeda attack in Madrid on 2004 was committed by ETA . Actually they continue lying about it.

Isabel, Madrid, Spain

I completely agree with Jose Maria Aznar and I think is very disgraceful to read opinions like Ainhoa has.
"ETA is used as a political tool by its opponents" ...? I can not believe it!!! It is not a war where two opponents are fighting, It is just a terrorist group, hiden behind a political ideology, composed of two kinds of people, both killers. On the one hand the executioners, on the other hand their supporters.

Nacho, Nottingham, UK

Although I am far away from Aznar's political views, I have to say that I agree with him on this respect. De Juana is a terrorist, and ETA is not a separatist group by a terror organization.
There are thousands of people threaten by ETA in Spain who can not express their thoughts and have to live in fear of being assasinated.

You can agree or disagree with the independence of the Basc Country, but NEVER killed for that. That is called fascism. Or you agree with me, or I kill you. That's ETAs point of view.

The Times has made a big mistake for several reasons
1) to give free publicity of a killer
2) to have forgotten the pain of the victims
3) to call ETA separatist group. ETA is like Al Qaeda. Or has The Times decided to call Bin Laden "spiritual lider"?

Thanks

Ivan Mezquida, London,

As you can see from the reaction from the majority of the comments this week your interview with Juana Choas has caused alot of debate . Sadly I believe your have crossed the line of responsible reporting.And given publicity to the violence of the ETA cause.I agree with Roberto Garcia from Asturias....nowadays the Basque people have many democratic ways to express their views.They have progressively gained more freedom over the years.They can receive a Basque education, they have freedom to speak Basque, express non violent views in the media and vote for nationalist parties.Many many democrats in the Basque country work democratically towards separatism.If the Basque people want independence they should contunue to work democratically to that end.In a 21st century Europe violence has no place and cannot be accepted as a way to solve complex problems. Killing innocent people is a very sad and brutal way to achieve one's political objectives.Instead of distributing pain and suffering ETA and their supporters should concentrate on achieving their independence by non violent democratic means.And The Times should concentrate on reporting and not supporting a murderer's(Juana Chaos') objectives.

Patrick Waller, Valencia, Spain

I do not agree with the opinion of Ainhoa Ijurko at all. Separatists have perfect right to express their ideas democratically in Spain. What they intend is to have the right to express themselves killing and threatening people that do not think like them, causing panic and destroying public businesses in our streets...They want even to impose their "nationalist project" to other regions in Spain and France. This is their concept of democracy!!.
It is time that they stop with their hipocresia!. They may still try to deceive the world but they do not deceive us any more.
As for the interview, just to tell The Times : we have been having strong debate about ETA for years in Spain. We do not need the assistance of any newspaper to make this debate more helpful. We do not even need to extend ourselves talking about things that should be already obvious to any human person.

Roberto Garcia, Gijon, Asturias (España)

Altought José María Aznar's political point of view is too much biased to the right-hand, you can't take Eta as a separatist group, and I agree with him on that.
Basque country is ten times more independent than North Ireland, and I think that's more than enough. But even if they want more, there's *NO* *REASON* *TO* *USE* *VIOLENCE*. There's no excuse in the world which can justify all the terrorism the Spanish society has been suffering for years.
Nationalist people in Spain are not repressed; they, in fact, govern the Basque Country: the Partido Nacionalista Vasco - PNV (Nationalist Basque Party) governs that region and in their programs they want independence. In catalonia they've governed all but the last two legislature. So, picturing Spanish society as a nationalism-repressing society is a joke.
What we want to erase from the surface of our country is terrorism. Hundreds of people live with escorts, and have to look under their cars for bombs... think about it.

Francisco Lozaon, Valencia,

I completely agree with our ex-president (or prime minister as you wish).

ETA was, is and will be a TERRORIST group. Do you think that more than 800 deaths have not proved that already?

Probably you should check your sources before presenting such a "being" as a martyr.

Virginia, Oxford,

Hi Sir
I am really happy with your article, which demostrate how is the repression for basque people and their representatives who are just victims (boms at supermarkets, airports, cars, civilian buildings, kidnappings (up to 500 days), harm, 900 killed; just accidents for you?).
I hope you write another article for Omagh terrorists indicating their rights to get free of prison when they stop eating, are not agree?

is the sun and the times are the same newspaper?

Sergio, Madrid, Spain

It seems very clear that The Times has allowed itself to be used to propagate the ideals of the ETA terrorists with only the most superficial regard to any sort of political and democratic decency. There is some sort of popular misconception that Blair’s Irish peace process is in some way comparable to Rodriguez’s so called peace-process. For anyone who follows the two pieces of business they could not be more diametrically different. On the one hand Blair, in agreement with the other democrats, has obtained the pacification of Ulster without handing it over to the IRA gunmen, as well as the gunmen’s agreement to behave democratically in the future. On the Spanish side, Mr Rodriguez, against the views of the democratic liberal party, in exchange for turning a blind eye to the Madrid massacre of 200 people, secretly agreed to hand over the control of the Basque provinces to the gun-men who continue to use violence and murder innocent citizens. What is more: the gunmen have made it clear that they will not stop until the neighbouring and larger province of Navarre is also included in the deal, regardless of the opinions of the population.

A real shame that The Times should lend itself to propagating terrorist lies.

John Lynch-Cummins, POLLensa, Spain

I have participate on the said debate those days, with a great shortage of english words and a los of mistakes in using this beautiful language but, eve so, I have participate.
When terror is used for the benefit of one minority selfexclude of the democratic path, when they say they love their country, the meaning of their being restrictive, exclusive, excluyente, with only one voice (theirs). Their sense of democracy is the same as of Hitler´s, Stalin, and in new times: Venezuela´s, Cuba´s....If you do not agree with me, think my own thougths, act like me you are my enemy. To the enemy: represion or deth.
Those are the bunch of guys you "protect" with the free publicity. Those are the bunch of guys they protect for the purpose of "new democracy Venezuelan´s stile... -eternity in power no mater the means-. Likelly internet is here and internet means free opinion, no price to pay. What a pitty not to share the language¡

Carmen González, Madrid,

Dear Sirs,
Shame, shame, shame!
De Juana Chaos is a mass murderer and a remorseless killer.
Never in the history of human conflict so many mad men were given the chance to cast their message of hatred through such a serious medium as The Times is.
Please, never, never again.

Natalio A. Ganivet, Almería, Spain

Sir, as a Basque, I could not regret more your definition of Eta as a "separatist" group. This adjective could lead the readers to the erroneus stance that Eta simply limits itself to spread its ideology among the basque people.

The truth is far apart. Eta has caused a deep suffering to the non-nationalist basque people, and the rest of the Spaniards for decades. Eta is responsible of the killing of more than a thousand of defenceless people, whose only sin was not share the independentist viewpoint of Eta.

Let me remind you the kidnapping and summary execution of a member of the Town Hall of Ermua. The entirety of Spain people pleaded for his life for two distressing days, to no avail. Miguel Angel Blanco was executed. This, although the most remarkable example, should not make us forget to the rest of the victims (even children) of this gang of murderers.

Furthermore, currently Eta aims to a kind of "ideological cleansing" among the basque people. Thus, if some one become suspicious of being non-nationalist, his car is soon burnt, his house is soon painted with menacing mottos, and his daily life is made very difficult. No one protects or defends them somehow, because they know that if they do, they will be the next. As you may imagine, in small towns, the "air is unbreathable", as we say here.

I expect these few words have contributed to a better understanding of what happens right now in my beloved little corner of Spain.

Agur bero bat. (Kind regards in Basque)

Cesar Ayala, Madrid, Spain