From José MarÍa Aznar,
Prime Minister of Spain,
1996-2004

Sir, I would like to express my astonishment and deep regret for the publication in The Times, a newspaper with such reputation and influence, of the interview with Eta’s terrorist, Ignacio de Juana Chaos. De Juana, who has decided voluntarily to start a hunger strike, is responsible for the killing of more than 25 persons as well as many other crimes. In any case, his advertised suffering cannot be compared with the grief he caused to the families of the victims.

I have always maintained, in public as well as in private, that these types of interviews are free publicity to the terrorists and in their obvious interest. Eta is worldwide considered to be a terrorist group and responsible for thousands of criminal acts and victims. Calling Eta a “separatist” group is like calling al-Qaeda a religious group.

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.

For me and for the great majority of the Spanish society a voluntary hunger strike is not a dilemma but simply a choice. And for me and the majority of Spaniards there is no dilemma in deciding to fight and defeat terror, in applying the law. This is our responsibility and duty. I have always worked for it and will continue doing so with my best efforts.

JOSÉ MARÍA AZNAR
Madrid

Sir, For years, Eta passed itself off as freedom fighters, courtesy of the extreme repression of General Franco’s regime, which fundamentally helped to engender this monster. Eta has been the most serious threat to Spanish democracy after the death of General Franco, once the chances for a military coup disappeared as our democracy grew more mature. We are trying hard to get rid of this backward legacy of violence and repression.

In the Basque Country, nonnationalists are continually harassed by violence or the threat of it, and nonnationalist public figures and their families need bodyguards and are under pressure to leave the public arena or even the Basque Country altogether.

The picture of this stubborn fanatic offering himself as a sacrifice for peace would have been a fit subject for one of Goya’s works. Since de Juana can no longer kill, he has chosen to turn himself into a passive-aggressive symbol of what he would have us construe as the repression of the Spanish State. By doing this, he can continue to use pain as a political tool, and as a threat: in one of the articles for which he was sentenced he threatened more pain if the situation in the Basque country did not change.

JOSÉ MARÍA PÉREZ
FERNÁNDEZ
English Department
University of Granada

Sir, As a Basque, I am very grateful for your report regarding de Juana’s treatment.

You have tackled a very sensitive subject in the Basque Country and in Spain, where separatists are not given a voice, but arrested and outlawed, and Eta is used as a political tool by its opponents for election purposes. Your report could help to open up an international debate on the Basque Country’s right to independence, which we cannot have under Spanish rule.

AINHOA IJURKO
London E3

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