2006年VOA标准英语-Spain Hopes for Peace With Basque Separati

By Lisa Bryant
San Sebastian, Spain
20 April 2006
 
After nearly 40 years of separatist violence, Spain's ETA terrorist group has announced a permanent ceasefire.  The separatist organization has killed more than 800 people in its quest for an independent Basque nation in northern Spain and parts of southwestern France.  Many Basques believe peace may finally arrive in this troubled region.

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Basque journalist Gorka Landaburu remembers clearly the day five years ago when he opened a letter bomb at his office.  The package exploded in his hands, blowing off his right thumb and the tips of several fingers, but unlike hundreds of other victims of ETA terrorism, Landaburu survived.

Now Landaburu, 55, is contemplating¹ an entirely² different kind of close encounter with the 38-year-old Basque terrorist movement, as a potential partner in peace.

During an interview in a hotel in San Sebastian, Landaburu said he believes the Basque region has never been so close as now to peace.  ETA, he says, has no other option but ending its violence.

Landaburu is not alone in this assessment³.  In a statement last month ETA (an acronym⁴ that stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom) said it was renouncing⁵ violence permanently⁶.  If so, that means the demise⁷ of Western Europe's last, major homegrown terrorist movement.

Experts like Landaburu cite a confluence⁸ of factors making peace in Spain's Basque region more likely today than anytime in the past.

Landaburu says police crackdowns in Spain and neighboring France have drastically weakened the terrorist group.  And the 2001 terrorist attack in the United States and the 2004 terrorist bombing in Madrid have only increased Spanish disgust for terrorism, even among Basques who support the goal for an independent Basque nation.

Equally important, experts say, the Socialist⁹ government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is offering an unprecedented¹⁰ overture¹¹ for peace.  Last year, Mr. Zapatero obtained parliamentary approval to open official talks with ETA, if the group renounced¹² violence. 

If the Socialist government concludes the group is serious about its latest truce¹³ - and the prime minister suggested this week that was the case - disarmament talks may begin within a few months.

Jean Chalvidant is a French expert in Basque terrorism.

Chalvidant says the truce comes at a good time for ETA, but also for Mr. Zapatero.  He notes the prime minister's popularity has jumped a few points since the truce was declared.  It is important he says, that Mr. Zapatero shows he has succeeded where others have failed.

Pro-independence demonstrations¹⁵ were once a regular occurrence in San Sebastian.  But today, there are few signs of ETA's shadow, or of Basque dreams of an independent nation.  Only in the old quarter are visitors reminded this is no ordinary European city.  Green flyers plastered to walls say in English, "Attention tourist: You are not in Spain, you are not in France.  You are in Basque country."

Polls show only about a third of Spanish Basques want to succeed from Spain, ETA's main goal.  Even those who do like Javier Apalaterui, 21, are pleased with ETA's truce.

"I think they realize the Basque country wants to fight for our rights, but with another way - through democracy," he explained.  "We are a democracy.  So we can fight for our rights without them.  We do not need them.  And I think they have realized that."

But few believe the peace process will be easy.  It is unlikely, for example, the Spanish government will agree to ETA demands for full amnesty of Basque prisoners - or a referendum on seceding¹⁶ from Spain.  Whether ETA will disarm¹⁴ is another question. And the Batasuna Party - ETA's political arm, remains¹⁷ illegal in Spain and on the terrorist lists of the United States and European Union.  Perhaps the most difficult task will be reconciling the regions scarred and divided population.

Politicians wrestled¹⁸ with similar problems when it came to the peace process in Northern Ireland, after the Irish Republican Army renounced terrorism. 

But Eneko Goya, a local lawmaker from the Basque National Party, says there are key differences between the Basque separatist struggle and that in Northern Ireland.

Catholics and Protestants live in separate zones in Northern Ireland, Goya says.  But here, you can find supporters of all kinds of political tendencies living in the same apartment building, including those supporting the banned Batasuna party and the ETA goals.

Former ETA member Joxean Agirre, who spent 18 years in prison for assassination¹⁹, says he is treated cordially on San Sebastian's streets.

Agirre is a prominent local activist²⁰ fighting for greater rights of ETA prisoners.  He says people may not agree with his views.  But the first priority for everyone now is to build peace.

But in the small Basque town of Amurrilo, about a two-hour drive from San Sebastian store owner Santiago Abascal, 55, disagrees.  Abascal is the regional spokesman for the opposition²¹ Popular Party which takes a hard line on terrorism.

He shows a reporter a long printed list of the many ETA death threats against his father, himself, and now his 29-year-old son, a Popular Party deputy in the Basque parliament.  He and his son live with round-the-clock bodyguards²².  He does not think he will see the day he will leave the house without them. 

Abascal says only law and order can resolve the Basque conflict.  Negotiations²³ are not possible with terrorists.  ETA killed people, he says, and now they must pay.

1 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

5 renouncing   

v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• He enraged the government by renouncing the agreement. 他否认那项协议，从而激怒了政府。 来自辞典例句
• What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? 抛弃台湾，并转而拥抱北京之后，你会得到什么？ 来自互联网

6 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

7 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

8 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

9 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。

12 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

14 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

15 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

16 seceding   

v.脱离，退出( secede的现在分词 )

参考例句：

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

20 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

21 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

22 bodyguards   

n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一样，在两名保镖的陪同下，布鲁克斯去吉姆的办公室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在这次袭击事件中，他有3名保镖受了伤。 来自辞典例句

23 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。