Basque Fatherland and Freedom is a nationalist organization dedicated to a separate nation-state for the Basque people, an ethnic group inhabiting areas of northern Spain and southwestern France. There are between 2 and 2.5 million Basques in the region, many of whom speak an indigenous, non-Indo-European language called Euskara. Basque Fatherland and Freedom is usually referred to by its Euskara acronym, ETA. <br /><p><br />ETA is one of Europe's most notorious and long-running terror groups. It was founded in 1958 from the remnants of EKIN, another radical Basque separatist group. Both EKIN and ETA were created because of discontent with the moderate nationalism of the main Basque party, the Basque National Party. Since its founding, ETA has been responsible for hundreds of attacks in Spain, France, and elsewhere. It has also maintained ties with other terrorist groups both inside the Basque region and beyond, including the Irish Republican Army and Venezuela's Red Flag. <br /><p><br />The bulk of ETA's attacks have targeted businesses and Spanish government officials, especially members of the security services and the judiciary. Its most common tactics are bombing and assassination. Similar to the IRA, ETA sometimes issues warnings prior to attacks. <br /><p><br />The group's most notorious success was the assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco in December 1973. At the time, Blanco was seen by many as the most likely successor to Spain's dictator, Franco. He was killed when an underground bomb exploded beneath his car. More than twenty years later, ETA nearly assassinated Jose Maria Aznar, an opposition politician who later became prime minister. <br /><p><br />The status of the Basque homeland changed significantly with the end of the Franco regime and the return of democracy in 1979. While Franco had sought to suppress Basque nationalism and separatism, the new democratic government offered significant autonomy to the Basque provinces. In a deal completed in 1980, the Basque region acquired its own parliament, as well as control over taxation. Furthermore, Euskara became more prominent in public culture and education. The new autonomy, however, did not deter the radical separatists that comprised ETA. <br /><p><br />ETA's level of activity has ebbed and flowed over the years. The group has attempted several cease-fires, including a 14-month one that lasted until December 1999. While there have been a number of ETA attacks since 2000, the group has claimed fewer victims and is believed to be shrinking. Spanish officials believe that recent crackdowns have led to a serious weakening of the group and sense that its future as a terrorist organization may be limited. There are more than one hundred suspected ETA members in Spanish prisons today. <br /><p><br />In the past several years, ETA has conducted sporadic attacks, including strings of bombings in September 2004, December 2005, and early 2006. However, these bombings were generally preceded by warnings and did not result in any deaths.<br />