On April 1, 80,000 people participated in a march through the streets of the northern Spanish city of Bilbao for peace and greater autonomy for Euskadi (the Basque Country). The demonstration came 10 days after the armed Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent ceasefire, ending a 38-year armed campaign to carve out an independent homeland comprising the Basque-speaking regions of Spain and neighbouring France.
A key aim of the march was to raise support and bail money for Arnaldo Otegi, the leader of the banned Basque nationalist party Batasuna. He was arrested after a general strike in early March, following the death of two Batasuna members in jail.
From Green Left Weekly, April 12, 2006.
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