Original subtitles

I said, "Mom,

"what if they put a bomb in our car, too?"

And then my mother said, "But, darling,

why would they put a bomb in our car?

Come on, get in the car."

I don't think he was ever scared.

And those who killed him

were cowards.

The Minister of the Interior has informed the leaders of the PP of the kidnapping

of prison officer José Antonio Ortega Lara,

for which ETA has claimed responsibility.

My brother was the son of a civil guard,

as well as the grandson of a civil guard.

And then suddenly, you could hear,

"Yay! We finally got one here!"

I just miss my daughters and my brother.

I didn't care about the rest.

Basque people have been massacred to some extent.

And so, it started developing into something...

something that was necessary.

Long live military ETA!

It appears that the car on the roof belonged to the prime minister,

and it appears that he is dead.

At least, that's what ingenious people like me thought.

What they called the "armed fight," yes, I thought that would go away.

The mood in the streets was inexplicable.

There was this dull, strange sensation of enormous tension.

As soon as democracy was established,

violence intensified, taking it to the extreme.

Let us never doubt that killing is never defending an idea. It is only killing.

There's nothing more valuable than a human life.

The arrest of Zabarte Arregui, the "Butcher of Mondragón,"

was an accomplishment

because he was a veteran, he knew how they operated.

They installed a location tracking device inside the missile launcher,

that led us to their arsenal of weapons.

We had no idea

of the magnitude of what we might find.

The Civil Guard seemed inhuman to me. I couldn't understand it.

Why would he kick dead bodies on the ground?

And the first thing I did was feel myself to see if I was in one piece.

I was alive, but I didn't know if I was in one piece.

I said to her, "The interference that the government

is creating in a criminal investigation is unacceptable."

This will continue to be a prison. There will continue to be repression,

and it will continue to be a problem.

There are the parents of the victims, the brothers of the victims,

but there are also the parents and brothers of the terrorists.

Listen, Gregorio...

We are sick of you. Your family is at risk of death.

Get out of the Basque Country, you bastard!

I told Miguel Ángel Blanco's family,

"We are not going to give in to blackmail."

"Are you aware that if you don't negotiate with terrorists,

Miguel Ángel Blanco will be killed?"

These will be wounds

that will heal

to the extent that the citizens of this country

recognize that they lived

looking the other way.

We could have done more, we could have done things differently.

Maybe that's what matters most from a personal point of view.

I always say, the real bastard

of the Franco regime

is ETA.

HISTORY IS THE THREAD THAT WEAVES THE FABRIC OF TIME

IT'S A LONG THREAD FULL OF KNOTS NO ONE CAN COMPLETELY UNTANGLE

THESE ARE THE KNOTS OF OUR HISTORY

I was in the truck that day coming here, to Madrid,

bringing corn.

And when I got to Villabona, we were sent on a detour.

While following the detour, I saw a civil guard

who was working in the ditch...

...as cars and trucks drove by.

THE ONLY WITNESS TO ETA'S FIRST ASSASSINATION

After about a kilometer, I reached the plaster factory.

In this factory, there was a civil guard and two young men.

It all happened in seconds.

I saw the Civil Guard fall over dead

and they put four more shots in him.

TRUCK DRIVER FERMÍN GARCÉS IS THE ONLY EYEWITNESS

TO ETA'S FIRST ASSASSINATION

And they ran off when they saw me get out of the truck.

When I passed, following to catch these guys,

I saw the civil guard with blood pouring out of his mouth.

That was really tough.

The driver now had his hands on the wheel,

and the other one got into the seat.

He just held a gun to my head.

3517 ATTACKS

860 MURDERED

240 OF THOSE MURDERED WERE CIVIL GUARDS

THE CHALLENGE ETA

01 DARKNESS AND SILENCE

1968 - THE FIRST VICTIM

Pardines' assassination wasn't planned.

This was the terrorist group ETA's first murder.

At no point in time is he aware of any risk

or danger of terrorist violence.

This was before the beginning of the harassment campaign...

CIVIL GUARD LIEUTENANT GENERAL

...and prior to the movement to isolate the civil guard organization.

This was all quite normal to him.

At the time, he would've perceived it more as just a crime

rather than terrorism.

And so he stumbles upon Txabi Etxebarrieta,

who had decided that, if he found him, he'd finish him off.

TXABI ETXEBARRIETA'S FORGED ID

And so he kills him, even though he hadn't planned to.

TWO YOUNG MEN IN A CAR FIRE SHOTS

AND ASSASSINATE A TRAFFIC CIVIL GUARD IN VILLABONA (GUIPÚZCOA)

The role Fermín played in all this was very brave.

Not only did he confront them directly,

but he also ran the risk of being assassinated as well.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

After Pardines' assassination, his murderers flee,

and the Civil Guard mounts an operation

that enabled two traffic civil guards

to locate the vehicle.

They exchange gunfire, there's a shootout,

and as a result,

Etxebarrieta is mortally wounded.

His partner, Sarasketa, manages to escape,

but they find and arrest him the following day.

They came to get me to identify Sarasketa.

They brought me to their headquarters in San Sebastián,

to a dungeon cell.

There was a light bulb, and the guy, Sarasketa,

was staring at the bulb. When I saw him, I just said, "Yes."

CIVIL GUARD COMMAND POST 551 NAME: IGNACIO MIGUEL SARASQUETA IBÁÑEZ

REGISTRATION NUMBER: DAY 10 - MONTH 6 - YEAR 1968

The director called me and said,

"Fermín, we're going to buy you a truck, just on your own."

And I told him I didn't want anything other than to be a civil guard.

And I was made a civil guard.

For members of the nationalist movement,

Etxebarrieta became a hero,

and on the international scene,

he was represented as a martyr of Franco's dictatorship,

the first ETA martyr.

This is when terrorist violence

began to escalate and intensify. It would last over 40 years.

My brother was the son of a civil guard,

as well as the grandson and nephew of a civil guard.

ESTRELLA ARCAY CHOUCIÑO AND HER SON ANTONIO JARDINES ARCAY

He decided, destined to be there, to go to Traffic.

He liked motorcycles.

He passed the course,

and his first station was San Sebastián.

He intended to return to Galicia...

...as soon as possible.

BROTHER OF ETA'S FIRST VICTIM

The first time I started hearing of ETA

was after the...

The day my brother was assassinated.

What happened to my brother was very difficult.

They took his life, after all.

Our youngest brother died of illness. That's what we're all exposed to.

But when somebody's life is taken

when he's only just started living,

that destroys a family.

We lived feeling...

very much alone and very sad.

We were totally ostracized, totally abandoned.

Not us, my brother's memory.

And I dream terrible, horrible things.

This has been lurking in my mind for 50 years.

We've lived 50 years in sadness.

THE ORIGIN

In Basque and Spanish at the same time?

-Spanish. -Spanish for now, yes.

Many Basque people believe that ETA arose from...

Basque people have been massacred to some extent.

And so, at that time, it started developing...

CONVICTED FOR COLLABORATING WITH ETA

...into something that was necessary.

We had just survived very difficult years, years of repression, of...

There had been an effort to stifle Basque identity

and many other things, obviously.

We still have violence, but now it's only perpetrated by the State.

ETA was fighting to support their objective.

For a totalitarian political system.

JOURNALIST

And they had delusions of taking over the Basque Country.

The sad part is that those delusions took down 800 people.

ETA started...

...with a group of Bilbao students...

BASQUE INTELLECTUAL

...in 1959.

At least that's the standard explanation.

PORT BILBAO

This raises a question around the privileges that,

despite the fall of nationalism,

the Basque Country had enjoyed after the war until 1959,

when all Spanish savings were being invested in industrial regions,

in Catalonia and the Basque Country.

The Church is quite important,

and here I'm referring to the Basque Church.

From a nationalist point of view, it's a church that suffered,

because it hadn't joined,

at least not enthusiastically, Franco's crusade.

Now, looking back on ETA's hardships...

...I see it as a profoundly natural reaction...

MEMBER OF ETA (1964-1980)

...to the possibility of a democratic future that was perceived in Spain.

It sparked the imagination

of young people who were anxious to change things,

and in the beginning, it came with a lot of preconceived notions,

such as the need for violence.

And I say preconceived because, over a period of 10 years,

there was talk of an armed fight. They tried to mount an attack,

but it didn't happen because at the last minute,

people weren't brave enough to carry it out.

The previous generation, my generation,

established what was called a Special Actions Group,

also known as the Goats,

because they were like real goats who'd go up the mountain

carrying heavy backpacks.

They were very bold. They stopped people for a few minutes

on their way out of church to give a rally speech.

In my family, we had a lot of nationalists.

A lot of my cousins were nationalists,

and one of them was arrested in 1963

for being a member of ETA. He'd been in jail,

and he was the one who suggested I should join ETA

when he realized I was old enough to, let's say,

to take a beating.

And then I had another relative...

This time, it was one of my father's cousins,

who was a Jesuit,

and he's the one who put me in direct contact with ETA.

In those days, there were revolutionary movements

and fights for freedom in a few different countries

like Cuba, Algeria, and Vietnam, etc...

And then there was also the classic example of Ireland,

which has always fascinated Basque nationalists.

I was young, I must have been 17 or 18 years old.

I had a rebellious spirit and a desire to change the world,

in response to an environment

of ideological tensions and deep religious crises.

In the presence of the Commander-in-Chief and of all department heads...

It was a political discourse that had lost its relevance,

the regimen was falling apart,

and there was also a thirst for revenge. My family was republican,

and we had to fight against oppression, didn't we?

And so one of my classmates asked if I wanted to join ETA, and I did.

If my classmate had been with the Communist Party,

I would've joined that, right? These people weren't proletarian.

Although, when it came to seminarians, there were people from rural areas

who, by attending the seminary,

were more culturally advanced

and capable of discussing political philosophy, art,

and all those other things young people like to brag about.

The Civil Guard had been efficient

in using intelligence services in their fight against the Maquis

and all their thieving, between 1940 and 1950.

And once they'd resolved that,

the Civil Guard focused more of their intelligence gathering

around fighting basic crime.

And so they weren't prepared. They had a lot of work to do to adapt,

to create new groups, hire new employees,

and prepare themselves to confront the ETA phenomenon.

The people who approved of José Pardines' death...

JACKALS FROM THE STATE OF SPAIN

...are the same people who denounced Etxebarrieta's death,

calling it an assassination.

THE CIVIL GUARD ASSASSINATE THEY'RE SCUM!

These events were like catalysts to rebuild the nationalist community,

which had been invisible until then.

Armed fighting was all the rage back then.

You have to realize that for my generation,

the quintessential idol was Che Guevara.

In those days,

there were hundreds of nuclear warheads pointed every which way.

Every day, we carried a firearm.

Well, that is, when we could, when we had a weapon.

It doesn't mean our guns were always loaded, though,

because we didn't always have bullets for our pistols.

And often the bullets we did have were from the '40s,

and they were so old they wouldn't fire.

In the Basque Country at that time, many young people saw ETA

as the main opposing force to the Franco regime,

and they were attracted to this epic buzz that Franco created around ETA.

The Civil Guard had no idea of the nature of the enemy coming their way.

Once the terrorist violence began,

the Civil Guard wasn't...

They didn't have the means, nor were they prepared to deal with it.

They had a large number of garrisons with very little means of protection.

And the assignments they gave their troops made them very vulnerable to ETA attacks.

In those days, ETA, slowly but surely, was gaining in strength,

and they decided to attack the State,

which they considered an oppressor,

invasive in their territory.

ETA became the number one enemy of the State,

and as such, the principal enemy of the State's security forces,

which included the Civil Guard.

EXTRA-ORDINARY DAGONILLA AUGUST

To us, it was considered a repressive force...

WHY DON'T THEY JUST LEAVE ONCE AND FOR ALL

...because there are controls, prisons.

When they go and get somebody,

kicking the door down, that kind of thing.

But those who were overseeing the fight...

let's call it the fight against terrorism, as they say,

were repressive through and through.

ETA caused a lot of confusion within the Franco government.

The attempt against Melitón Manzanas

raised a strong wave of sympathy for ETA from the left,

the left opposition to Franco's regime.

VILE ASSASSINATION

OF THE CHIEF OF SAN SEBASTIÁN'S SOCIAL INVESTIGATION BRIGADE

1968 - ASSASSINATION OF MELITÓN MANZANAS

They had a commando unit

waiting for Inspector Melitón Manzanas at the entrance of his home.

They shot him multiple times and finished him off on the ground.

He was a good choice for ETA

because everybody hated him.

LAWYER IN THE BURGOS TRIAL

He was a sadist.

He'd had dealings with people from all parties.

If you had to choose a first target, he was the guy to start with.

I was on the radio. We received a telegram,

"Police officer assassinated in Irún." And I said, "Melitón Manzanas."

After a few minutes, when Melitón Manzanas' name was announced,

everyone was impressed by my clever insight.

Melitón Manzanas was well-known in the city

and recognized throughout the Basque Country as a torturer.

But on top of that, he'd walk around without any...

He went around the city with an air of insolence.

He'd have coffee in a bar...

JOURNALIST

I can see him there now, just off La Concha Beach.

The city was full of witnesses who'd suffered at his hands.

So, once ETA made the decision, no one was surprised

that Melitón Manzanas was the first target.

But then I realized a line had been crossed and immediately,

I knew this would be difficult to stop.

THREE-MONTH STATE OF EMERGENCY IN GUIPÚZCOA

Faced with this assassination,

the regime responds as it usually does,

by sending more resources

to the Basque Country, especially police reinforcements.

During that time, there were a large number of arrests,

and this led them to Inspector Melitón Manzanas' murderers.

THOSE ACCUSED OF THE ASSASSINATION

ALWAYS DENIED ANY INVOLVEMENT IN THE ASSAULT

I'd say the assassination was somewhat cathartic.

The Basques largely consider it as a justified execution.

They thought, "He must have done something to deserve it."

After all, he was known as a torturer.

From there,

events unfold at a dizzying pace, and years later...

JOURNALIST

...lead up to the Burgos trial by court-martial,

involving judges, military personnel

and under the jurisdiction of the military penal code.

1970 - BURGOS TRIAL

The Burgos trial represents a breaking point on many levels.

An internal break from Franco's regime.

For the first time, there was a huge mass mobilization across the country,

of course, in the Basque Country, in Euskal Herria,

but also in Spain.

I was the youngest lawyer on the Burgos panel. I was 25,

but I was old compared to the average age of half of the people there.

It was a court-martial, number 3169

with 16 people

charged with various crimes,

from rebellion to sedition, assassination...

I was accused of everything.

Of burglary, terrorism, spreading propaganda...

Proselytism...

And, well, because I was involved in burglaries,

I was linked to an assassination.

Although I had nothing to do with any direct assassination,

but as I attended a meeting where it was discussed,

well, seemingly, that was sufficient to label me

as a co-conspirator in the assassination.

They wanted to turn this trial into a trial of ETA,

and they invoked practically all democratic regulations and protocols

within the justice system.

But in the city where I lived, in San Sebastián,

I was the director for Radio San Sebastián.

the mood in the streets was inexplicable.

There was this dull, strange sensation of enormous tension.

There was no information broadcast by Spain,

but in San Sebastián, everybody could easily listen to French radio.

Spanish democracy is in danger,

this is what the Spanish newspapers are reporting,

and notably, the most liberal of them all, the daily newspaper, El País.

We had a lot of information about what was going on,

and we knew that there was

significant turmoil in all European democratic countries

protesting against these trial judgments that had turned out to be...

not very democratic from a protocol point of view,

and it became a showdown.

The government was trying to put ETA on trial,

but ETA put the Franco regime on trial instead.

The Franco regime made a mistake, a serious, reckless error,

by concentrating everything on this one exercise.

They wanted to create a communications platform,

and they did, but it backfired.

Members of the military were used to court-martial hearings after the war.

These were very rudimentary, simple and harsh.

And here they find themselves facing lawyers who came prepared,

and under the scrutiny of the international press.

It had a huge impact internationally.

Because of this, the death sentences handed out at the trial

were not carried out.

I, as radio director, received two orders,

one from the authorities ordering me to hang a Spanish flag on the balcony,

and another, from ETA,

telling me that if we displayed the flag on the balcony,

they'd blow up the station.

The most striking moment is when they stand

and start to sing the Eusko Gudariak. Some of us lawyers sang along.

Of course, we kept our voices down, just in case, but we sang it as well.

Long live the Basque Country! Long live!

THE LYRICS TO EUSKO GUDARIAK WERE WRITTEN IN 1932

DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND FRANCO'S REGIME

IT BECAME THE UNOFFICIAL ANTHEM OF BASQUE NATIONALISM

One of the men held up his sword when they started to sing.

We assumed our role as heroes in our early 20s,

and obviously, where was that misery,

pity and sympathy going to return to?

Well, to those young people who,

although they were wrong in carrying out those assassinations,

were fighting against a dictatorship

that none of the European democratic countries

had taken any action against since the end of the Second World War.

When we announced that they'd been sentenced to death...

THE BURGOS COURT-MARTIAL CASE ENDS THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

...I was surprised to see an explosion of joy the likes of which I'd never seen.

They were climbing the walls,

"Finally, the world will discover what Franco's regime is like!

We've won!" But it was like, "Fuck, they're going to skin you alive."

At that moment, the Franco regime briefly suspended activity,

but it didn't take long for them to respond

by increasing repression.

And ETA, who believed they'd won a great battle, which they did,

experienced a huge surge

in popularity in Europe...

BASQUE YOUTH!

...and among the young Basques,

which fueled the sentiment of ETA heroism that ended up causing so much harm.

BASQUE RESISTANCE RISES FOR THE WORLD TO SEE

And they started thinking that...

we'd have to kidnap someone to prevent them from killing us.

ABC - 12.06.1970 LETTER WRITTEN BY KIDNAPPED GERMAN CONSUL

And the kidnapping was done as a way of blackmailing.

But rather than being an element of blackmail,

it became an element of propaganda.

In the first instance,

the international press condemned the kidnapping,

but given the way the Burgos trial was taking place,

the international press started to justify the kidnapping.

THE VOICE OF SPAIN - 12.26.1970 GERMAN CONSUL BEIHL HAS BEEN RELEASED

Biehl was being held in Iparralde, in the Basque Country,

but on the French side, to be clear.

And at one point, Beihl... They weren't careful and he escaped.

Local villagers caught him and brought him back.

The villagers had nothing to do with ETA.

They probably weren't even Basque nationalists.

It was all very respectful and carried out well.

In the end, I heard some people say that, well,

"It's just that you're going to cause trouble for us

if you just walk around here,

and so, if you don't mind..."

They told him a lie, but later it turned out to be true,

"No, no, we happened to hear that they're coming to free you."

Fortunately, that's what happened.

Even Nixon,

who had been advised by his American ambassador in Spain

not to get involved, intervened.

...in Madrid's Plaza de Oriente, and across Spain...

...the support you've shown over the last few days, not only to me,

but to the Spanish army, and to our institutions...

SPANISH GENERAL AND DICTATOR (1936-1975)

...has strengthened our authority. This is enabling us,

in keeping with the articles in the Council of the Kingdom,

to exercise our prerogative to grant amnesty

to those sentenced to death, despite the gravity of the crimes committed,

following the very patriotic Burgos Council's judgment decisions.

In Burgos, I was given two death sentences.

When Franco granted amnesty, those death sentences

were commuted to 30 years for assassination,

and 30 years for multiple instances of burglary.

Then I had to serve time for propaganda,

for possession of arms, for wrongful association and...

And other minor offenses, another 60 years.

At that time, both internationally and even in Spain, as well,

you didn't hear about Basque Country nationalists fighting for the independence

of the Basque Country. It was more of a fight against Franco's regime.

In 1970, Franco had no need to pardon the six men sentenced to death.

ABC - 12.29.1970 COURT-MARTIAL SENTENCING

Franco could easily have shot six terrorists.

Things wouldn't have changed.

ABC - 12.31.1970 FRANCO COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES

Those on the European left would still hate him,

just as they had before.

He's not making a concession, he's not giving in, far from it,

he's just saying, "Let's not act brutally. Let's see what happens.

We'll just grant amnesty."

After issuing his pardons, they kill Carrero Blanco.

1973 - OPERATION OGRE

Carrero Blanco was Franco's successor.

We'd say, "Well, at some point, Franco will go away."

But he'd been around for many years, and he was still there.

And it seemed clear that when Franco was no longer in office,

we'd be rid of him, but his regime would remain thanks to Carrero Blanco.

He was a man of absolute integrity.

He was trained as a Navy marine,

he was deeply Catholic,

and he was incredibly loyal to Franco.

From ETA's perspective,

I believe that they thought...

they could stop

the man who could potentially become Franco's successor.

It seemed there were moments where,

even within the regime,

people were wondering what would be the best thing to do

in the event of Franco's death, or when he died.

Carrero Blanco's assassination was...

a blank check for the future of the ETA.

We had a prime minister escorted by four old guards,

in contrast to the 400 guards protecting Franco.

Franco knew how to protect himself, whereas Carrero Blanco didn't.

HAIL TO FRANCO - LONG LIVE SPAIN

Secret service men from all over the world

are still wondering how that was possible.

It was all very strange. They claimed they intended to kidnap Carrero Blanco,

but then they changed their mind, deciding to kill him instead.

They discovered he was most vulnerable...

...when attending daily mass.

They were there watching him...

CIVIL GUARD COLONEL

...and practically standing beside him, shoulder to shoulder.

Around that time, Carrero Blanco was named prime minister.

That's when they beefed up his security.

They'd been digging a tunnel.

No one could understand how they could work on it for so long,

only 100 yards from the US embassy,

without anyone noticing.

And so this also served to fuel a lot of suspicion,

or confusion.

It was possible because it was basic,

a project seminarians would do, something you'd expect from apprentices.

They connected a few cables to an alternator for lighting.

There was no radio.

Because if there had been a radio system, the North American embassy,

located 300 yards away, would've picked up frequency signals,

especially when Kissinger was spending a few days in Madrid.

It was such a basic, shoddy structure...

that the secret service didn't detect anything,

and it worked.

Initially, they thought the sewer system might be the easiest way

to bring in an explosive device. Later, they realized that the sewer

wasn't going to meet their needs,

because it was difficult to hide an explosive device

for long, given that sewers contain substances with a lot of movement.

They were like movie heroes performing a movie stunt,

and they ended up producing something much greater than any movie.

They rent a cellar and stay there for some time, working,

digging the tunnel under Claudio Coello Street,

and there they plant the explosive device.

When ETA killed Carrero Blanco,

their intent was not to open up a path to democracy.

They wanted to make conditions much worse,

alleviate repression on the Basques, in other words, on the Basque people,

to bring in more members.

The Burgos trial, and what happened with the assassination of Carrero Blanco,

were two very important milestones.

These events caused certain people within the regime to start to think

that Spain was either headed toward democracy, or that it would blow up

as a result of civil conflict involving a brutal armed confrontation.

It is one of the virtues of politicians to turn a bad situation into a good one.

They say, "Every cloud has a silver lining,"

it's no wonder this expression is popular.

"Every cloud has a silver lining." This is a phrase

that is typically used by people

who are resigned to accept whatever happens.

It also has a strong confessional undertone in shaping thought,

and shaping how people express themselves.

Those events triggered other actions

that contributed to setting the stage for where we are now,

in this moment in Spanish history.

THE OTHER DEATHS RESULTING FROM OPERATION OGRE

My father was José Luis Pérez Mogena.

He was Admiral Carrero Blanco's driver.

SON OF CARRERO BLANCO'S DRIVER

THIS IS THE LOCATION WHERE THE TERRORIST GROUP ETA

ASSASSINATED JUAN ANTONIO BUENO FERNÁNDEZ JOSÉ LUIS PÉREZ MOGENA

ON DECEMBER 20, 1973 TRUTH, MEMORY, DIGNITY AND JUSTICE

He drove official cars assigned to government ministries.

That was his job

and he would work for the admiral whenever required, obviously.

He spent three years working for the admiral.

Around approximately 8:30,

a bomb buried under the asphalt, the street pavement,

exploded and the aftershock propelled the car up in the air,

killing the admiral, his guards and my father who was driving.

CLAUDIO COELLO STREET

Based on what they're telling us here at the scene of the accident,

they say a car went directly over the explosive

and it projected the car up onto a roof.

The firemen have just gone up. The car had three occupants.

It appears that the car on the roof belonged to the prime minister,

and it appears that he's dead.

My father was 33 years old when he was killed.

At that time, I was only seven.

And I remember that day was the last day of school.

The school was in proximity to the fleet of cars,

and we had a Christmas event.

As I walked out of school, there was a relative of mine

waiting to take me to his house.

The next day, when we got up, we were at my uncle's house,

and I had a few members of my family there with me.

My sister wasn't there, I didn't know where she was.

And everybody was crying.

My uncle said, "Your father's dead."

TVE - BROADCAST NUMBER 6169 B DECEMBER 21 1973

NEWS FLASH

This afternoon at 4:00, the Prime Minister,

Admiral don Luis Carrero Blanco, was buried.

Fellow Spaniards, let me begin

by publicly thanking you

for your peaceful show of respect, support and the trust

you've shown me, following this criminal assault that brought down

our prime minister

along with the government employees who were with him...

The guards escorting Admiral Carrero Blanco

as well as my father, his driver, are the forgotten ones.

But hearing news that the prime minister has died is very different

than reporting the death of a simple driver

or a regular police guard.

ADMIRAL LUIS CARRERO BLANCO PRIME MINISTER OF SPAIN

I was going through papers a few days ago,

and I want to remind people that my father's death

is largely remembered as an act of violence,

and not an act of terrorism.

There are no acts of terrorism in Spain.

And so, "act of violence,"

or they could even have called it a "work accident."

The anniversary of my father's death is always a difficult day,

and it's very difficult every time there's a terrorist attack in Spain.

Unfortunately, we've had many attacks.

It's really difficult to deal with a tragedy, with death.

It's really difficult.

Our prime minister and the government employees who were with him

died in the performance of their duties.

Everyone shares the pain...

ETA EVERYONE'S ENEMY

During those first years, ETA was still a little innocent

and almost ingenuous.

They decided that the Civil Guard was their enemy.

In order to put pressure on the civil guards,

they sent a letter to all of the precincts,

to their spouses,

to tell them that sooner or later, their husbands would be assassinated

and that they needed to play a very important role

and convince their husbands to leave the Basque Country.

It was a way to use spouses to put pressure on the civil guards.

The ikurriña was a prohibited sign.

As such, ETA used it as a tool for propaganda.

They would put up ikurriñas,

and security forces would automatically take them down.

They decided to take it one step further and boobytrap the ikurriñas

by affixing them to flags along with small explosive devices,

so as to harm police...

ABC - 01.18.1976 CIVIL GUARD ASSASSINATED IN GUIPÚZCOA

...or civil guards as they removed them.

CIVIL GUARD DIES IN AN ATTACK IN VILLAFRANCA DE ORDICIA

They also targeted their barracks,

causing a feeling of anxiety

in the troops and personnel, as well as unrest in their families

living there at the time.

BRUTAL CRIME

BRUTAL CRIME DIARIO UNIDAD 10.06.1975

OÑATE'S TERRORIST CRIME

SEPTEMBER 13 1974 ROLANDO COFFEE SHOP, MADRID

At number two Correos Street,

there's been a tremendous explosion here this afternoon

causing the death of over 10 people

and injuring close to 80.

At this time, we don't have enough information

to confirm the exact number of victims impacted by this explosion.

I didn't feel anything.

There was no noise, no impact, nothing.

I don't know how long I was under the debris,

because of course, it was fairly deep, and I don't know.

I didn't feel anything. The only thing I remember,

and this is etched in my mind, is that someone was carrying me.

And so I opened my eyes a little and I saw gold buttons.

I assumed it was a police officer or a fireman

pulling me out of there.

And I heard someone say, "No, she's dead."

I could hear it perfectly, but it was like a dream.

I didn't think they were talking about me.

I had a fractured collarbone,

my hand was burned, two of my toes had been cut off completely.

I had burns all over my body.

These days...

...there's often talk about psychologists

available to help people when they're in distress.

ETA VICTIM

But in those days, there were no psychologists.

Or if there were, I received no psychological assistance.

The crime on Correos Street, where they'd blown up a coffee shop

because it was a place police officers often went to for lunch...

they killed very few officers,

but killed many innocent people who had nothing to do with it.

Of all their disgraceful acts, this one was particularly horrible,

and ETA tended to want to gloss over it.

On the one hand,

ETA was internally driven by a principle of violence,

while on the other it wanted to save its image

as being portrayed as a Robin Hood movement.

ABC - 09.14.1974 BLOOD OF INNOCENT VICTIMS

The attack on Correos Street provides a glimpse

into the fundamental characteristic of terrorism,

which is that the attack must be indiscriminate.

This attack will have great repercussions both nationally and internationally.

It will also spark debate within the ETA, leading to a crisis,

as members try to vindicate their actions.

So much so that at one point, they decide not to proceed.

ETA continued to support the same principles

as they'd always had since their foundation.

That is to say, acting as an ultra-nationalist party

and having as a common enemy all Spaniards.

Because they believe that their confrontation with the State

and attacks outside of Basque Country,

especially those carried out in the capital,

will have more significant repercussions.

In that final moment, when Franco is quite sick,

when Franco is visibly fading away,

this is especially tragic.

1975 - FIRING SQUAD EXECUTION OF TXIKI AND OTAEGI

Txiki, Paredes was his name,

was a boy who wasn't born in the Basque Country,

and he had...

an interesting...

social connection.

Many immigrants had assimilated well into Basque society,

including young people of that generation.

Some of them had joined the most active front lines

of Basque organizations.

And Otaegi was from Azpeitia. I knew him.

He'd been a true Basque all his life,

a classic ETA model.

Txiki becomes a pathetic example

of the good immigrant, I'll be clear.

I mean, the good immigrant who takes up arms to defend the Basque people.

At that time, ETA used him as an argument to show

how very progressive they were,

"No, Txiki was born in Extremadura, but he's as Basque as the rest of us."

There were a lot of non-Basques in ETA.

Think about it, Txiki was from Extremadura.

Whenever they went to carry out an attack, they'd always bring Txiki

because when they'd get stopped by civil guards or the state police,

he'd stick his head out the window

and speak to them in a perfect Extremaduran accent.

"All right, carry on."

Of course, they thought he was one of theirs.

We're from a small town in Extremadura called Zalamea la Serena...

...and we came here to work.

"TXIKI'S" BROTHER

And to find a better life.

At home, nobody knew he was part of ETA.

Being the eldest, I thought something might be going on.

But my parents? Never.

People outside our family? Never.

They didn't even know what ETA was, for that matter.

One doesn't simply join ETA out of nowhere.

Back then, practically everyone was involved.

Jon left Zarauz probably to carry out a kidnapping or something similar.

And the Civil Guard found out

that there were a number of people close to where they were staying,

and they went to arrest them.

They arrested two of Jon's friends, a guy and a girl,

and Jon had to make a run for it.

He was arrested in Barcelona because... They robbed a few banks.

LA VANGUARDIA - 06.07.1975 ROBBERY OF A SANTANDER BANK BRANCH

And during one of those incidents, a state police officer was shot dead.

They never found out who shot him.

JUAN PAREDES MANOT, ALIAS "TXIKI" COURT-MARTIALED

There was no evidence. No ballistics report,

no autopsy, nothing.

And he was found guilty of this thing overnight.

He was going to have an ordinary trial.

But one month after this happened, after this robbery,

another policeman dies in Barcelona.

And that's when they decide to make his ordinary trial a summary one.

So he didn't have a chance at a defense.

He had nothing to do with that incident with the policeman.

but Franco wanted to issue a warning.

By garotte.

"Mikel, I don't want them to garotte me.

If they're going to kill me, I want an execution by firing squad."

They granted his request, but not because Franco was a great guy.

They were executed by a firing squad

because there were only two executioners in Spain.

As soon as he was brought here, to Modelo Prison,

he told his cellmates that he was going to die the next day.

He showed them a thumbs down, implying that he was going to be killed.

I was looking at my brother, he was very calm,

and he said, "Mikel, I think they're going to execute me."

And I said, "No, they're not, Jon.

"Let's hope that in the end..." Even the Pope was against it.

We spent all night...

I don't know if it was us who were trying to cheer him up, or the other way around.

And it was like he didn't realize what was coming.

We were telling jokes.

I remember him telling me at one point, "Mikel, shit, don't worry, life goes on.

If you have a son someday, name him after me. Name him Jon."

And the first son I had, I named him Jon.

He's named Jon after his uncle.

They pardoned six of them and executed five of them.

Volunteers from the Civil Guard and from the state police.

We know that they were volunteers

and that later, some of them committed suicide.

When he walked between two of them,

he saw me in the back, behind the people,

and I raised my hand.

What was I going to do? There's nothing else I could do.

I raise my hand, and then he starts singing the Eusko Gudariak.

When he got to the second verse,

they fired the second burst and he fell to the ground.

And then the man standing there fired the coup de grâce.

And they killed him. That's it.

I... In that moment,

had I had the chance, I would've killed everyone.

I mean, I would've left no man alive.

But time has taught me that violence won't get you anywhere.

Even today, after so long,

I still remember the way he looked then.

Franco portrayed himself as heavy-handed

with those who had killed or who tried to kill,

and he wanted to show his authority

by teaching people a lesson, as a warning signal,

so that everyone knew that if they followed the same path,

it would surely lead to a death sentence.

I don't know if it was a turning point or not.

I think they would've done the same thing under any circumstances.

But undoubtedly, the death sentences dictated by Franco

reaffirmed certain positions.

I'd like to think that, deep down, no one was happy...

about any of Franco's death sentences.

ETA was successful in that sense, clearly,

I mean, they forced the regime to regress.

His Excellency, the Head of State.

When Franco makes his last speech in the Palacio de Oriente

with the royals at his side, and the emeritus king,

looking uncomfortable under the circumstances,

he goes back to the same discourse he used in the '40s.

With talk of Masonic and communist collusion, etc.,

and how the perverse forces of democracy were isolating Spain's general.

1975 - FRANCO'S DEATH

FRANCO HAS DIED

This is a broadcast from Spain's national radio service,

issued across all Spanish broadcasters.

His Excellency, the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief Franco,

has passed away.

Once Franco had died,

I think the Basque Country, just as the rest of Spain,

entered a period of hope and uncertainty.

Fellow ministers

and colleagues,

it is with a heavy heart in memory of Franco that I say,

-long live the king! -Long live!

-Long live Spain! -Long live!

When Franco died...

FRANCO HAS DIED ABC - 11.20.1975

...the dominating public sentiment was uncertainty

and a degree of fear,

the apprehension you feel when people are waiting to see what will happen next.

And so, at the time, logically you'd expect a lot of uncertainty

and tensions within the government.

At least, that's what ingenious people like me thought.

With freedom re-established, we thought the ETA phenomenon...

PRIME MINISTER OF SPAIN (1982-1996)

...not the underlying...

There were two camps, the independents and the nationalists.

I didn't think the underlying political fabric would disappear,

but in terms of ETA and terrorist activity,

what they called the "armed fight," yes, I thought that would go away.

As soon as democracy was established, violence intensified,

taking it to the extreme.

I don't think we had any idea what was coming in 1975.

At first, the organization's objective

was independence and socialism.

ETA doesn't know how to take on

the challenge of creating a free society in which everyone decides for themselves.

They have to control it,

and the only means of control they're confident in using

is violence.

I always say, the real bastard of the Franco regime is ETA.

ETA was a consequence of Francoism.

FROM 1968 TO 1975 ETA KILLS 45 PEOPLE

PUEBLO - 09.14.1974 ETA DID IT

SERIES BASED ON THE BOOK "HISTORIA DE UN DESAFÍO: CINCO DÉCADAS

DE LA LUCHA SIN CUARTEL DE LA GUARDIA CIVIL CONTRA ETA"

WRITTEN BY MANUEL SÁNCHEZ CORBÍ AND MANUELA SIMÓN