Objective/Context:

The definitive dissolution of eta in May 2018 has prompted the appearance of numerous academic publications that mainly focus on the discursive universe of victims of civil society or prominent personalities from the Basque Country. Thus, through an oral history exercise, it seeks to reconstruct eta discourse in an original and unprecedented way in the face of two events that accelerated its disappearance: the attacks of March 11, 2004, and the failed negotiation with the Government of Rodríguez Zapatero between 2005 and 2006.

Methodology:

The analysis of how these two events were perceived by eta activists is based on nine in-depth interviews conducted with prominent members of the armed group. These were carried out at the end of 2018, a few months after the disappearance of eta, and serve to vindicate the importance of testimonies and oral sources.

Originality:

So far, very few studies have used this type of source, mainly due to their difficult accessibility. Thus, although the oral history approach has not been unfamiliar to the understanding of eta, the dissolution of the terrorist group has not been studied based solely on the testimony of its members, an aspect that occupies a central place in the following pages, when taking a closer look at how former members perceive and relate the events that marked the end of eta.

Conclusions:

All the interviewees coincide in pointing out how the 11-M attacks represent a turning point that resulted in the loss of anchors in Basque society. Even though eta was able to arrange a dialogue scenario just a year later, a radical, uncritical position, without a clear roadmap-which is perceptible in the interviewees’ accounts-contributed to discrediting a terrorist group that only five years later announced the end of their armed actions.

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