A senior Basque socialist and his bodyguard, a member of the Basque regional police force, died yesterday afternoon in a bomb explosion in the Basque capital, Vitoria, attributed to the separatist group ETA.
Fernando Buesa (53) was secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PSOE/PSE) of the province of Alava, and spokesman for the party in the Basque parliament. He and his bodyguard, Jorge Diez Elorza (27), died instantly when terrorists detonated a powerful car bomb only 200 metres from Mr Buesa's home as he walked to his office.
Mr Buesa, a lawyer by profession, had been a leading politician in the Basque country since the introduction of autonomy to the region 20 years ago. He served as a minister in the regional government when the Socialists served in coalition with Basque Nationalist Party. He was an outspoken defender of democracy and only last week defended a motion in the parliament condemning ETA violence.
Anti-terrorist police have little doubt that the bomb blast was the work of ETA, who at the end of last year called off a 14-month ceasefire. Police said the 20 kg bomb was detonated by radio control as the two men walked past a parked car. The operation was similar to the one used in the blast which killed Lt Col Pedro Antonio Blanco in Madrid exactly one month ago to the day.
This new terrorist attack comes only three weeks before Spaniards go to the polls in general elections on March 12th. Campaigning politicians immediately cancelled all political meetings scheduled for the next two days, while three days of mourning was called in the Basque Country.
The PSOE leader and prime ministerial candidate, Mr Joaquin Almunia, was a close friend of Mr Buesa. He was in the Canary Islands when he received the news, and flew back to the Basque Country at once to offer his condolences to the dead man's widow and three children.
ETA's political front, Herri Batasuna, has called for supporters to abstain in the general election, and will not be presenting any candidates for the parliament in Madrid. Many feared that ETA would again attack either politicians or military in their new campaign of violence.
Only 24 hours before the bombing, Mr Ramon Jauregui, the Socialist secretary for the regions and himself a Basque, told The Irish Times that he feared a terrorist killing at some time before the elections. "We expect them to attack at any time. We don't know when or who their target will be," he said on Monday.