Subcom Marcos missteps on Basque initiative?

Subcom Marcos missteps on Basque initiative? 

MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK
MEXICO WEEKLY NEWS AND ANALYSIS
JANUARY 6-12, 2003

ETA RESPONDS TO MARCOS

The armed Basque separatist movement ETA expressed serious 
doubts about the real intention of a proposal for a broad 
dialogue on Basque independence, including a 177-day ETA 
unilateral ceasefire, initiated by Subcomandante Marcos in 
December.   The ETA responded in a letter sent to the 
Mexican daily La Jornada: The public manner in which you 
launched your proposal, without previous consultation, 
reflects a profound lack of respect for the Basque people. 
The letter never explicitly rejects the dialogue proposed 
by Marcos, but criticizes the Zapatista initiative in 
particularly harsh language: we do not reject the 
possibility of initiating or accompanying new initiatives 
in the future. But they would have to be serious 
proposals, based on a broad consensus and legitimate 
social support.  We also want to make it clear that it is 
not our intention to form part of a pantomime or operetta 
to win space on the front pages of international 
newspapers and web sites, nor to provide the motivation 
for the next fashionable t-shirt in the streets of Madrid. 
However, the letter included our solidarity with the 
people of Chiapas is unconditional, and ended with Viva 
Chiapas Libre!

Late last year, Marcos exchanged a series of letters with 
Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, in which the Zapatistas 
proposed a series of public debates on Basque independence 
in the Canary Islands in April.  Batasuna, the Basque 
separatist party, which was recently outlawed by Garzon, 
accepted the proposal within days.