Mia Maher, Mary Lewis, Andy Kunz, and Everett Reinheimer

Spain and the Basque Region Interview

Interviewer: Hello everybody, My name is Lara Logan, Welcome to 60 minutes. Today I will be
interviewing Maria and Larry who are citizens of the Basque Region, and we will be discussing
the recent devolution that has occurred in this area.
Interviewer: First I want to ask Larry if he could explain to our viewers what has happened in
this region lately.
Larry: It started back in the 1930s when General Fransico Franco, the dictator of Spain, tried to
eliminate diverseness.
Interviewer: What happened after that Maria?
Maria: Well, The people of the Basque region did not agree with what General Francisco Franco
was doing. So we attempted to revolt, leading to many years of violence and eventually the
Basque region wanting independence.
Interviewer: What lead up to the Basque Region wanting independence.
Maria: The Spanish Civil War began, the people of the Basque Region were heavily targeted. My
family and I were thrown in jail, many of my relatives were even killed in battle. Some were
soldiers and some just citizens. During this war no one was safe.
Larry: I was a soldier in the war, many of my friends who were also soldiers did not survive. The
majority of the people killed were Basque citizens.
Interview: Whatever happened to General Francisco Franco?
Larry: He was taken from power and died in 1975, this is when the fighting ended and we as the
Basque Region demanded our independence from Spain.
Interviewer: What occurred in the Spanish Civil War that prompted the Basque people to want
independence?
Maria: During the Civil War, the majority of the people residing in the Basque region were
either imprisoned or killed. This lead to the Basque people seeking separation from Spain.
Interviewer: This must have been hard for you both.
Maria: My brother and I reside in the Basque region. We were not a part of any of the revolts,
and we were definitely not soldiers. Even though we were not a part of the movement we were
still taken from our homes and thrown in prison. We stayed there for 4 years until we were
finally released at the end of the war.

Interviewer: Did the Basque region ever gain its independence from Spain?
Larry: The Basque region never became a separate country from Spain, but we did become our
own nationality.
Interviewer: How has this been working out?
Maria: The Basque area is currently being controlled by Spain and France, they are controlling
the region through there government instead of Basque nationalism. This is an issue because the
Basque people have maintained linguistic, cultural, and economic differences with the rest of
Spain and France. Both Spain and Frances government systems do not support these differences
which has raised issues in the area.
Interviewer: What kind of issues?
Larry: The Civil War may have ended but the fighting and violence is still a major issue. After
the Basque people were announced as a nationality a group called the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna,
the ETA, or the separatists came into the picture. This group strongly believes that the Basque
Region should be separate from Spain. The ETA often inflict terrorist attacks such as bombings
and mass killings on the Spaniards. The ETA are identified as a terrorist group and one of the
biggest problems that plagues Spain to this day. Three providences in Spain are identified as the
Basque country. However, the ETA want another Spanish province, Navarra, to be included, as
well as part of southern France to create a homeland for 3 million Basque people.
Interviewer: What kind of attacks have the ETA inflicted on Spain?
Maria: There have been countless attacks but to name a few in April 1976 the ETA claimed
responsibility for the killings of two Spanish policemen in Southern France and in 1995 there
was an attempted Assassination plot on King Juan Carlos of Spain but the attempt failed.
Interviewer: Do you both have any opinions on the topic of whether the Basque region should
hgain the independence that they have been demanding?
Larry: I think that the Basque people fought too hard to only be called a nationality, we should be
independent from Spain to make up for all the lives lost in the Civil War.
Maria: I think that if we dwell on little things we will never come to a fair conclusion. I think as
long as there is peace and the Basque people are being treated fairly we can be called a
nationality.
Interviewer: Thank You for both of your time, I think our viewers have all learned a lot about a
topic that isnt really covered by the media. For 60 Minutes, Im Lara Logan, goodnight.