A SAD NEW YEAR AS ETA KILLS TWO AND ITS OWN CEASE FIRE

The cease fire is over with the bombing of a parking garage at Madrid's airport on December 30, 2006. It was a car bomb, a stolen Renault van that was parked in the middle floor of the parking garage, as close as possible to the terminal. It is estimated that it carried over 200 kilos of explosives. Rescue and emergency teams worked instead of celebrating the New Year. As the bells rang at midnight, the workers embraced and cried rather than celebrated.

Here some photographs of the destruction taken by the emergency crews. In one, you can see the dog they were using to try to locate the missing. In addition to the damage to the parking garage and terminal, 961 vehicles were damaged. It has been reported that 20 were injured, 5 serious requiring hospitalization and two are presumed dead. This was not unexpected.

In addition to the injured, five severely, it is also believed that two Ecuadorians, Diego Armando Estacio Civizapa, 19, and Carlos Alonso Palate, 35 — had been killed. They were believed to have been waiting in their vehicles for a flight when the bomb exploded. Under international law, the killing of innocent civilians distinguishes freedom fighters from terrosists. The murder of these two was a foreseeable consequence of the bomb and the ETA must be held responsible.

Diego Armando Estacio

The President of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has suspended all dialogues with ETA while the Minister of the Interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, grimly declared that the peace process is broken and cannot be saved. The goverment will be meeting with the various political parties, including its arch-rival the PP to forge a united front and consistent message in dealing with the ETA.