As you all probably know by now, ETA has already begun a "permanent cease-fire" scarcely half an hour ago. I thank all the people who are probably happy for Spain. I share their hope, but not their optimism.
I´m a weird kind of optimist: I do believe everything will be all right in the end, but it needn´t be while we´re still alive to see it.
It´s way too early to have a well formed view on all this, so take it like brain-storming, will ya?
- The "cease-fire" choice of words is bad news:
a) ETA keeps using war vocabulary as if there were two sides killing each other.
b) How can we be sure it´s going to be permanent if they don´t give up the weapons?
- During the last months, the Government seemed so eager and happy about the proximity of such an announcement. Yesterday though, I got the impression (and I wasn´t alone) that they weren´t as happy as I should have expected. And they seem to be walking on egg-shells this last thirty-something hours, which isn´t bad at all, only schocking 
- Everybody is speaking much more openly about a possible already on-going negotiation between the socialist and ETA. It might even have been going on for up to four years. That places us in Aznar´s second government, when Zapatero signed with him the Agreement against Terrorism, Zapatero´s own idea.
- May the text broadcasted yesterday by ETA be agreed on by both sides, as suggested by the government-friendly newspaper El País? If the negotiation has been already going on, what was the point of asking the Parliament last spring for permission to negotiate with ETA only after they stopped violence?
- There have been more than ten cease-fires or truces before this one. There were two big ones, one during Gonzalez´s government and one during Aznar´s. I was too young during the first one, and during the second one, I had no doubt no too high a price would be paid to ETA. I´d like to be as sure now.
- ETA doesn´t seem to be willing to give up any of its goals. Is the government in such a strong position?
- Will ETA stop street-violence and black-mail against those busineesmen who have been lately receiving pictures of their children?
- ETA doesn´t seem to have stopped getting the material they need:
a) Barely hours ago, a van was stolen in Cantal, France. ETA is a suspect because the plates of the robbers´ own van was false.
b) Also, the French Police have found in southern France 700 Kgs of explosives in a county were ETA is supposed to have been active lately, and French Police suspects the explosives may be from some recent explosives stealings by ETA.
c) ETA is also the main suspect of the robbery of 20.000 blank plates and a plate-printer less than 10 days ago.
What´s the point? 
- For the negotiation to be fair, victims should play a role in it too. If ETA is going to be paid back for having stopped killing, they should get something too, for NEVER having taken matters in their own hands, shouldn´t they?
Many more ideas boiling in my head. But the rest of my body is sleepy 