Word: zapatero
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...enthusiasm and high expectations of the talks don't address the question of why this time might be different. One answer may be that the 1998 truce was agreed in secret political negotiation between ETA and more moderate Basque nationalists, without consulting the Spanish Government. This time, Prime Minister Zapatero himself is leading the process, with the support of a majority in the Spanish parliament - although without the backing of the opposition Popular Party (PP). "I think this time the process is more transparent and more open to everybody, to all the political sensibilities in the country," says Mikel Serrano...
...while accepting the pain of the victims, the majority of the people here see this as the moment to make a last sacrifice for the sake of a permanent and just peace, one that would ensure that there are no more victims. And it is on that outcome that Zapatero is clearly betting. He has offered to talk to ETA at a time when the organization is at its weakest after 10 years of relentless pressure from the Spanish and French police and judiciary, which has not ceased - the group's extortion operation was dismantled two weeks...
...Since his March 2004 election, Zapatero has led a virtual revolution in social policy in once-devoutly Catholic Spain, legalizing gay marriage, easing divorce and encouraging stem-cell research. The 45-year-old Socialist leader has become the smiling symbol of Old Europe's rising secularism. Benedict may have had ?Zapatero's Spain" in mind when, on the eve of the conclave that chose him to replace Pope John Paul II, he denounced ?the dictatorship of relativism" in a powerful and oft-cited speech to his fellow Cardinals. In the 15 months since, the pontiff?s fierce intellect and clear...
...doubt Benedict was buoyed by the enthusiastic welcome he received in Valencia. Not even a tragic accident in the city's subway system last week dampened the raucous crowds in the streets and public squares. Papal supporters reportedly booed and whistled at Zapatero as he entered the Valencia archbishop's residence for the brief meeting with Benedict. Inside, there were uneasy smiles and rigid body language. The customary exchange of gifts was also telling, with Zapatero giving the pontiff a modern abstract painting and Benedict handing the Spanish leader a copy of the Vatican codex. (Not very likely that...
...There was tension even before the Pope touched down in Spain. Zapatero let it be known that he would not be attending Sunday's open-air mass that was the crowning moment of the Pope's visit. Zapatero's admirers will see it as a sign that the atheist leader is no hypocrite. But on the flight from Rome, when papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls was asked about the absence, he pointed out that on John Paul's visits, even Communist leaders Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega attended Catholic masses out of respect for the Pope. Not necessarily a knockout...