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Editorial: El Mundo
May 6, 2025
- Today marks the 25th anniversary of the assassination of ELMUNDO's columnist José Luis López de Lacalle by ETA in Guipúzcoa.
- The murder had a clear intention: to terrorize journalists and press analysts, who are essential for democratic pluralism.
- López de Lacalle denounced ETA and its political wing; he defended the Constitution, the Statute of Gernika, and the parliamentary Monarchy.
- ETA assassinated two journalists: José María Portell, in 1978, and José Luis López de Lacalle, in 2000.
- López de Lacalle was against any rapprochement to the Basque left-wing nationalists that did not involve relinquishing weapons.
- ETA stopped killing ten years later, but the legacy of its project continues, with leaders who supported its violence.
Conclusion: López de Lacalle's murder is a reminder of ETA's brutality and the need to protect democratic pillars such as freedom of speech and press. Even today, it is a duty to commemorate victims and repudiate any form of political violence.