Speedier handover to Catalans presse
From Harry Debelius himself and Señor Tarradellas. Madrid, April 3 s " We both agree to work for Señor Josep Tarrädellas, the a more democratic Spain, . to president of the Generalität, the strengthen the. unity, of Spain Catalan regional government, through the establishment of conferred in Madrid today with home rule." Señor Adolfo Suárez, the Prime Although neither. of the two Minister, and other political mentioned it, one . of the and military leaders in an toughest points in the negotia-. effort to speed up the transfer tions about the degree of of responsibilities and authori• autonomy for Catalonia is the ties to the Generalität. ^ matter of taxes and government After a one-hour meeting expenditure. ',. . with the Prime Minister, Señor Señor Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Tarradellas said that it had been the leader of the conservative as cordial as the previous ones, Popular Alliance and former but he refused to disclose what Minister of the Interior, said had been discussed. He denied in Granada at the weekend that that a proposal to establish full the death penalty should be legal parity between'Castilian mandatory for the killing of a Spanish and the Catalan lan• policeman. He also called for guage was the most important a law to increase police powers of the matters under discussion. to deal, with terrorism. i; Princess returns: Princess Irene Señor . Tarradellas • told of Holland, wife of Prince reporters that he would meet Carlos Hugo de Bourbon-Parma, Señor Suárez- again on Thurs• leader of the Spanish Car list day.' He then left for talks with Party, returned to Spain today Lieutenant-General Manuel after nine years in exile. Gutiérrez Mellado, the Deputy The princess and he husband, Española Prime Minister for Defence. King Juan Carlos will receive who have French nationality, the Catalan leader on Wednes• were expelled from Spain in 1S68 for political activity day. v; . Before their meeting, Señor against General Franco's regime. : Suárez said that there were no Prince Carlos Hugo returned tb conflicting viewpoints between Spain five months ago.—AP.
Remains of ex-President brought home to Spain From Harry Debelius In another political develop• Madrid, April 6 ment, Señor Suárez, the Prime Closing ranks in a way they Minister, has told the Congress had failed to do "in his life that he intends to continue to time, Spanish Communists and seek a consensus on policy until Socialists paid homage here after the approval of a. new today to Señor Francisco Largo constitution. TRANSICIÓNCaballero, the late President of Apparing before rh Lower the Republic, as his body was House last night to give his brought back to his homeland first addres to Parliament this for burial. year, Señor- Suárez denied that A coffin bearing the remains there had been any " goveriW of the socialist leader arrived ment crisis". He said that,th<> in -Madrid by air from Paris, shake-up last month was tHe where he died in exile in 1946 result of the resignation of at the age of 76. Relatives and Professor Enrique- Fuentes a delegation of the general Quintana from 'the post of Labour Union, "which he once Deputy Prime Minister y for headed, received the coffin Economic Affairs. and took it to the union's head• The Prime Ministr defended quarters. his practice of seeking general The Spanish Socialist Work• agreement among leaders of the ers' Party, the Popular Social• various parties.before adopting ist Party and the Spanish Com• any political " or . economic munist Party _ all - arranged course. He called for a " truce " special ceremonies in honour in the meantime. • of the late President. His body The special plenary session Fundación is to be reinterred in Madrid's of Congress lasted until after civil cemetery, next to that of midnight and -was resumed his wife, on Saturday. Until again this morning. •' '•, then it will lie in state at the Señor Manuel Fraga Iribarne, union headquarters. a conservative and - once Although he was called "the General Franco's Ambassador' Spanish Lenin" because of his in London, rejected the' Prime revolutionary attitude, he ' lost Minister's idea and called for the support of the communists simpl majorit yrule. ; at a critical moment during the " We have not come here to Spanish Civil War. Señor Largo ask the Government to quit, Caballero was President from but to ask it to govern, to September, 1936, two months govern, to administer. . . . The after the outbreak of the Civil horse has been saddled long War, until April, 1937. enough. It's timeto ride." Spain debates ease||
for joining Nat(te|y/? From Our Correspondent . .Adopting a stance.of neutra- Madrid, April 4 lity'would, he said, have serious . The policy speech to rive repercussions oirJ the European senate last month" by Señor balance of - power; The Penta• Marcelino Oreja, the Foreign gon takes the same view. Minister, in which he broached Since the Oreja ápeech Señor for.itfie first time the sensitive Enrique Miigica, the Socialist issue 'of Spain joining ';Natoif president of the Cortes' defence has jstarted, a timid "debate bit committee, and Señor' Luis the issue after two years of Solana, a Socialist MP, have official silence. *.-: visited Washington, where Nato With the new democratic Con-' was discussed.';' '".' ,: ' •>' "•'"' stitution and Spain's application The American ; view: is that to join the EEC under, dogged while Spain's; .membership of discussion "along, ^...'witíi * the Nato is very impprtaht, any un- country's mounting economic •; due. pressure , to join_ would problems, the Government!has probably be counterproductive. mdre.than enougdi on its Víate. It is also held that the different Española -'^Nevertheless Señor .Adolfo [parties must "arrive at some Suárez; the- Prime Minister^ltaS' -kind of-general agreement on felt thatthe time has comentó, the .issue, for a divided Spain give the'subject an airing and' would* not be. a very .'"desirable take some "of the wind out of* member. If Spain's1 wish is to the sails of tire left, which, has be part of Europe, then it can• lately_ - been "reiterating its not pick and'choose and must i opposition to Nato •membership. baiong wholeheartedly. ' '' \ There is talk of a padiainient.ary ,In both the Socialist and debate in October. *Í%:¡$?$&fíi¿ Communist parties there- is' a One. of the main problems, is strong' aM-Américah. .feeling, that whereas there is agreement ' generated by. the American in• • on' EEC membership and' the fluence during the Franco dic• need for -Spain to play, its tatorship. .. '... ; economic role in Europe,; there Recent Wcstera estimates put are1; widespread "differences the numerical'strength of Nato over Spain's political and forces well below, that of the military role. ¿1"^';"T>*. Warsaw Pact countries. Spain's The left wants the country membership (the Army num• to stay out of all alliances.',' bers about'220,000, the Navy In, his -list of reasons for' Nato 47,000 and the Air Force 34,000) membership, ..Señor Oreja .left would not; greatly '•< alter those no doubt about the Govern• ratios. - But in .strategic terms,, ment's .position. He' declared with its commanding position in that Spain already had " cóii: the Mediterranean,. Spaih?s con• tractual obligationsTRANSICIÓN" in the tribution to the: Atlantic alli• defence 'of the West (through ance would be far more impor• ths American-Spanish joint de• tant. : yJhXA • ..',' . y- fence' committee tp which the A far more serious problem commander of the American' is Gibraltar, for as one well forces in Europe acts as.a mili• placed source' put it: " Spain tary adviser). "' . -/."ly,""', could hardly form part of an The American bases agree• alliance a member of which ment was renewed in January, owned a piece of Spanish terri• 1976, authorizing the United States to continue to use mili• tory". tary bases in Spain until 1981. The Gibraltar problem, a good Thg agreements with América emotional rallying, point for any have formed the pillars of government, would have to be Spain's defence policy since solved beforehand iin - some 1953. ." '-...-: form. , ••' -•-;..».'.!•--':.'•--•' Fundación Carrillo check-up exposes split in communist ranks From Our Corresponden: communist parties in prepara• Madrid, April 9 tion for the National Congress The Catalan communist later this month when the party (PSUC) was in crisis Leninist j^oncept will be today after the party's presi• debated. -Thef visits have dent, secretary general and exposed wi^e differences of leading _n^mhet-p QP/UU£m. > resigned yesterday ovew ^ri«ys5 (the Uii .ited Socia- differences about whether to Hsf'Party XjfC^talonia) which abandon its Leninist concept. did well ini " last June's general The resignations came at a elections and picked up more meeting in Barcelona after the seats in - Barcelona than the party rejected a proposal by national party did in Madrid, S'ehor Santiago Carrillo, the is divided into Eurocom- (national) head of the Spanish munists and Leninists and Smuggling Communist Party, to change there is a feeling that Madrid from a " Marxist-Leninist is exercising far too much con• party" to a "revolutionary trol over its sister party. The is denied by Marxist party". The three PSUC claims, to ' be auton• Catalan leaders felt obliged/to omous. daughter resign as they are Carrillo fol• At its own congress last year lowers. I it voted to maintain the Marx- Senor Carrillo and other ist-leninist line and members leaders o£ the national party- feel that the petition to change ofF^icó have been visiting the regional is too sudden. Frontfcgarry Debelius ...... ' ,*. . ^%i
Mi \ • j •'•}•
Madrid: Seiior Suarez, the i Spanish Prime- Minister, is to t visit the Canary Islands later rt this month for the "first time since taking office. This was -t-T--H-H"~+" learnt today ,at .the-same time as reports reached Madrid of the attack on Senor Cubillo. •Hi The national news agency EFE quoted a spokesman for • t—f • the MPAIAC as saying that their struggle would continue. i .. L... i Proot of this was the fact that the organization had planted a bomb in the police headquarters in Las Palmas soon after Seiior Cubillo was injured. The bomb destroyed part of i ,;theTRANSICIÓN. offices but no one'-was . U- • injured. It was reported today that police have arrested five -4- people over the explosion, in• cluding two alleged members i of the MPAIAC. Z„.,' ! .}—-—j The islands have .serious ... .u
... T_ social problems and the Organi• -f ---i— zation of African Unity (OAU) r i" recently claimed them as part . ... of Africa. The OAU's proposal, put forward by Senor Cubillo, will be debated when the heads of state of the OAU meet in 4- !•• i Khartum in July. i Fundación i Spain seeks -innumi nii|..-..j,i,| , „ , , to protect j [Top Soviet I atom plants diplomat I From Our Correspondent ordered out j Madrid, April IS ^ v Spanish officials' are said to be studying; a British-Aiperican of Madrid plan to protect nuclear! power From William Chislett ^ plants against terrorise raids. Madrid, April 17 i- • i Basque separatists are Jontin-u- mg their campaign of Violence The Spanish Government has against a Spanish powA- com• given a senior diplomat at the pany that is building a• Twcleajp-- Soviet Embassy a week to leave plant near Bilbao. Spain after he was found Gunmen wounded two state spying, according to newspaper security policemen early todav reports here today- at the San Sebastian offices of He would be the fourth Soviet Iberduero, which is building diplomat ordered out since the Lemoniz nuclear plant diplomatic relations between near Bilbao, and seriously j the two countries were wounded a municipal police• reestablished after a 38-vear man at Algorta, on the out• break. skirts of Bilbao, late last night. In both cases the extremist He is reported to be Mr Yuri ETA (Basque Homeland and Isaev, a political counsellor Liberty) is suspected. ranked fifth at the Embassy. _ The British-American secur• The Foreign Ministry would ity scheme known as "Civex", neither confirm nor deny the was _ developed jointly by the reports but said there might Española British Atomic Energy Agency be an official statement later. and the California Electrical Energy Research Institute. However an informed source The principal security fea• confirmed the reports, adding ture of "Civex" consists in that he had been asked to maintaining the level of leave, rather than expelled, in radioactivity of the plutonium the hope that; the incident used in power plants at a level could be kept out of the news• that would kill instantly any; papers. one handling it without the necessary precautions. Business News Diary, page 21
Tunnels found on route for King Juan Carlos False alarm for police in Madrid TRANSICIÓN_ . , • , . : _i ...... :i : lying about and electric lights From Harry Debelius police, whose faces seemed slightly red, disclosed that blazing in several interior base• Madrid, April 18 after talking to the owners of ment rooms. Sirens screamed, lights the building they found that In .one room they found a flashed, firemen stood by with the tunnels were part o£ doorman's uniform, several air hoses at the ready and police• authorized repair work in• mattresses and bottles of tran• men armed with sub-machine tended to check the source of quillizer tablets and alcoholic •guns surrounded a build• dampness in the basement and beverages. There were also ing near the Interior the solidity of the foundations. reports that they had found Ministry before' dawn here fou* uassports. a mechanic's There were three tunnels, today after . grim inspec• 'tool kit and a small motor. each* pointing in a different tors reported the discovery of ' Alarming conclusions were direction from the basement tunnels dug from the basement quickly drawn. . , the abandoned building bh Hie near the routY of next month's : broad Castellana Avenue, One of the subjects on the big military parade where King where the parade will pass. One agenda of the Cabinet meeting Juan Carlos wHl pass. , of the tunnels reached a few to be held here tomorrow is Police feared \hat the'tunnels feet under the avenue. The special measures to combat ter• were to be used rn-an assassina• building where the excavations rorism.. tion attempt similar to the one were found is just one and a In Bilbao,, a policeman Fundaciónin 1973 in which General half blocks from the Interior wonded in one of two weekend Franco's most trusted adviser, Ministry, across the street from machine-gun attacks by urban Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, the Commerce Ministry, and guerrillas was reported to be was killed when Basque ter• two short blocks from the still in verv serious condition rorists packed, a tunnel under British Embassy. Santa Cruz de Tenerife : Police a road with - explosives and A suspicious neighbour called in the Canary Islands have de• blew the car carrying the police when she saw light in tained 24 suspects and seized Admiral over a five-storey the building. a quantity of explosives and building. Police who raided the build• timing devices believed to be connected with recent bomb• However, in the cold light of ing in the hours before dawn ings day'it all looked different. Th'e today found picks and shovels Top Soviet diplomat ordered out of Madrid From William Chislett Madrid, April 17 The Spanish Government has 1 given a senior diplomat .at the Soviet Embassy a week to leave i Spain after he was found | spying, according to newspaper
; reports here today. > He would be the fourth Soviet diplomat ordered out since diplomatic relations between the two countries were reestablished in February last year after a 38-year break. He as reported to be Mr Yuri Isaev, a political counsellor ranked fifth at the Embassy. The Foreign Ministry would neither confirm nor deny the reports but said there might be Españolaan official statement later. However an informed source confirmed the reports, adding that he had been asked to leave, rather than be expelled, in the hope that the incident could be kept out of the news• papers. . ..
Spain's Communist leader faces a party showing signs of unrest Señor Carrillo's rise from exile to high society From Our Correspondent communism for failing to build Nevertheless, Senor Carrillo Madrid, April 17 " the state which Lenin is beginning to face problems Ño other political organiza• imagined". This confirmed within his party, which until tion in Spain has had such an him as the enfant terrible of the now he has kept remarkably eventful and controversial year Kremlin (he had previously under control. as the Communist Party, which denounced the invasion of One of the main points of on Wednesday starts its first Czechoslovakia) and he was re• debate at this week's congress legal congress in the country peatedly attacked in Soviet will be the decision to depart since the Civil War. j ournals. TRANSICIÓN from Leninism and become a Just over a year ago the Last autumn, for the first " Marxist democratic revolu• party was legalized. Its Euro- time in seven years, he went tionary party" instead of a communist leader, Señor Santi• to Moscow to participate in the " Marxist-Leninist party." ago Carrillo, who spent nine celebrations of the sixtieth Earlier this month the three months in 1976 living clande• anniversary of the October main (pro-Carrillo) leaders of stinely in Spain, emerged to Revolution. He was unable to the Catalan Communist Pa;$y face a country profoundly dif• speak and claimed hie was ban• resigned after the proposal to ferent from the one he had ned. The Soviet version was abandon Leninism was rejec• fled in 1939 on the same day that he arrived too late and ted ; however, the quarrel was that General Franco's troops there were insinuations that soon patched up and the three started to enter Madrid. Señor Carrillo had staige-man- were reinstated, . reaffirming aged the affair to gain popu• In the past year Señor Car• Senor Carrillo's line. rillo, as the cartoonists have larity at home. enjoyed pointing out, has gone To crown it all, soon after he This sign of restlessnes may from the political underground returned to Madrid protesting Senor Santiago Carrillo : be echoed in another important to hobnobbing with Señor that in Moscow " no one speaks weathering it all. issue facing the. Communists—- Adolfo Suárez, the Prime except those they want", one of the level of democracy in the Minister, and attending recep• his former lieutenants, Señor He accepts the monarchy, party and the limits of dissent, tions given by King Juan Jorge Semprún—who was ex• parliamentary democracy and both of which will be measured Carlos. IndeedFundación, in 12 months pelled from the party m 1964— tne Spanish flag, and in so at the congress. It will perhaps Señor Carrillo has proved him• attacked Señor Carrillo's Stalin• doing has gone a long way be in Senor Carrillo's interests self, as even his political ist past in a " novel " which won towards ending the Francoist to let some dissent surface, in enemies admit, to be die Spain's top, literary award and myth that Communists are an attempt to convince people astutest politician in Spain, the has so far sold 189,000 copies. monsters. His position is now that his party is democratic. best speaker in the Cortes and But the party leader has such that at one royal recep• And while democracy in Spain a man with a Madison Avenue weathered it all and is even tion the King took him aside remains a fragile . plaint, he sense of publicity. more firmly convinced that and in loud voice said: knows that he must continue- He has published a book, " the Eurocommunist way is " Come with me, Don Santiago. to keep both*'the Eurocommun• Eurocommunism and the State, the only valid way (in Spain) I would like you to tell me ist and Leninist wings of his in which he denounced Soviet to advance to socialism ". about Moscow." party happy. Communists threaten rift if Spain joins Nato From William Chislett Madrid, April 19 Señor Santiago Carrillo, secretary-general of the Spanish Communist Partv, reaffirmed his Eurocommunist Española line today in his opening speech at the party's first legal congress in the country for 46 years. He emphasized his willing• ness to abide by the agreement between the Government and the political parties, but gave a warning that the Government's stand over joining the Atlantic Allitnce could lead to the left breaking away from it. The Communists and Socia• lists were resolutely opposed to Nato membership, he said. Although there seemed to be general aigreement over domes• tic politics, the same was not Señor Santiago Carrillo, secretary-general of the Spanish Communist Party, addresses the party's congress in Madrid. j true of foreign policy. The rul• ing Centre Party favoured week for the first time and sat people like Dr Henry Kiss• In reality, they could not Senor Carrillo said the law Nato membership; the left alongside " La Pasionaria" inger, the former American govern without the help of the only gave workers the same believed in non-alignment. Señora Dolores Ibarruri, the Secretary of State, to dalay its Oomimiwiists, he said. He hoped rights as they had in oteh In his two-hour speech to an 83-year-old party president. recognition. He praised Senor they would change their single- Western countrees. The Com• enthusiastic audience of young The widow of Senor T'-i;-i Suarez, the Prime Minister, for minded attitude before the munists were prepared to hold militqnts, old exiles and dele• Gnimaiu, who was executed in his understanding. municipal elections, which demonstrations if necessary if gates from worldwide parties, 1962, was also present. If King Juan Carlos, he should be held urgently. the Government triid to water including the Soviet Union, / Speaking in front of a ban- addedTRANSICIÓN, continued to be " a pos• Although the speec h was down the law under pressure Señor Carrillo said the Com• /ner din red with the words " A itive element in the process of generally moderate in tone, from employers. / communist debate for democ- munists' strategy was not to change and'to respect the will Senor Carrillo said the right On a more controversial \racy and socialism" in white wait for the classic " revolu• of the people and the contents was becoming uneasy and pre• issue for the party, the chang• tionary crisis " but to continue letters, ..Senor Carrillo said the of the new democratic constitu• paring to defend its privileges. ing from a Marxist-Leninist its policy of working with the party was not renouncing its tion, then the form of state In particular he attacked Senor party to " a democratic Marxist " widest assembly of demo• tradition of struggle. It was (republic or monarchy) would Carlos Ferrer, the head of the revolutionary party", Senor cratic forces ". working for the consolidation lose meaning." Spanish Employers' Confedera• Carrillo said they wore not Among those present were of democracy and the eventual Senor Carrillo criticized the tion, for his recent " unpatrio• Señora Teresa Márquez, the transition to socialism. Socialists for not allying them• tic" remarks in New York. abandoning Leninism, as had sidow of Senor Jose Diaz, the He said the party's legaliza• selves more closely with the Senor Ferrer said the draft been said, but adapting to new party's last secretary-general, tion had been the most del• Communists and for insisting law on trade union rights in circumstances and applying who died in exile. She icate moment during the tran• that they, on their own, were factories amounted to bringing Marx's dictum of " concrete returned from Moscow this sition with pressure from " an alternative power ". Marxism, to the shop floor. analysis of concrete reality".
Fundación O Señor Suárez arrives in troubled Canary Islands From Our Correspondent They will explain that, not Madrid, April 20 only the Government but oppo• Señor Adolfo Suárez, the sition parties as well, consider Spanish Prime Minister, arrived the Canaries to be an integral by air in Tenerife today for his part of Spain. first official visit to the troub• The archipelago, known to led Canary Islands. He was the ancients, as " the Fortunate tritiHioli for accompanied by Señor Rodolfo Isles", 'is suffering from Martín Villa, the Interior separatist violence, led from Minister, and Señor José Man• Algiers by Señor Antonio Carrillo line uel Otero Noras, the Minister -s Cubillo, a Spanish lawyer, From Harry Debelius for the Presidency. economic depression and long Madrid, April 23 neglect of social and economic A crowd of 30,000 people Señor Suárez will hold meet• needs by the highly centralized cheered Señor Santiago Car• ings in the archipelago over the Franco Government. weekend with commanders of rillo, the leading exponent of Army, Navy and Air Force To complicate matters for Eurocommunism, in aw..packed units stationed in the islands. Señor Suárez, andnternal party bullring in a working;, class disputé threatensXto split his n e ighb ourh o od Jtfty "Madrid On Monday a multi-party Centre Democratic Union in today at a rally e^hicli brought delegation of the Spanish the islands over the question to a cliamx the 'fu'si legal con• Parliament will set out on a of representation iri\ the newly gress of Spanish Com• 12-day circuit of eight African authorized Canary ^Islands munist Part^rfo'r 46 years. capitals in an effort to con• regional government! / Señor Carrillo was reelected vince leaders of the countries secretary-general of t\fe party involved to withdraw their sup• Even the Communist Party, port for a motion to be pre• busy in Madrid with its con• late last night, the 108th anni• sented at July's summit meet• gress, is disturbed by the versary of the birth of Lenin. ing of the Organization of situation in the i Canaries. The previous day his proposal "Support for separatism could African Unity to support de• to drop the word " Leninist" throw us into the; arms of colonization of the Canary from the official description of Nato", a Canaries / delegate bis party had been approved Islands. said. Española by nearly two thirds of the ! 1,500 delegates attending the •[ four-day congress here. His list
t of candidates for the Central ^ Committee was electedtoo. Señora Dolores Ibarruri, the Actors jailed in aged " La Pasionaria " of Civil War days, was/íeelected presi- Spain fail to ¡ dent of the jtfarty, despite the : fact that sh^nepresents the old pro-MoscowA,Ene rather Chan obtain amnesty . the independent Eurocom- From Our Correspondent ', munist line of die secretary- Madrid, April 21 general/7 J There will be no amnesty for Señor/Carrillsr told the cele• the four actors recently sen- ; brating Vc£»rCcf at the Vista tenced to two years' imprison- 1 Alegre bullring that Professor ment each for " insulting the j Ramon Tamames, a prominent armed forces ", military authori- ¡ Eurocommunist, would be the ties announced •V5Át!%arcelona ' party's candidate for mayor in today. ^ the corning municipal elections A Communique from the i in Madrid. Professor Tamames judge^itdvocate's section of the delivered a lively harangue in headquarters of the Military which he promised to put an District of Catalonia was read end to " corruption ". out to the convicted actors in TRANSICIÓNSeñora Ibarruri , dressed in their respective prisons in the black as usual, evoked delir• presnce of their lawyers. ious chants of " Dolores, Señorita Maria de Maeztu y Dolores, Dolores" when she Manos de Zuñiga is in the Trini• accepted a gift of a bouquet of dad women's prison, Señor red carnations and led the Gabril Renom, Señor Andreu crowd in singing the com• Solsona and Señor Arnau Vil- munist anthem, the " Interna• lardebo are all in Barcelona's tionale ". Model Prison. All around the bullring, Military authorities also dis• young men and women were closed that a counter-suit selling left-wing propaganda brought by'the actors' counsel items, ranging from books and against trie commander of the magazines to posters -asid caps military district at the time of bearing the bammer-an&sickle their court martial, alleging emblem. that he had falsified a public document, has been rejected on the ground that no offence was committedFundación. Canary isiand>iishing crew may be in BáEsario hands From Our Correspondent and Mauritania, which have Madrid, April 23 been trying since S^ain The eight-man crew of a withdrew from the territory Canary Islands fishing vessel early in 1976 to subdue the was believed to be in the inhabitants of the vast waste• hands of the Saharan Libera• land. In the past, Spanish fish• tion Front (Polisario) today. ermen .taken into custody by Fishermen from another vessel Saharan guerrillas have been found the trawler, the Las released unharmed. Palomas, adrift and unmanned, The incident gained in s:gnl- a mile and a half off the coast ficance because it Recurred Secret documents confirm of the former Spanish Sahara. during the first -official
"Let the crime rate increase ; Force party). Both publications Unity to support the Algerian, let the mobs take over the have a large percentage of mili• sponsored extremist Movement streets ; let the people cry out tary officers among their sub• for the Self-determination and for revolution ; then you will scribers. Independence of die Canary be justified in taking over." Whether the period in which Islands. The " hawks" are That is the advice which crime has increased is at an jj bitter about Spam's hasty with- General Agustin Pinochet gave end, as Interior Minister Martin jj drawal from its former Sahara to the then Spanish Army Villa claims, is immaterial. The | colonial territory, a withdrawal Minister, Lieutenant-General public seem convinced that it 'which was decided by Franco's Felix Alvarez - Arenas y is still going up. Even without civilian henchmen as he lay on Pacheco, when the minister the undeniable increase which Ms deathbed in late 1975. visited Chile last year, accord• has occurred since the Cau- 11 They are shocked by the ing to an apocryphal story dillo's death, that impression i process of decentralization making the rounds in Madrid. was bound to spread because \'. which the government is carry- True or false, the statement crimes such as rape and swindle |! ing out, by granting limited reflects fears about what could are no longer hushed up as they i home rule to historic regions happen to Spain if Prime were under his rule. of Spain; they see this as an Minister Adolfo Suarez's gov• The mobs have not taken ; attack upon national unity. An ernment ever loses its grip on over die streets; but the fre• j indication of the importance of law and order. It may not be an quent massive demonstrations, i die fears about nationaEspañolal unity immediate prospect, but it marches and assemblies are ! is the fact that the Interior would be naive to reject the making rightists nervous. 11 Minister has ordered an investi-. possibility entirely. For the most part such ligation into the use of separatist That there is an unrelenting gatherings have been peace• slogans by some of the demon- attitude on the part of some ful, such as the ones in which j strators taking part in the of Spain's high-ranking mili• hundreds of thousands took part j Basque Day celebrations. tary officers, in the face of the throughout the Basque country I " Groups of ultras are trying new march towards democracy, on Easter Sunday in celebration |1 to provoke the army", the" of Basque national day. Ugly is evident from the results of I Deputy Prime Minister told an disturbances like the fisher• the Barcelona court martial in II audience of officers and non- men's riot at the end of March March, at which four civilian 11 commissioned officers of the in the southwestern port of actors were sent to prison for j three armed services in Cadiz, where property was two years; each for "insulting Tenerife last February. Speak- damaged and cars were burned, the "armed forces ", because |i ing shortly after a plainclothes are now exception rather than they acted out their silent ; member of the Civil Guard had the rule. parts in a play about an execu• ji been arrested in Barcelona for tion carried out by the Franco There is a real terrorism h allegedly assaulting Sr Martin régime. problem however, and arch- |: Villa at the funeral of a The man who had the obliga• conservatives constantly cite it ;! terrorist victim, the Deputy tion to review that sentence as justification for their demand 11 Prime Minister said: "They're and the authority to set it for harsh measures. Recent h trying to use the blood of our aside—and did not—was the examples include the bombing ji martyrs, and they turn masses Captain General of the Cata- of a nuclear power plant under jj into political rallies ; anybody lonian military region, another construction near Bilbao, in jj-who tries to split the armed former army minister, Lieuten- which two workers were killed, forces, regardless of what cause ant-General Francisco Coloma anTRANSICIÓNd the machine-gun assassina• I be invokes, whethe r he is a Gallegos. His public remarks in- tion in the capital of the |j right-wing or a left-wing defence of the army's use of Director-General of Prisons, Sr |! extremist, is an enemy of thought-control legislation left Jesus Haddad Blanco, during |l Spain." over from the Franco régime Holy Week. Following repeated undoubtedly reflected the atti• shootings of policemen by I King Juan Carlos, a graduate tude of many of his comrades- urban guerrillas, foot patrol• of all three of Spain's military in-arms. And the fact that the men usually make their rounds academies, remains on good army was able to arrest and try in groups of three or four here, terms with the nation's top the civilians on such a charge and in other cities. brass, and even the "ultras" profess loyalty to him because was an indication of the power In a number of cases, dis• —instrumental as he may have which the admirals and gen• sident military leaders have been in forging Spain's democ• erals still wield in post-Franco been relieved of their assign• racy—he is die chosen succes• Spain. ments, like Brigadier-General sor of the Generalissimo. If a That there is deep resentment Manuel Prieto Lopez, former coup ever occurred it would on the part of some military chief of the sixth region of the probably be directed against men about the current state of paramilitary Civil Guard police. the government rather than the affairs is evident from the con• Outspoken officers have been King, the living symbol of stant sniping at Lieutenant- disciplined, like Brigadier- political continuity and of a General Manuel Gutierrez Mel- General Luis Cano PortaL, united Spanish state. Fundaciónlado, Deputy Prime Minister, former chief of army publica• and Minister of Defence tions, who was under house Harry Debelius and the leading uniformed arrest for two months this past •'" dove ", and Sr Rodolfo Mar• winter after he wrote an article tin Villa, Minister of the Inter- in El Alcazar without the per• tor, in right-wing publications' mission of his superiors. such as the Madrid evening The "hawks" are alarmed newspaper El Alcazar (pub• not only by domestic develop• lished by Franco's " Con• ments "but" also by external federation of War Veterans") threats, such as th'at repre• and Fuerza Nueva magazine sented by the recent decision (published by the fascist New of the Organization for African Española
10
Jiament compared to the Socialists 118. rillo is equally adamant about his long-term .Carrillo's dilemma is how to convert the target of eating into the Socialist vote and 'power' which the party wields - par• achieving a government of 'democratic con• ticularly in their trade union, the Workers centration'. Commissions (the major union), and which Now that Leninism has apparently been
;.is out of all proportion to its electoral superseded by Carrilloism - the victory .strength - into votes. essentially of one man's views - we shall see The Socialists are determined not to seek how united and how powerful the party many alliances with the Communists. Car- really is. TRANSICIÓN
Fundación accusation that Carrillo has sold out in his bid for power is one that he is in danger of facing unless his policies bear fruit. At the moment he is basking in self-confidence. Carrillo has triumphantly carried the Carrillo's present from Russia party with him in its first year of legality and gone a long way towards his first avowed William Chis leti aim of erasing the Francoist myth of Com• munists as monsters. But in doing so he has Madrid except the dialectical experts, do not really accepted - and now renounced - so much Santiago Carrillo, the secretary-general of know what they have abandoned and that that little will remain of the Communists' the Spanish Communist party, which last the decision is one more step down Car• identity unless the process is halted. And so week at its ninth congress (the first legal one rillo's individual road to socialist, or as his it is likely that Carrillo will now start to be a in Spain since 1932) became the first Com• critics' claim social, democracy. As Carrillo little more aggressive. He has to deal with munist party in the world to shelve Lenin• has succeeded in confining Lenin to the both the Eurocommunist and Leninist ism, does not know what to make of a history books the painting probably rep• wings, the latter small but potentially voc• present given to him by thè Russian deleg• resented yet another cold shoulder from iferous and damaging as it is centred in the ation - a huge painting of Lenin in classic Moscow. Carrillo has already denounced Catalan Communist party, the PSUC, pose wearing a long overcoat. The Russians Soviet Communism in his bestseller which has long been in the vanguard of the are not noted, unlike Carrillo, for their 'Eurocommunism and the State' for failing Spanish Communist movement. sense of humour - not with 'heretics' any• to build the 'State which Lenin imagined'; Only a year has passed since the party was way - and the strained relations between and now he cannot easily turn his back on legalised by King Juan Carlos and in that the Kremlin and Carrillo, arch-exponent of the past. year Carrillo has managed to get more than Eurocommunism, are hardly likely to It is an ambivalent situation - while a foot in the door of the Moncloa Palace, the improve now. Carrillo is so far treating the shelving Leninism Carrillo has already been residence of the centre-right prime present situation with typical bravura and at pains to stress that this does not mean minister, SuarezEspañola, and even occasionally of emphasising that he still regards Lenin as abandoning the doctrine but merely adapt• the king's Zarzuela Palace. He has won res• the 'great revolutionary'. ing it to new circumstances, applying Marx's pectability and endorsement at the congress It would not be beyond him to hang the dictum of 'a concrete analysis of a concrete for his policies: acceptance of the monar• painting in his office at party headquarters reality'. One detects a note of being on the chy, of the democratic way to power and. of alongside the message sent by the Soviet defensive, almost apologising, for while it the 'bourgeois' Moncloa pact, the broad party which ended with the rousing phrase: would appear on the surface that what has package of economic and political measures 'Long live Marxism-Leninism, the vic• happened is little more than a question of between the government and the oppos• torious doctrine of Marxism-Leninism'. semantics this is far from the case. Carrillo ition parties. It is difficult to believe that The doctrine suffered defeat at the congress now declares himself to be a 'democratic only a year ago Carrillo told Suarez, when by a majority of four to one and ironically revolutionary Marxist' instead of the old asked in private about how the first days of the decision to remove it from the voc• 'Marxist-Leninist' (even 'la Pasionaria' legalisation had gone, that at the first door abulary of Spanish Communism came on used the new term in an article on the eve of at which party militants knocked the the very eve of the one hundred and eighth the congress) and doubtless badges will now woman who answered it fainted and at the anniversary of the birth of Lenin. And the be made to that effect for the benefit of the second they were told to come in and help following day, when Pravda made no men• party's ailing funds. themselves. tion of the Spanish move and the prop• Stickers proclaiming 'I am a Marxist- Perhaps more than anything the congress aganda agency Novosty put out an article Leninist' were sold at a huge rally in the has shown that the party's leaders, nearly all affirming that 'whoever is against Leninism bull-ring in the working-class suburb of of whom were exiled, remain in firm con• is also the enemy of Marxism', Carrillo was Carabanchel on the last day of the congress, trol. Unlike their rivals the Socialists, whose reelected secretary-general, a post he has and on the walls outside the ring were leaders all belong to the silent (post Civil now held for eighteen years. posterTRANSICIÓNs reading 'Marxism-Leninism cells of War) generation , the Communists are still The party's eighty-two year-old pres• the Spanish Communist party.' The Lenin• very much led by the old, now slightly ident, 'la Pasionaria", Dolores Ibarruri, who ist stickers sold well at the rally and the renovated, guard. The reelection of 'la spent, unlike Carrillo, all her thirty-eight Pasionaria' can only be interpreted as the years exile in Moscow (Carrillo was hardly party wishing to maintain her, old and out of ever, there and when he returned last touch though she is, as a symbol. Critics autumn for the first time in eight years he would say as a relic of the past. This was banned from speaking at the October basically Stalinist past was forcefully anniversary celebrations) was also denounced in a book last autumn by Jorge reelected. But she did not attend the session Semprun, who was expelled from the party when Leninism was put to the vote. It was in 1964 for - ironically - espousing fun• she who handed in the letter to the Kremlin damentally Eurocommunist views. Sem• in 1968 protesting at the Soviet invasion of prun was asked by the magazine Cambio 16 Czechoslovakia, but this latest decision was to cover the congress and it was revealing probably too much for her or possibly, that the party refused to accredit him. While although she is a woman of quite remark• Carrillo has pushed his 'national recon- able strengthFundación, she felt tired after the endless cilation' policy he seems incapable of LA*** , hours of debate. She now has a heart stretching the hand of forgiveness to his pacemaker, own kind. What does it all mean? Most people have His sour relations with the Socialists have not read, as Carrillo has pointed out, the taken a turn for the worse since the con• thirty-five volumes of Lenin and so no gress. The Socialists boycotted the congress practical answer can be given. The party will after Carrillo accused them of trying to go it now be 'democratically centralised' as alone and of being obsessed with the ballot opposed to 'bureaucratically centralised'. box. This is Carrillo's problem, for the The feeling is that most party militants, 'Didn't she do well?' Communists have only twenty seats in par-