Movement

Repressive laws in Franco
Spain have failed to stop the
growing movement of all classes
against the dictatorship there,
declared Santiago Carrillo, sec-
retary general of the Communist
' Party of Spain, in an interview
published in |'Humanité organ
of the French Communist Party.

Following are the questions
asked of Carrillo and his replies:

The Franco Government said

putting an end to the “student
agitation” shows lack of imagi-
nation. In four-fifths of the prov-
inces of Spain there are no uni-
versities, and therefore they do
not have any “student agita-
tion.” Why do they have to
apply the exceptional law also
to them?

True, the struggle of the stu-
dents is an important part of the
' anti-Franco movement.

In Madrid, on the very day the
exceptional law was announced,
a student assembly, presided
over by pictures of Julian Gri-
mau and Enrique Ruano, both
killed by the murderers of the
Political-Social Brigade, drew
over 5,000 university students in
protest. But the Franco dictator-
ship is afraid not only of stu-
. dents. It fears first of all the
working class.

The heroic Asturias miners
have been on strike for several
months, adopting a system
through which, when one miner
went back to work another
would go on strike. Several
times, they held general strikes,
and then went back to this ro-
tary system.

The miners are aware of their
role of vanguard: they are fight-
ing for their own economic de-
mands and at the same time are
showing the road to follow.

The workers of Seville, an im-
portant industrial centre, are fol-
lowing a similar pattern, com-
bining strikes and street mani-
festations.

In Tarrasa, Mataro, Conella
and. other Catalonian cities,
there is the beginning of a strike
movement. The perspective is
to carry it, all over the country.

The struggle against the limit
of 5.9 percent on salary in-
creases, by the new collective
agreements elaborated and pre-

sented through their Commis- *

sions and vertical syndicates,
gave an opportunity for a series
of movements in the factories of
Madrid and in general in the
whole country.

That is to say, we are still, in
spite of the exceptional law,. be-
fore the perspective of a great
wave of workers’ struggles.

The Workers’ Commissions,
even in face of persecution dur-
ing the last period, held several
national meetings to finalize
their tactics. Their objective
continues to be to march toward
the general strike.

This is what the Government
has pretended to stop; because
under present conditions the
general strike can ‘become a
great collective movement of
struggle, in what we call the
national strike. ;

A few months ago the farm-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 2, 1969—Page 8

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ers and laborers of Iznalloz and
Fuentes of Andalusia, important
towns in Granada and Seville,
prepared a document demanding
the expropriation of the land
owned by the big aristocrats, to
put an'end to unemployment
and misery, The local merchants
supported the document. The
press was forced to talk about
this demand, which at a meeting
of the official farmers’ syndicate
and to the astonishment of the
hierarchy, the representatives of
Cadiz had presented in a more
general way. The example of Iz-
nallos and Fuentes of Andalu-
Sia spread to other towns.

Discontent is so great in the
farms that a general movement
in the cities would have the
backing of the rural masses.

Have any new fronts been
opened against the repression?

The lawyers of Madrid held
a large meeting that demanded
the annulment of the law
against “banditry and _terror-
ism,” elimination of the tribu-
nals of exception, and a special
status for political prisoners.

The College of Lawyers of
Barcelona, whose president has
asked for amnesty, took a simi-
lar position. This was followed
by the Colleges of Bilbao and
San Sebastian. Almost all the
colleges of lawyers of Spain
— ready to follow the exam-
pie.

The lawyers of Spain reflect
the feelings of broad masses of
the bourgeoisie.

A few days earlier, a delega-
tion had delivered to the Minis-
ter of Interior a document sign-
ed by 1,500 intellectuals from
all over Spain denouncing the
Political-Social Brigade for tor-
turing people and demanding an
end to repression. Among the
signers were 113 university pro-
fessors, 73 engineers and tech-
nicians, 49 architects, 77 doc-
tors, 191 writers and reporters,
113 religious people, 64 lawyers,

By VADIM ARDATOVSKY

You may start to count time
from any minute. Hence various
calendars, jubilees and memor-
able dates. Now we mark the
20th anniversary of the peace
movement.

I remember April of 1949. At
that time I began my journalistic
activity and sharply reacted to
everything that was going on in
the world. A wave of alarm arose
at that time. Only four years had
passed since the war, but the
thoughts that mankind would at
last for ever stop strife and the
arms race already seemed naive.
Cold war winds started. The
signing of the North-Atlantic
Treaty undermined the hopes for
the establishment of peaceful
and friendly postwar coopera-
tion between the east and the
west. The countries again began
to count divisions and guns.

The best minds, to be more
exact, the best hearts of man-
kind, could not reconcile them-
selves with such a course of his-
tory. At the end of April, 1949,
the first World Peace Congress
opened simultaneously in Paris
and Prague. It met in Paris and
Prague because, for cold war
considerations, the French Gov-
ernment of that time did not is-
sue entry visas to many dele-
gates from non-recognized or
“undesirable” countries, and rep-
resentatives of “undesirable” or-
ganizations.

AA LAT

2 Shiu vie 2

10 economists, 14 editors and
150 artists, among them the
painter Miro, Collection of sig-
natures is continuing.

Families of political prisoners
took possession of churches in
a few cities, with the support of
priests and parishioners. One
purpose was to publicize the
hunger strike by the political
prisoners of Carabanchel, Soria
and Jaen against intolerable con-
ditions. In this struggle the
women played a gallant role.

In reality, the protest of the
lawyers and other intellectuals
had as its starting point the
brave attitude of the political
prisoners, who were united in
their struggle with no distinc-
tion in their political ideas.

A few bishops are also begin-
ning to raise their voices. Mon-
signor Tarancon, who has been
named archbishop of Toledo and
primate of the Spanish church
by the Vatican, supported the
miners on strike and the politi-
cal prisoners. Monsignor Argaya
demanded the lifting of the state
of exception in Guipuzcoa; Mon-
signor Cirarda supported the
priests confined in the Duero
Seminary.

grows against Franco

Before this, the Episcopal Con-
ference had _ formulated its
doubts as to the syndical law,
showing a fascist character,
which was being prepared by
the authorities. Opposition to
this law threatens to become a
broad national movement.

Certain groups of the big
bourgeoisie are also moving.
Garrigues Walker, a financier, in
an affair at which Lieutenant
General Garcia Valino was pres-
ent, pronounced himself against
the regime and for a democracy.
At this affair, run by the upper
classes, a minute of silence was
observed in memory of a stu-
dent killed by the police.

Restlessness has spread to the
state apparatus. Jurists of the
army are refusing to carry out
repressive orders. Even the
police, with a few exceptions,
are not showing much enthu-
siasm. Why take too many
chances under a regime that
smells of death?

High functionaries of the re-
gime are visiting circles of the
opposition to show their dis-
agreement with the dictatorship.

And at the bottom of all this
is a serious economic situation,

oe

with no perspective of a genuine
solution without Profoung
changes, This is leading to loss
of confidence of the ruylj
classes in the ability of the re.
gime to provide security fo
their interests.

The Communist Party
Spain has said that the
tional law is more a proof of
weakness than of strength
Why?

The political forces of the dic.
tatorship are today more diyig.
ed than ever. Franco has offend.
ed the Carlists by expelling
Hugo de Bourbon Parma, their
candidate to the throne, The
Carlists are not many, but with
the Falange they are the second
link of the so-called “Moye.
ment.”

The Falangists are deeply qj.
vided: on one side are the
bureaucrats, corrupt and y
grouped around the Andalusian
landlord, Solis, whom Franco
has placed at the head of the
“Movement” and ironically, the
Official syndicates. On the other

side are the Falangists of the

“left,” unhappy and angry, and
engaging in noisy demonstra-
tions against the regime.

"The Franco dictatorship is afraid
not only of students. It fears first
of all the working class."

Santiago Carrillo

cA AMM a AA
Twenty years of world peace movement

I remember that many western
newspapers hastened to place a

‘label of “communist propagan-

da” on the meetings in Prague
and Paris. There was no need of
arguing. If “communist propa-
ganda” was ascribed to the ini-
tiative of convening a peace con-
gress, it was flattering for “com-
munist propaganda.” Though ac-
tually it was not quite true. Tak-
ing part in the meetings in Paris
and Prague were not only Com-
munists, but also people far from
political activity, religious fig-
ures and businessmen.

The main thing was that the
peace movement in 1949 turned
itself into an international force
and acquired a common organi-
zational centre, the World Coun-
cil of Peace. Thus a basis was
created for common actions and
discussions.

When marking jubilees, the re-
sults of ‘the past are usually
summed up. What has the peace
movement succeeded in achiev-
ing? The main thing is that a
world war did not break out.
Nuclear weapons were not used,
and some steps were taken to re-
strict the arms race.

Of course, the peace move-
ment cannot lay claim to the réle
of the only creator of these suc-
cesses. The peace-loving policy
of the Soviet Union and other
socialist countries, the United
Nations, objective fear of a glo-
bal war on the part. of the im-

perialist circles, are the compo-
nent parts of the present, unfor-
tunately not very stable peace.
Who can reject, for example,
the success of the Stockholm
Appeal for the prohibition of ato-
mic weapons, signed by 500 mil-
lion people? Or take the success
of the Vienna Appeal against the
threat of a nuclear war, signed
by 650 million. They were a baro-
meter of world public opinion.
And when a treaty on the prohi-
bition of nuclear tests in three
media was signed in Moscow,
the readings of this barometer
were taken into consideration.
The war in Vietnam is still
going on. But there is already
confidence that an end will be
put to this conflict, that it will
not grow into another world war,
that aggression will not receive
dividends. And again, not a small
role in this was played by the
campaign launched by the World
Council of Peace, and by the
mobilization of world opinion
against the war in Vietnam.
I particularly have at heart
the peace movement. In the past
15 years I took part in almost all
its major congresses. I listened
to Joliot-Curie, Bertrand Russel
and Ilya Ehrenburg. I very well
remember the Jubilee Session in

“Stockholm which summed up the

results of the first decade of the
movement. Many changes have
taken place in these years. We
have parted with many veterans

of the peace movement. Some
groups and persons moved away
from the movement and their
place was taken by new enthu-
siasts and new organizations.

The principle of rejecting secta-

rianism, however, remained firm:
the world peace movement is
ready to cooperate with all or-

|

ganizations pursuing common oF

compatible aims.

In June, Berlin will be the
venue of the World Peace AS
sembly, the highest organ of the
movement started 20 years ag0.
Many organizations, not affiliat-

ed to the movement but actively —

fighting for the salvation of man-
kind from nuclear cataclysm,
have been invited to take part
in the assembly.

It is yet early to speak of what
the new forum of peaceful man:
kind will be able to do, how ac
tive and effective its calls will
be. But cannot we already esti
mate at its true worth the fact
that the active, peace-loving pat
of mankind could form an orga
nization, to unite in pursuing
their common aim—the defence
of the most precious value
peace?

I know there are stubborn fa
talists who assert that wars ate
inevitable, that they are natural.
But any war is planned, is pre
pared and carried out by people:
Hence people can say “No!” t

war. They must do it. They will |

do it,