The Spanish Labyrinth
ALEXANDER, ROBERT J.
U.S. economic and political support of Franco deepens Spain's crisis THE SPANISH LABYRINTH By Robert J. Alexander ONE OF THE gravest and potentially most dangerous errors of United States foreign...
...The only opposition group able to get its position before the Spanish people is the Communist...
...The only radio station broadcasting anti-Franco propaganda, day after day, is the so-called Radio Pirenaica in Prague...
...unless he does at least three things...
...Several ingredients are necessary for a new policy in Spain...
...SUCH A PROGRAM may appear to be "intervention," but the United States is intervening in Spain today—on the side of Franco—with the most flagrant, open backing...
...Thousands showed this support by helping Allied servicemen escape the Nazis...
...others were violently hostile toward America...
...At the moment, things seem eminently quiet there—it seems to be the one place where the United States doesn't have to worry...
...The most serious problems, however, are not those involving G.I.s in Spain...
...He might harass our bases or even demand their removal...
...The opposition is not the only element concerned with what will come after Franco...
...By self-imposition, U.S...
...Only if the United States changes its attitude in the near future, and makes unequivocally clear its support of democracy in Spain, can we expect anything more than this...
...presumably he is now concerned only with staying in office in the immediate future—if possible until he dies...
...As a result of all of these events, a profound change has occurred in the attitude of the anti-Franco opposition in Spain toward the United States...
...At best we can expect a suspicious neutralism...
...Many Spaniards were incredulous that the man who led the Allied armies in Europe in World War II, and who in 1945 had promised the early liberation of Spain, could behave this way...
...Spain is one case in which it is imperative that we cease to think only in military terms...
...All these incidents might have been expected—and probably were...
...military personnel and Spaniards...
...These bases were established as the result of an agreement between the U.S...
...he has just turned 68...
...One other factor is to be borne in mind...
...However, this is a Potemkin facade...
...Under the circumstances it is understandable why many of the less sophisticated Spaniards tend to see in the Communists and the Soviet Union their principal allies in the struggle against the dictatorship...
...they are bound to occur whenever one country's armed forces are on another's territory...
...A program of gradual liberalization such as has been suggested here would offer these elements an alternative to the chaotic situation many now fear will come with Franco's passing...
...Franco certainly has no principled devotion to us, or to the free world...
...Individual reactions varied—some people expressed only sad regret at U.S...
...To organize any political party other than the Falange, or any labor group other than the official one, is a crime...
...Franco, of course, does his utmost to strengthen the position of the Communists in Spain by the simple expedient of picturing all who oppose him as Communists...
...The longer the present policy continues, the more serious will be the final accounting...
...policy is contributing to an ultimate crisis in Spain...
...They have arisen, too, from the great disparity between the pay of the U.S...
...They have resulted from the drinking proclivities of our servicemen and their tendency to drive ponderous military vehicles at reckless speeds through towns and villages whose streets were built to accommodate a single man on a horse...
...I was in Spain on an extended visit in 1951 and even then America's standing was still very high in the eyes of the opposition...
...It is principally through the press that new figures can begin to emerge on the Spanish political scene, real political discussion can be revived and an exchange of ideas about the country's major problems can be undertaken...
...The U.S...
...If Franco resisted, he might well turn on the U.S...
...It would also mean risking the considerable gains in the international arena his regime has made—thanks to our help—and returning to the position of an international pariah...
...The key to his maintaining power has been prevention of the emergence of an individual or a group of sufficient prestige and support to offer a reasonable successor should anything happen to Franco...
...Sooner or later, relaxing the bonds of the dictatorship will undermine Franco's position and no one knows that better than Franco...
...Second, U.S...
...2. We must insist on freedom of the press...
...During the last seven or eight years we have stood forward as the great defender and supporter of this dictatorship, which was imposed by a bloody civil war and was an ally of our enemies during World War II...
...As things now stand, when Franco falls or disappears, the United States goes with him...
...and Franco, under some of the most peculiar circumstances to be found anywhere in the world...
...Franco after all is not going to live forever...
...Were he a younger man, one could be almost certain that he would absolutely refuse to concede to our pressure...
...This year, when I returned, I found that all this good will had evaporated...
...AT PRESENT in Spain we are faced with the paradoxical and absurd situation in which the world's greatest democracy is seen (quite correctly) as the principal support of a hated tyranny, of which even its friends have grown tired, while the Soviet Union, the world's most potent dictatorship, is able to pose quite effectively as the champion of freedom and democracy...
...abandonment of the cause of democracy in Spain...
...In spite of elaborate precautions, inevitable incidents have arisen between U.S...
...3. We must demand freedom of organization, both political and trade union...
...has been guilty in this instance of a mistake which has also characterized many of its actions in Latin America and elsewhere: It has concentrated on the military aspects of its position in the world, without paying any attention to the political and psychological effects of the policies followed...
...airmen or soldiers...
...President Eisenhower likewise thought it proper to go to Spain and give Franco a bear-like embrace...
...So long as the price of open political opposition is prison, torture and possible death, there can be no revival of freedom in Spain...
...By continuing our political support, stepped-up economic aid and moral blessing of his regime, we are playing a key role in assuring that there is no foreseeable answer to the question, "After Franco, what...
...Thus, Franco might well be faced with rapid disintegration of his regime if were he to resist an American demand for liberalization backed by a threat to cut off economic and other aid...
...It would seem preferable to run the immediate risk to the bases if by doing so we can at least recapture some of the friendship we once had among the Spanish people...
...We will lose our bases anyway...
...In practice, this means the Communist party...
...Spain has changed in the last decade...
...As a result, it is going to be difficult for post-Franco political leaders to feel friendly toward the U.S...
...as long as this continues, only those groups most efficient in clandestine and subversive work are able to function with any effectiveness...
...Sooner or later we are likely to pay a terrible price for such shortsightedness...
...behavior...
...He might give increased opportunity to the Communists, while still keeping democratic elements muzzled, to support his constant argument that all who oppose him are Communists...
...Strong pro-Franco elements—the large economic interests and the armed forces in particular—can be expected to oppose such a risk...
...Continuation of the present U.S...
...servicemen and their Spanish counterparts, not to mention the average Spanish civilian...
...Well-organized democratic political parties and labor organizations will be the best guarantee that the transition from the Franco regime can be carried out in a peaceful and orderly manner...
...Every single member of the opposition with whom I talked—and I saw members of virtually all the important groups except the Communists—was bitter in denunciation of U.S...
...soldiers, sailors and airmen cannot wear their uniforms off base—in itself a tacit admission that the presence of the bases is not welcome to most Spaniards...
...Our refusal to continue economic or other aid unless Franco democratizes his regime would present him with a situation in which he might well agree to such liberalization...
...The formula of "an abrazo for the democrats and a formal handshake for the dictators" is nowhere more needed than in Spain...
...In attempting to resist, Franco might find that he brought about his own downfall...
...However, a characteristic of Franco's skillful political manipulation has been that he is always concerned with the period immediately ahead...
...We should make it clear to Franco that we cannot continue to underwrite the economy, or any other aspect of his regime...
...They are certainly not going to risk losing all the advantages they have acquired just to keep a sexagenarian in power a couple of years longer...
...Powerful individuals and forces inside the regime itself are equally worried...
...After the incident, few Spaniards could any longer take seriously our position as leaders of the "free" world...
...The only major country which denounces the Franco regime for the dictatorship it is is the USSR...
...economic and political support of Franco deepens Spain's crisis THE SPANISH LABYRINTH By Robert J. Alexander ONE OF THE gravest and potentially most dangerous errors of United States foreign policy in recent years has been our unqualified support of the Government of Generalissimo Francisco Franco...
...For the alternative, within a matter of weeks or at most months, would certainly bring an economic crisis more serious than any he has had to face...
...The United States was forced to agree to restrictions on the religious liberties and freedom to marry of its servicemen who were not Catholics...
...He himself has seen to this...
...among broad layers of the Spanish people than anything else...
...Eisenhower's demonstration, though less vital than many other actions we have taken, probably did more to arouse bitter discontent against the U.S...
...diplomatic officials must change their attitude to the regime and stop holding the opposition at arms length, fearful that if they have contact with members of the opposition, Franco will be "annoyed...
...We have sponsored the entry of Franco Spain into one United Nations agency after another—including the main body of the UN itself...
...1. We must demand declaration of a continuing general political amnesty which will not merely be a trap to encourage the opposition to come into the open so its leaders can again be picked up and jailed...
...Our ambassador his seen fit to speak on the Spanish radio in praise of the Franco regime and our great friendship for it, as well as to go out of his way to cultivate intimate personal relations with members of Franco's immediate family...
...They are not the peculiar fault of U.S...
...I can see little wrong with telling Franco that we find ourselves unable to extend further loans, grants or other help so long as his regime remains the kind of government it is now...
...We will be left not only without bases, but with a hostile Spain...
...In the minds of the average Spaniard we have so completely associated ourselves with the Franco regime that any movement against him, or any demonstration of hostility to his regime after it has gone, will inevitably also be a show of enmity toward us, too...
...In general, the attitude was reflected in the wide popularity of Fidel Castro, who was admired not only because he had overthrown Batista and was carrying out an agrarian reform, but because he was doing to the "Yankees" what many a Spaniard now yearns to do...
...Third, the United States should use its tremendous influence in contemporary Spain in favor of the development and growth of the democratic opposition...
...And they might be expected to bring great pressure on him to accept...
...If we do not use our influence to force Franco to liberalize his regime, the next government will undoubtedly make closing our bases one of its first acts...
...Our policy toward Spain since 1953 has been determined by the fact that we have a number of naval and air bases on Spanish soil...
...However, such actions would be hazardous...
...The situation grows increasingly critical the longer we continue our present policy because today there is no viable alternative to Franco...
...First and foremost is the dispatch of an ambassador who, rather than being an apologist for the Franco regime, will make clear his belief in democracy in all countries—including Spain...
...The really dangerous circumstances arise from our moral, military, economic and political backing of the Franco regime...
...During World War II the Spanish people ardently sided with the Allies, and looked with particular friendliness upon the United States...
...The groups backing Franco are by no means so united in his support as they once were...
Vol. 43 • December 1960 • No. 49
