Dear Editor

...Dear Editor Gilder In his review of Wealth and Poverty, Barry Gewen was quite right to link a leading proponent of supply-side economics with Mannetti, the Italian Futurist ("GUder's Capitalism Without Tears," NL, March 23) Alas, Mannetti embraced Fascism for precisely the same reasons that George Gilder embraces capitalism—a love of speed, nsk, motion and danger There are other similarities Mannetti*s manifestos evince nothing but disgust for liberals who make "a fetish of rationality," and inveighs against those who would try to see two sides to everything In the bght of this, one hopes that the Fascist ideologue will not prove a model for today's neoconservatives Perhaps there is little cause for worry The Italian Fascist was consistent in his celebration of irrationality and violence Gilder's Wealth and Poverty lacks this coherence, which may prove to be its saving grace New York City C Marcus Spanish Conflict Recently in your pages, John P Roche reminded us that the "Abraham Lincoln Brigade" was a Stalinist fiction ("Remembering the Levitas Salon," NL, December 15,1980) I thought your readers might be interested in an update A year or so ago in Bologna, Italy, the Congress of the International Bngades passed a resolution that read in part "We, the veterans of the International Bngades, salute the fighting contribution made by the Arab veterans to the struggle of the Spanish masses for liberty As much as we appreciate the Arab support in the Spanish Civil War, we now pledge ourselves to support our Arab comrades in their struggle against racist Zionism [sicl " The delegates of the "Amencan Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade" supported the resolution unanimously I was in Civil War Spain for almost two years, and in my role as interpreter for the Russian "advisers" (when I was not fighting as a tank soldier) I had quite a bit of freedom to travel up and down Loyalist Spain, at both the front and the rear In all that time i never met an Arab Interbngader What Arabs or Moslems there were in Spain were in Franco's Moorish Legion, whereas "racist Zionists" (read Jews) added to the ranks of nearly every fighting battalion of the Internationa...

...barracks, as were the dissident Army officers I am afraid the last golpe was only a rehearsal for the next one Unfortunately, the Spanish "masses" will not pour out into the streets as they d]d in Barcelona in 1936 and surround the Montana barracks The truth is that most of the ordinary people sigh for the days of Franco when the peseta was un verdadero duro In the last four years, the SP and CP have become parliamentary bureaucracies without the means or the guts to pull off a general stnke or work stoppage It is discouraging, yet in some ways I have the urge to say I don't give a damn When Yasir Arafat visited Madrid a while back, everyone fell over each other to embrace him—Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez of the Christian Democrats, Felipe Gonzalez of the Socialists, Santiago Carnllo of the Communists, and the Anarchists, too Only Manuel Fraga Inbame of the Athanza Popular, which is to the right of Suarez and his party, refused to greet Arafat, and m fact called him "un criminal commun " Inbame, incidentally, Rightist though he is, did not join the golpistas King Juan Carlos is a student of history and a soldier, but the Army is not in spint a truly monarchist institution Us top leaders are men who commanded the Blue Division that fought on the Eastern Front during World War II and are more influenced by the Falangists than by the crown If push comes to shove, the Falangists—whose slogan is Orden v Disciplina?may come to see eye to eye with the Communists For when the chips are down, who will sooner embrace Orden v Disciplina than the Communists7 The Guardia Civil is learning that the CP can be a useful tool (and vice versa) In every Arab country, for e-sample, the garrison commanders know the only political force that is at one with the barracks is the CP So don't be surprised if a deal is worked out between Lieutenant Colonel Tejero Molina, the imprisoned leader of the attempted coup, and CP leader Santiago Carnllo North Miami Robert Gladnick...

...Bngades My memones of the Civil War were also revived by the attempted coup in Spain last February 24, which The New Leader welcomes comment and criticism on any of its features, but letters should not exceed 300 words was, I think, only the tip of the iceberg Unless the Spanish people stop saying and thinking, "Con Franco ias cosas eran mejor" (with Franco, things were better), ias cosas will go from bad<o worse Unemployment is nsing, inflation is up, and Basque terrorism, contrary to so-called informed opinion, is not on the wane The officers of the Guardia Civil involved in the recent coup were not taken to regular pnsons, but to Guardia Cm...