The U.S. and the Coup in Spain

...SECURITY IS NOT the only Guernica problem No less than four Spanish cities have staked a claim to the painting Malaga, Picasso's birthplace, wants to convert the house where he was born into a museum and hang Guernica there Guernica argues that by giving it the work that bears its name, the rest of Spain would make amends for the outrage inflicted on it in 1937 But neither Malaga nor Guernica possesses any other significant Picasso painting, or is likely to be able to buy one at today's inflated prices To display Guernica as a mere tourist side show, in isolation from the rest of the artist's work, would be appalling Philistinism...

...No, but, the way things are, you might have Substitute computer for adding machine, and what could be more modern...

...This is the very story General Alfonso Armada fed to other senior officers in mid-February in an attempt to persuade them to support his bid to form a military-dominated government headed by himself but including a few civilians...

...And if the Spanish Right-wingers were going around Washington talking about "a Turkish-style coup," wouldn't they be likely to attract CIA attention...

...Spain's two main intelligence services the government's CESID and the Army's SIE-are both more responsive to military pressure than to political controls, which are still almost negligible Former Francoists are influential in both, and one of the February plotters, Colonel Jose Ignacio San Martin who was the head of an important Francoist security service, has good contacts in both So it is not surprising that the Spanish government heard only avague rumor from its own spooks But what about the CIA...

...However inadequate words may be in such circumstances, Spanish democrats hunger for reassurance that the free world will not abandon them to another dictatorship, and they felt let down when their press reported that Secretary of State Alexander M Haig had seemed to shrug off the putsch with the remark that it was a Spanish internal matter Ex-Premier Adolfo Suarez is reported to have been so shocked that he turned down an invitation to meet Haig The State Department has since explained that Haig had spent a hard day with the French Foreign Minister Jean Francois-Poncct and did not know what was happening in Spain But should not every spokesman for the world's greatest democracy have a knee-jerk reaction in favor of democracy and against its enemies...

...Spaniards are, it must be admitted, unhealthily mistrustful of United States policies and agencies They are now wondering whether the CIA knew a coup was cooking and, if so, why Washington failed to inform Suarez Military and civilian plotters met several times, telephone calls were made, large sums of money were transferred, vehicles were bought, hints were dropped in newspaper articles, and military units were prepared for action Yet neither Spanish nor American watchdogs barked One is reminded of that Sherlock Holmes story...

...But, even in Madrid, many people object that the Prado is above all the temple of Velazquez, El Greco, Goya, and Munllo Almost any 20th-century painting would be incongruous there, and none more than Guernica In addition, to come back to the security problem, a Molotov cocktail thrown at Guermca might start a fire that could spread to rooms housing other paintings THE RETURN of spring has brought the Jesus people out of the woodwork, or wherever they spend the winter Once again they are pressing their strip-cartoon pamphlets on passers-by in Europe and asking for contributions Their founder and guru, "Moses David," now signs his works "Father David " He appears to have become wildly anti-Amencan A pamphlet his flock distributed last year tried to destroy confidence in the dollar It urged Europeans and Arabs to convert their dollars into Swiss francs and other "safe" currencies in order to undermine the American economy Of course, the Jesus people first went into business in California and financed their European ventures with dollars Have they now transferred their assets to Switzerland'' Are they holding hands with the Communists...

...Felipe Gonzalez, the Socialist Party leader, and others have alleged that in November 1980 a group of Right-wing Spanish extremists connected with the plotters were in Washington and asked collaborators of President-elect Ronald Reagan ho w the new Administration would react to "a Turkish-style coup in Spain...

...It is possible that Armada persuaded his CIA contact, too, and therefore neither Washington nor the CIA's Madrid station (thinking they were going along with the King) bothered to inform the Suarez government, which was dying anyway NEARLY HALF a century after the bombing of Guernica b v Nazi warplanes in the service of General Franco, flak is still falling In the thick of it lies Guernica, the great Picasso painting that was inspired by the attack Picasso entrusted Guernica to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, asking that it be sent to Spain when a republic had been restored His executors seem to agree that by " a republic" he meant" democracy," and moma is willing to hand the painting over This year is the centenary of Picasso's birth and until February 23 most educated Spaniards were eager to have Guernica transferred to Spain...

...I rediscovered this paragraph recently in Nathaniel West's 1933 novel Miss Lonelyhearts...

...Playing on his friendship with King Juan Carlos when he was secretary to the royal household...

...In the Spanish context, a Turkish solution would be a coup from above, with the King's approval and indeed on his initiative...

...Crozier wrote: "In Madrid there is talk of a 'Turkish solution.' Not, please note, of a plain military coup...

...Armada convinced several officers that his was "a coup from above, with the King's approval...

...Spanish liberals also point to an article by Brian Crozier-a writer associated with a clumsy CIA propaganda operation for some years (See "Eurovista," NL, December 4, 1978)-in the February 13 issue of the British weekly Now...

...and the Coup In Spain THE STATE Department did well to stress on March 14 that "the United States has firmly supported Spanish democracy during the last five years and will continue to do so " It's a pity, though, that its statement was not issued during or immediately after the abortive Right-wing coup of February 23 Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was prompt in her denunciation of the "terrorist" attack on the Spanish Parliament by rebel Army officers, and other European leaders reacted strongly and swiftly...

...They are said to have been told that Washington would neither support nor oppose it...

...Barcelona's claim is stronger It was there that Picasso spent most of his youth and learned to think and paint, and he never broke his ties with the city (The controversial Demoiselles d'Avignon, for example, deplored by some admirers of Picasso although revered by others, were residents not of the French city but of a Barcelona street, the Carrer d'Avmyo ) Enterprising Barcelona citizens created a Picasso museum -the only one in Spam-at a time when the artist was anathemized by the Spanish establishment There is immense interest in modern art in Barcelona, and Guernica would be at home there...

...My view is that, if there is any truth in this story, the Reaganites involved were probably low-echelon people who were merely being as polite as they could without giving the Spaniards the reply they were fishing for...

...Perhaps you are right, say Spanish liberals, but whatever the status of the Reagan men, wouldn't they inform the CIA of this approach...

...Madrid argues that it can offer the distinction of a place in an annex of the Prado, of which Picasso was honorary director during the Republic...

...Now, however, some Spanish liberals and Left-wingers are urging that it remain in the U S a little longer They argue that the attempted coup shows Spanish democracy is still insecure, and they fear that if a Right-wing junta seized power it might look the other way while extremists destroyed Picasso's masterpiece Even if the democratic regime survives, the problem of protecting Guernica could be hairy Picasso is the artist Spanish Right-wingers hate most-partly because of his insulting etchings of Franco, partly because of Guernica (for 40 years Francoist propagandists pretended that the Basques themselves destroyed Guernica) The Warriors of Christ the King and other Right-wing extremists have smashed the windows of several bookstores and art shops displaying prints of Guernica, and they could hardly resist the original -just as, eight years ago, they threw stones at minor Picasso paintings briefly exhibited in Madrid...

...Still on the subject of weird sects Did you read the following item in your morning newspaper on February 3? "Denver, Colorado, Feb 2 (AP)?Frank H Rice, Supreme Pontiff of the Liberal Church of America, has announced he will carry out his plan for a 'goat and adding machine' ritual for William Moya, condemned slayer, despite objections to his program by a Cardinal of the sect Prayers for the condemned man's soul will be offered on an adding machine Numbers, he explained, constitute the only universal language ". You didn't...

...That the CIA knew a coup was being prepared for late February or early March is taken for granted by many people active in Spanish politics-and not only because they respect the efficiency of the Agency...