The
Monarchy's Clash With Socialism
By Pablo Ouziel
17 November, 2007
Countercurrents.org
On
August the 1st 1969, Time magazine quoted Generalissimo Francisco Franco
saying; "Conscious of my responsibility before God and history
and taking into account the qualities to be found in the person of Prince
Juan Carlos of Borbón, who has been perfectly trained to take
up the high mission to which he might be called, I have decided to propose
him to the nation as my successor." With this statement began the
formal relationship between Spain's present king and the country's fascist
dictator.
In November 2007 at the Ibero-American
Summit in Santiago de Chile, the King of Spain Juan Carlos pointed his
finger at Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and asked him, "Why
don't you shut up?", after Chávez had called José
María Aznar Spain's former Prime Minister a fascist, and José
Luis Rodríguez Zapatero the current Spanish Prime Minister was
trying to defend him.
This scene from the Ibero-American
Summit has now travelled the globe through every mainstream news media
channel, however it has been used once again as an opportunity to attack
Hugo Chavez for his rudeness and out of line commentary, when in fact
not only is it a fairly accurate statement, but it also should be used
as an opportunity by political analysts worldwide to bring out the extent
to which fascist factions are still very much alive in Spain's political
reality.
It is important to note that
this incident in the Ibero-American Summit is not an isolated one. Already
earlier this year, Chavez called Aznar "a fascist who supported
the coup (of April 2002) and who is of the same kind as Adolf Hitler,
a disgusting and despicable person who you feel sorry for, a true servant
of George W. Bush". This statement was made shortly after Aznar
made a call "on the United States, Europe and the Latin American
democracies, to close ranks and defeat Hugo Chavez's 21st century socialism."
Even Spain's Minister for
External Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Ángel Moratinos on November
2004, during an interview in the program '59 segundos' of TVE, acknowledged
Aznar's support for the coup against Hugo Chavez in 2002; "During
the previous government, something unheard of in Spanish diplomacy took
place, the Spanish Ambassador received instructions to support the coup,
something which is not going to be repeated in the future. This is not
going to be repeated because we respect the wish of the people."
The fact remains that Chavez
during the Ibero-American Summit was verbally attacking a man who had
supported a coup against him, a fact which should have been made clear
during the mainstream media's coverage of the incident. Instead, the
reporting of the incident between the Spanish King and Hugo Chavez,
has clearly managed to ignore this, and the historical facts which made
the King of Spain react with so much anger upon hearing the word 'fascist'.
In order for the whole incident to be put into perspective, it is also
important to understand, first, Aznar's background as a supporter of
fascism and second, the fact that the King only has his crown thanks
to the father of fascism in Spain, Francisco Franco.
In regards to Aznar, it is
important to highlight his membership in the Frente de Estudiantes Sindicalistas
(FES), a student branch of the Falange Española Independiente
(FEI), and part of the official party charged with developing the ideology
for Franco's regime once the war had ended. It is also important to
emphasize the fact that throughout his career, Aznar has never denounced
the Franco regime and when democracy was reintroduced in Spain in 1978,
he opposed the new constitution. Aznar's loyalty to Franco was further
made clear when he denounced the municipal government of Guernika -
best known as the scene of one of the first aerial bombings by Nazi
Germany's Luftwaffe - for wanting to change the name of their main street
from "Avenida del General Franco" to "Avenida de la Libertad".
In regards to the King of
Spain, it is important to note that his grandfather King Alfonso XIII
left Spain on April 14th, 1931, when the dictatorship of the aristocrat
and military official Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja whom he had
supported, came to an end and the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
Then in 1936 the Civil war broke out, and it was not until years later
after millions of Spanish people had suffered through the war and a
brutal dictatorship, that in 1969 General Franco officially designated
a heir and gave the title of Prince of Spain to Juan Carlos, the current
king of Spain. Therefore reintroducing the monarchy through a young
prince he had personally groomed, who in his investiture in the Cortes
kneeling at Franco's left swore his loyalty "to his Excellency
the Chief of State and fidelity to the principles of the National Movement,
and the fundamental laws of the Kingdom."
According to a Time magazine
article titled 'A Crown for Juan Carlos?' dated August 23, 1971, it
was clear for Franco that the only way to bring back the monarchy was
if he brought it back himself; "Franco, a lifelong monarchist,
knows that in Spain there is no great affection for the crown... If
Franco does not put a king back upon the throne, no one else will."
So just before his death on the 30 October 1975, he gave full control
to Juan Carlos and on the 22 November, following Franco's death, the
Cortes Generales proclaimed Juan Carlos as the King of Spain. Only a
few days after Franco's death, Juan Carlos said of the brutal dictator;
"An exceptional figure has entered history… Remembering Franco
will constitute for me a demand for good behaviour and loyalty."
So, although under the leadership
of King Juan Carlos, Spain did formally complete its transition from
dictatorship to democracy with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, leaving
in place a constitutional monarchy, it would be hard to believe that
someone who swore loyalty to a brutal fascist would have no animosity
to such ideals. For this reason as a Spaniard, it is disappointing for
me to see how people around the world receive the media sound bites
regarding the heated exchange between a King and a president, without
being granted the opportunity to understand the historical events which
lead to such a situation. Both Aznar and the King of Spain have embraced
fascism at some point in their lives and have built their power upon
its foundations, so although one today would struggle to openly proof
the statement that they are currently fascists, it can at least be said
of them, that at one point both of them certainly were.
For this reason, I choose
to do two things, one is to correct the statement by the Spanish newspaper
El Mundo; "The King has put Chavez in his place in the name of
all Spaniards," - by saying that he has certainly not done so in
my name, and secondly, I wish to address all those moralists discussing
Chavez's manners, by asking them whether they think it was good manners
for Aznar to support a coup against Hugo Chavez, and whether they think
it was good manners and a show of love to the Spanish people, when the
King swore loyalty to the brutal dictator who killed so many of our
relatives.
Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a freelance writer
based in Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media including
Znet, Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine’s Corner and Atlantic
Free Press.
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