Franco has been in the news a lot lately. From the plans to
move his tomb, which many view as an affront to his opponents in the Civil War
and the victims of his regime, to the return of the Spanish Far Right for the
first time since his death in the 1970's, the Spanish people are revisiting the
period.
For me what is most interesting is US corporate and
government backing during the 1930's and then again after WWII. The history has
until recently been largely ignored. There are deeper questions regarding
motive which have (as of yet) to be fully investigated.*
On a basic level, it's really the story of 1917 and the
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. It shook the world and spurred many into action
during the 1920's. Many saw Fascism as the answer to the Communist threat,
something many Americans, particularly those on the Right have struggled to
understand. The Second World War called for pragmatism and an alliance with the
USSR, leading to further left-right tensions in the United States and a radical
reaction in the post-war years in the form of McCarthyism. Ultimately this led
to Washington forming a tight alliance with Francoist Spain... and the
re-writing of its story.
As a Christian I'm interested in the role of Roman
Catholicism and in particular groups like Opus Dei. The ideology of Spanish
Fascism, quite different what appeared in Hitler's Germany is alive and well
and has been quietly building up a head of steam both in Spain and abroad. This
is why the contemporary politics of Franco, the battles over his legacy are
worth noting and watching.
Franco's
regime famously refused to hand over its Jews to the Nazis but the evidence is
clear that Franco was (at the very least) quite eager to send his enemies to
the camps. While Spain, the land that (prior to Hitler's Germany) was the most
Anti-semitic of lands proved surprisingly resistant to the impulse during the
war. Franco's Spain became a haven for
escaping Jews from Eastern Europe and yet after the war Spain became a haven
for ex-Nazis and other fascists like Ante Pavelić of the Ustaše.
In fact it was in Spain that the United States (sometimes
through the Gehlen Organisation and the BND) made contact with and collaborated
with some of these figures during the post-war period.
Franco was of course a brutal and evil man but like almost
all men in power who walk the stage of history... the full story is a bit more
complicated.
For years it has been argued that Spain was a haven for Jews
during the war. But there have always been detractors and those that believe the
stories were exaggerated, that Franco's history was re-written in order to
cement his alliance with NATO and the United States.
These battles over history will continue as will the role of
groups like Opus Dei, both within the Roman Catholic Church and the Franco
regime. For some they seem like now faraway chapters of largely irrelevant
history, but the legacies live on, the secrets are still buried and the
ideas... are as alive and viable as ever. And even though Franco has been dead
for almost 45 years, there are many who remember the terror of his rule.
Spain is still wrestling with this past as are many of the
Latin American countries who lived under fascist and military dictatorships
throughout the post-war period. And yet the stories are often suppressed. There
are too many skeletons in the closet and hovering everywhere in the background
are agents connected to Wall Street, Langley, the Pentagon and the White House.
*Here are some noteworthy bits of history coming from the
Nixon administration. One is a toast Nixon gave to Franco in 1970 and the other
is Nixon's statement upon news of Franco's death in 1975. There's been some
confusion about the latter quote due to a popular Saturday Night Live meme.
Some believe the quotes are farcical and the result of the comedy show. Rather,
the show was simply mocking the statements of Nixon and the longtime alliance
with the fascist dictator.
October 02, 1970
General Franco, Mrs.
Franco, Your Excellencies, friends of Spain and the United States:
When I visited
President Eisenhower just a few weeks before he died, he was reminiscing about
his great experiences as president and also as a military leader. I asked him
to weigh the various receptions that he had had around the world. He thought a
moment and then he said that one of the greatest and most friendly welcomes and
the most memorable receptions he had as President of the United States was a
reception in Spain in 1959, when he was the guest at this table and in this
city of you, General Franco, and Mrs. Franco.
I now know what he
meant, because today we had the opportunity to feel the kind of reception that
the Spanish people, under your leadership, gave to him and that you gave to us,
as representatives of the American people. We think of this magnificent
banquet, at the very table where he sat just 11 years ago, with many of the
same people here present.
We think of the words
of welcome which you have so generously spoken. We think also, of the
tremendous crowds in the streets of Madrid as we drove together to the Palace
where we are staying.
And as we heard and
saw those crowds, they were saying many things. Among them were these: First,
General Franco, they were expressing their respect and their affection for you.
Second, they were expressing their friendship for the people of the United States.
Third, as I saw those
crowds, I saw the past of Spain and the future of Spain, and it is truly a
great future, because I saw a vigorous people--a proud people, a young people,
a dynamic people--the people that have been responsible for Spain having the
fastest growth rate of any country in Europe over these past to years; the
people who will be responsible for Spain, in the last 30 years of this century,
moving into a new period of economic progress and well-being for its people and
a new period of contributions to progress for all peoples in the world.
This is what I felt as
we drove through the streets of Madrid today.
And then in the talks
that we have had this afternoon with you, with members of your staff, with Vice
President Blanco, with Prince Juan Carlos, with Secretary Bravo,1 I
felt that we, in those talks, established a new firm base for increased
understanding, increased cooperation in all fields between Spain and the United
States in the years ahead.
1 Foreign Minister of Spain Gregorio Lopez
Bravo.
We have been good
friends, our two countries. We, I believe, in the years ahead can be even
better friends.
The treaty to which
you have referred can be the solid basis for areas of cooperation that have not
yet been explored, and we want to participate with you in this great adventure
in which the Spanish people, with a proud past, move forward to one of the
great periods in its entire history in the last 30 years of this century.
I would say to you
finally, that as I heard the crowds in the streets today, I realized that the
United States has many friends in Spain.
I want to assure you,
General Franco, the members of your Government, and all of this distinguished
company here, and all those who may hear me on television or radio, that Spain
has many friends in the United States. And I assure you, particularly, that
Spain has two special friends, the present President of the United States and
his wife, who have a feeling of affection and of friendship for this country,
for its people.
You will always have a
friend in us and a good friend and a loyal friend in the years ahead.
So I ask this company
to rise with me and raise your glasses to the health of General Franco and Mrs.
Franco, to the economic progress and prosperity of the Spanish people, and to
the cooperation of the United States and Spain in the cause of peace and
progress for the whole world.
General Franco.
Nixon Asserts Franco Won Respect for Spain
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 19 (AP) —Former
President Richard M. Nixon said today that Generalissimo Francisco Franco
earned worldwide respect for Spain through “firmness and fairness.”
“General Franco was a loyal friend
and ally of the United States,” Mr. Nixon said in a statement. He added: “After
a tragic and bloody civil war; he brought Spain back to economic recovery. He
unified a divided nation through a policy of firmness and fairness toward those
who had fought against him.”
The statement by Mr. Nixon, who
lives in nearby San Clemente, was telephoned to The San Diego Union.
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