INTERNATIONAL
SPAIN cause it averted more radical mass-action proposals like systematic boycotts by trade unions, halting of all military, financial, and commercial collaboration, an embargo on weapons exports, etc. Third, the special place occupied by the Basque national movement in the anti-Franco struggle and the participation of many members of the lower ranks of the clergy make the international Catholic workers organizations (which have not insignificant weight in countries like Holland, Belgium, Italy, and France) especially sensitive to the issue. This is a big change from the situation that prevailed at the time of the Spanish civil war, when the international clergy was unanimous in its support For Franco's anti-working-class crusade. This time a significant section of the Catholic labor movement added its pressure to that of the Social Democrats, the Communist parties, and the revolutionery left, thus forcing the West European governments to make some stronger than usual public gestures "disapproving" Franco's crimes. Fourth, the West European bourgeoisie has drawn some important lessons from the Portuguese experience. It understands that it is a big mistake to allow the organized labor movement a monopoly in the struggle against the Franco dictatorship. It expects this dictatorship to fall, and if wants the fall to take place under conditions in which there are still a maximum of guarantees for mainSOLIDARITY •France The announcement of the confirmation of the death sentences against five Basque and Spanish militants touched off a powerful wave of protest in the French workers and revolutionary movement. It was a wave that swelled up in face of the total silence, and even open complicity, of the Giscard d'Estaing government. On Thursday night, September 24, the 2, 500 participants in a meeting on Portugal in the Mutualite that had been organized by the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR - Revolutionary Communist League, French section of the Fourth International) left the hall at midnight and marched through the streets of the Latin Quarter chanting "Franco, fascist, assassin!" On September 26 toward the end of the afternoon, when the news spread that the death sentences had been confirmed, a spontaneous assembly gathered in front of the Spanish embassy, which was heavily guarded by the police of Giscard and Minister of the Interior Michel Poniatowski.
taining a bourgeois state and a capitalist economy in Spain and under which powerful bourgeois formations can still emerge within the country itself. By accentuating the international isolation of the dictatorship and doing some damage to the commercial interests of the Spanish bourgeoisie, the Common Market capitalists expect to pressure capitalist circles in Spain to assure a rapid succession for the dictator. Ironically, the greatest short-term advantage will be gained by that sector of international capital that has been most cynical about Franco's crimes: the U.S. imperialists. The U.S. capitalists remained silent about these crimes while the wave of protest spread across Europe. They were busy quietly preparing the final stage of their negotiations with the Franco regime over the renewal of the U.S.-Madrid military alliance. Because of the momentary isolation of the Spanish regime in Europe, the price the Francoists had hoped to extract for renewing the leases on the U.S. bases in Spain went down. The hypocrisy of the West European defenders of "democracy" against Franco is indicated by the fact that although many ambassadors were withdrown from Madrid, no government considered withdrawing from NATO, which, through the U.S. military bases and establishment, maintains the closest military collaboration with the Spanish army. • The assembly grew by the hour, as French and Spanish militants arrived. We should note that a small demonstration organized by the CP and the Young Communists dissolved at the Place de la Concorde and never approached the embassyAround 10:00 p.m. there were some clashes with the police, who used their tear gas with abandon. Several thousand people marched in a demonstration down the Champs-Elysées and the surrounding area. The demonstrators marched through the streets of the capital until 3:00 a.m., shouting their hatred for the Francoist regime. All the offices of representative bodies of the fascist Spanish regime along the line of march were destroyed. Violent police attacks dispersed the demonstration at about 3:00 in the morning as it was attempting to reach the embassy. On Saturday, September 27, after the executions were announced, the Portugal demonstration that had been organized by the for left in northern Paris was transformed into a militant anti-Francoist demonstration. It marched
CO SS CR from the Place de la République to the Gare de l'Est, after which the organizers asked the demonstrators to join with the trade-union contingents that were assembling at that time on the Champs-Elysées. The police launched a violent attack at around 6:00 p.m., dispersing the demonstrators into neighboring streets. The press and the radio put a lot of emphasis on the destrucfion of 150 shop windows on the Champs-Elysees or the initiative of groups that were not part of the demonstration and in certain coses were directly organized by the police. The regime tried in this way to divert attention from the powerful anti-Francoist mobilization and to cover up its own shameful role as a prop of the Francoist regime. On Monday, September 29, the trade-union organizafions called for a 5-minute general strike, which was broadly followed, and on Thursday, October 2, they called for boycott actions against Spain. On the night of Monday, September 29, there was a demonstration of nearly 100,000 people called by the parties of the traditional left and by the far left. There again the Giscard regime showed its true face, violently throwing its police against this powerful demonstration while Ponia towski was suggesting that it might be necessary to ban these democratic demonstrations. •Sweden The mobilization in solidarity with the Spanish political prisoners began rather belatedly in Sweden, for a special reason: Unfil September 22 the activity of the revolutionary organizations and the reformist parties was centered around the Chile solidarity demonstration (see report elsewhere in this issue of INPRECOR). There were, however, some small demonstrations as well as a propaganda campaign that paved the way for a much larger reaction later.
On September 27, the day of the execution of the five prisoners, there was a demonstration of about 8, 000 in front of the Spanish embassy in Stockholm. This demonstration was supported by eleven political organizations and solidarity groups responding to a call from the España Antifascista Solidarity Committee. The main slogans and banners in the demonstration were: Smash Franco! Freedom for all political prisoners! and Break diplomatic relations! Outside the embassy the five murdered prisoners were honored by five minutes of absolute silence, a silence that even the police did not dare to break by arriving on the scene of the demonstration. The demonstrators adopted a resolution condemning the Franco regime; this was to be delivered personally to the ambassador, but he refused to open the door. This led to an outcry of anger and some clashes with the police, as people tried to get through the police barricades. After that the embossy was forced to open its doors and the resolution could be delivered. One interesting feature of the demonstration was the presence of a large number of older people, which reflects the fact that memory of the Spanish civil war remains strongly rooted; many veterans of the civil war participated. There were also demonstrations in some other cities: 3,000 in Göteborg and 300 in Malms. Throughout the labor movement there has been a big emotional reaction and some direct strike and boycott actions. Many trade unions adopted statements of solidarity with the oppressed in Spain. At Arlanda, the
Stockholm
SPAIN Stockholm airport, workers and employees went on strike against three Spanish aircraft that had been scheduled to leave for Spain on Saturday. But it was a passive strike that allowed the Spanish crew, including the captains on the flight, to take care of the checkin and baggage loading themselves. A big delay in departure was caused, however. Some unions planned direct actions. The transport union, the pilots union, and the union of clerks decided on a three-day (October 3-5) boycott of all planes leaving for Spain; this will prevent about 10,000 people from leaving on vacations to Spain. The leaders of all the political parties strongly condemned the murders. So did all the daily papers in the country. At the congress of the Social Democratic party Prime Minister Olaf Palme made an extraordinarily strong attack on the Spanish government. "The strange thing, " he said, "is that these god-domned killers are allowed to go on as they do. After the second world war there was much tolk about building a new Europe based on democracy. But Europe still bears this infection of the past. " He also attacked the attitude of NATO, saying, "It is strange that they claim to defend democracy by buying military bases from the fascists." • Holland On the evening of September 26 there were protest demonstrations in front of the Spanish consulates in Amsterdom and Utrecht and in front of the embassy in The Hogue and an official Spanish labor office in Eindhoven. The Eindhoven office was occupied by the demonstrators; the Amsterdam picket lasted all night. The demonstration in The Hague was the largest of these actions, with about 1,000 participants. In general these demonstrations, which were organized nearly instantaneously, were united-front actions in which the comrades of the IKB (Dutch section of the Fourth International), Moists, members of the CP, left Social Democrats, centrists, and comrades from various other organizations participated. On the night of September 26 the Social Democratic Prime Minister Joop Den Uyl colled for a united mass demonstration on Saturday, September 27, in Utrecht. On the morning of September 27 there was a demonstration of 1,500 in Eindhoven. An ad hoc united-front committee mobilized about 1, 000 in Amsterdam. In both cities, the CP opposed calls for participation in the national Utrecht demonstration. Some 10,000 people turned out to the Utrecht demonstration. But the reformist organizations, which had not expected such large participation, had not prepared any material infrasfructure. (There were not even adequate loudspeakers.) Consequently, a united front of the revolutionary organizations, the IKB among them, took leadership over a large part of the demonstration, 8 shouting their main slogans: Boycott Spain! Their struggle, our struggle! International solidarity! Death to Fascism! and For a Red Spain! When Den Uyi called on the demonstrators to disperse, some 5,000 people refused and followed the revolutionaries in a lively and militant demonstration through the city. •Germany The scope of the mobilization, the various protest actions, and the political sentiment expressed during the weekend of September 27-28 stood in the tradition of the big Chile solidarity movement in West Germany. During the weeks preceding the Francoist dictatorship's murder of the five political prisoners, dozens of "committees against the death penalty in Spain" arose, most of them initiated and inspired by far-left groups and by exile groupings of Spanish workers and militants. Beginning with the end of August there were demonstrations, hunger strikes, protests, and the occupation of the Spanish, consulate in Dusseldorf, in which the Gruppe Internationale Marxisten (GIM - International Marxist Group, German section of the Fourth International) actively took part. So there was a certain preparation and organization, although if remained scattered. With the exception of the Spanish exile groups, however, no organization of the far left had made Spanish solidarity the center of its work. The GIM was primarily occupied with organizing in solidarity with Portugal, as were many of the other far-left groups, The KBW, by far the strongest organization of the far left, had launched a sectarian but not unsuccessful campaign against the abortion law and came into the Spanish solidarity work only at the last moment. Thus, most of the Spanish mobilizations were improvised. On September 26, when the news spread that the death sentences had been confirmed, there were spontaneous meetings and demonstrations in various cities. In Frankfurt 2,000 people marched on the Spanish consulate. A group of Spanish workers and German activists occupied the famous Paulskirche, where the 1848 constituent assembly took place. The demonstrators of the consulate then moved to defend the occupation. The police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon. There were fifty arrests; one Spanish comrade was The mobilizations continued over the weekend. On September 27 • 4, 000-strong demonstration in Frankfurt organized in solidarity with the Portuguese revolution was transformed into a militant anti-Francoist demonstration. In Essen a demonstration of 1,000 was held. Some 2,000 demonstrated in Munich (including the local branch of the Young Socialists). About 1,000 demonstrated in Berlin. In Hannover a demonstration of 900 in solidarity with Portugal was partially transformed into an antiFranco demonstration.
On Sunday, September 28, about 1,000 people demonstrated in Bonn. The Spanish embassy wes guarded by tanks! Many churches were occupied (in Hamburg, for example). In Aachen 200 Spanish and German workers and activists occupied the Dom. The Gedachtniskirche was occupied in Berlin. In Heidelberg there was a hunger strike and an occupation of the Heiliggeist-Kirche. Unfortunately, only a very limited number of industrial workers took part in the mobilization. After the call issued by the International Trade Union Federation in •Italy The Spanish events had big repercussions in Italy, both before and after the execution of the militants of the ETA-V and the FRAP. In fact, throughout the month of September there were successive demonstrations whose breadth and militont character recalled the Vietnam solidarity demonstrations at the height of that mobilization. Demonstrations took place in nearly all large cities and in many minor towns as well. In Rome the first demonstration, which drew a few thousand people, was organized by the Communist party on September 4. On September 6 there was another demonstration in Rome, of about the same size, organized by the far left. Speakers at the far-left demonstration included, among others, a member of the national secrefariat of the CGIL (the lorgest national trade-union federation), members of Manifesto-PdUP, and Alain Krivine, of the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire, French section of the Fourth International, who happened to be in Rome at the time. There was another mass demonstration on September 17 with the participation of the Communist party, the Socialist party, and the organizations of the far left. An estimated 8, 00010,000 attended. Throughout the week preceding the executions the organizations of the for left organized
Geneva, the DGB (the German national trade-union confederation) called for a 2-minute (!) "general strike" at noon on October 2. In past weeks a group of forty-eight Social Democratic members of parliament had launched a protest against the death sentences. The DGB sent a protest telegram to Franco. Even some bourgeois politicians (CDU Chairman Kohl) and the Bavarian Cardinal Dapfner called for clemency on "humanitarian grounds."
ROME pickets at the Piazzo di Spagna calling for solidarity with the struggle of the people of Spain against Francoism and gathering signatures against the executions. The three largest organizations of the for left - Lotta Continua, Manifesto-PdUP, and Avanguardia Operala - along with the Gruppi Comunisti Rivoluzionari (Revolutionary Communist Groups, Italian section of the Fourth International) and other organizations of the for left had previously called for a national demonstration in Rome in solidarity with the Portuguese revolution; it was scheduled to be held on September 27, the day the executions were announced. As it turned out, the demonstration was centered mainly on Spain. For six hours some 30,000 people marched through the center of the city in a mood of great combativity. The demonstration was led by several hundred masked soldiers in uniform. The leaders of the action condemned the few acts of vandalism committed against some shops that in no way represented political fargets (about which there was a big campaign in the radio and television). At the same time, a short distance away, there was a demonstration of the CP and the SP, with the participation of representatives of the PSDI (Social Democratic party), the PRI
SPAIN (Republican party), and even some representatives of the Christian Democracy. There were about 5, 000 in that demonstration. The speaker from the Christian Democracy was roundly booed. At the Olympic Stadium before the start of a football game between Italy and Finland, 60,000 people observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the Francoist murders; a large number of spectators shouted "Spagna Libera!" (Free Spain!). On the same day, September 27, demonstrations also took place in many other cities. Especially important traditional parwere two demonstrations in Milan - each of several thousand people - one organized by the traditional parties and trade unions, the other by the for left. On October 2 there wos a 15~minute general strike called by the three frade-union federations. There were new demonstrations that afternoon in many cities, the largest of which was in Rome. The port workers conducted boycott actions against Spanish ships, and there were similar actions of the airports against Iberian Airlines. In Rome and in many other cities some Spanish buses were burned. •Switzerland Since August, when the opening of the trials in Spain was announced, a vast solidarity movement has developed in the major cities of Switzerland. Demonstrations and church occupations were organized each week. The Spanish consulate in Zurich and the Spanish embassy in Bern were occupied by anti-Froncoist militants during the week before the executions. Wherever it was possible, the Ligue Marxiste Revolutionnaire, Swiss section of the Fourth International, pressed for the formation of the broadest united committees. Where unity could not be forged, the LMR comrades took the required solidarity initiatives themselves. With the confirmation of the death sentences by the Council of Ministers, the solidarity movement responded Immediately and the mobilization broadened. Mobilizations were organized everywhere, many of them attracting thousands of people. These were the main demonstrations: La Chaux-de-Fonds: Demorstration of more than 1,000 organized by the Socialist party, the Parti du Travail (the Communist party), the trade-union organizations, and the LMR. Zurich: Demonstration of 2,000 people, which ended in front of the Spanish consulate. Basel: Occupation of the Spanish consulate. Lausanne: Demonstration of 1,500 people after the occupation of a square in the center of the city during the night of September 26-27. Lugano: Demonstration of 1,500, occupation of the Spanish consulate, and the burning of all documents. 10
Geneva: It wos in this city that the largest demonstration took place, with more than 5,000 people. After filling through the streets and throwing pots of paint at the facade of a Spanish commercial agency, the demonstrators went to the Spanish consulate, which was guarded by a large number of police. There was a clash, for which the Geneva police bear full responsibility. In Lugano, where the police prudently refrained from intervening, the occupation of the consulate and destruction of the documents took place without clashes. The mobilizations against the repression in Spain were of unprecedented scope for Switzerland. Even more important, the organizations of the workers movement supported the mobilization in many cases, even though that support was often more verbal than real, particularly as regards the united organization of the mobilization. One thing is clear: The permanent activity and the refusal to bow to wait-and-see atfitudes on the part of the various local committees forced a part of the workers movement to support and participate in the mobilizations. Although the demonstrations were large, they had one essential weakness: They were argonized on a purely local scale, without any real national coordination. Today, however, if the solidarity movement is to spread, it is indispersable to strengthen and coordinate the initiatives of the local committees. This must be done around the following axes: - denunciation of the crimes of Francoism, all frame-up trials, and all death sentences; for the release of all political prisoners, against the state of exception and the "antiterrorist" low; - support for the struggles of the workers, poor peasants, and all the oppressed of Spain; - mobilization of all possible forces to demand an immediate break of diplomatic relations with the dictatorship. The last point is especially important. The Swiss government is one of the few European governments that did not take any public position before the executions. This is primarily a result of the economic interests that link Switzerland to the dictatorship, particularly in the realm of arms exports. Switzerland exports more arms to Spain than to any other country except Iran. In order to further this extension of the solidarity movement, revolutionary Marxist militants have proposed that o national demonstration be held on October 17 in Bern, and they have set to work to realize the broadest unity in action with all the forces of the workers movement wherever it is possible. But they also understand that the initiatives of the most determined anti-Francoist militants are now capable of drawing in other forces of the workers movement and of thus enlarging the front against the bloody dictatorship.
•Denmark In Denmark there has been virtually unanimous condemnation of the Franco regime, both before and after the executions. Several demonstrations were held in Copenhagen before the trials. The day before the executions there was a demonstration of 500. On the morning of the day of the executions, several hundred people spontaneously gathered in front of the Spanish embassy. Some of the embassy's windows were broken by the angry crowd, In general, the murders met with a violent response. Social Democratic Prime Minister Anker Jorgensen condemned the actions of the Franco regime in a very strong statement and recalled the Danish ambassador from Madrid. Some of the bourgeois press even proposed a total boycott of Spain. On September 29 the harbor workers in Copenhagen refused to handle any ship coming from or destined for Spain. The leadership of the national transport union decided to heed the call of the international transport union federation for a forty-eight-hour total blockade of all connections with Spain - ships, trains, frucks, and airplanes. The widespread sentiment in favor of a boycott of Spain is now centered around two goals: 1. All the tourist trips to Spain. More than 10,000 Danes make trips to Spain every year, organized by the big Danish travel agencies. A boycott on this field would be an effective blow against Francoism. 2. A football match is scheduled for October 12 in Barcelona between Denmark and Spain. A Danish refusal to play would be widely publicized in Spain and would be seen as an act of protest and solidarity. • Lisbon, Portugal
•Britain The execution of five antifascist militants in Spain touched off an important wave of solidarity actions in Britain, as elsewhere in Europe. On the day of the execution itself some 800 Spanish and British militants mounted an immediate demonstration in London. On the following Monday (September 29) the Labour Party Conference unanimously adopted a resolution stating its "total abhorrence and condemnation of the death sentences." It did not, however, call for any practical solidarity action. Speaking to the conference Jäck Jones, the leader of Britain's largest trade union, the Transport and General Workers Union with one and a quarter million members, called for "the maximum harassment" of the Franco dictatorship. He explained that this meant "stopping and delaying the loading and unloading of Spanish ships, the looding and unloading of Spanish lorries, the loading and unloading of Spanish aircraft." A mass meeting of 2,000 dockers at the port of Hull voted to boycott all Spanish trade until the Franco regime is ended." At the main London airport of Heathrow, shop stewards voted to boycott the Spanish airlines, Iberia, "indefinitely." Night telephonists at London's International telephone exchange have decided to boycott all calls to or from Spain. Other transport workers have announced their support for the 48-hour boycolt of Spanish goods called by the International Transport Workers Federation for October 2 and 3. They include workers at the Stanstead airport, the main railwaymen's union (the National Union of Railwaymen), and the Transport and General Workers Union, which controls the docks and road transport.
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