Franco Kills for Captalism

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The murder by firing squad of the young Spanish militants last Saturday is Franco's response; on behalf of international capitalism's massive investment in Spain, to the strength and forward movement of the working class on a European and world scale.

The enormous wave of protests and revulsion internationally at these murders, together with the development of opposition within Spain, threaten the very existence of the Franco fascist regime and represent a major point in the resurgence of the Spanish working class and an important stage in the development of the European As the struggle has gone ahead over the past few days two distinct tendencies have emerged in the protest movements.

In the forefront of the demonstra ions, riots strikes and blackings ha: been the class response of workers throughout Europe both to the courage of Franco's victims and to the open barbarism of the Spanish fascist regime.

FEAR

But there are also noises of protest being made by figures who have the greatest fear of the revolutionary mobilisation of the working class to overthrow Franco. This is what underlies the recalling of ambassadors, the ministerial pronouncenem respectalls tor "demency» sections of the European bourgeoisie.

Even the Pope, mainstay of the Franco regime since its foundation, has attempted to dissociate the Church from the shootings, anxious not to lose control of Spanish workers incensed at Franco's repressions. For the European bourgeois ie the main preoccupation is to foster the lie that Franco's regime alone rests on brute force, while they themselves maintain their huge standing armies and police forces to repress their own working class. Thus the British Labour leaders hypocritically denounce Franco while presiding over internment, torture, assassination squads and military. repression in Northern Ireland. The real feelings of the British ruling class are shown by Tory MP John Page, who called on Britain to follo Franco's example, and the Sunday Telegraph's defence of the shooting EMBARASSED White the capitalist class and embarrassed spokesmen try to separate themselves from Franco, the leaders of the working class movement are themselves frightened by the strength of working class reaction to these latest killings. This reaction is certainly increased by the blatant manner in which the five were convicted. They were guilty of nothing, but condemned during prolonged torture by the fascist 'security' services.

They showed exemplary courage as they stood up in court to denounce the torture they had undergone - in the face of judges who ruled such evidence 'out of order'. and who expelled the defence lawyers of those tried on September 17th.

COURAGE

Their courage continued right up to the executions, as one young Basque went to his death giving a 'victory' salute and singing the Basque liberațion hymn. No amount of police terror will defeat such a movement - only treachery within the working class movement itself can mislead the heroism of its best fighters and preserve the Franco regime.

The working class has shown clearly it is willing to fight to end Spanish fascism, In Spain itself thousands have risked arrest, beatin and police bullets in demonstration and toher campaigns against the executions. In San Sebastian -centre of the Basque country - the families of two of the victims led a 5,000 strong protest march ir defiance of Franco's state of emergency, followed by a march of 30,000 on Sunday night.

GENERAL STRIKE

In the small town of Algorta near Bilbao 1,000 marched through the streets - to confront the rifle fire of the fascist Guardia Civil. A 48-hour general strike has been called in the Basque country where already banks and shipyards are at a standstill. Demonstrations have also taken place in other areas of Spain. Nor is the resistance confine to this issue alone - this year has seen a huge wave of illegal strikes over wages and jobs throughout Spanish industry.

Internationally the workers movement has shown its solidarity with the struggles in Spain. Huge demonstrations throughout Europe in the weeks before the shootings gave way over the weekend to all-out riots in Geneva and the burning to the ground of the Spanish embassy in Lisbon. In Italy dockers of all the major unions blacked ships to and from Spain. Given leadership, this movement could impose an economic blockade on the Franco distatorship, and massiv strengthen the fight of the Spanish working class.

But this leadership is withheld by the social-democratic and Stalinist leaders who want at all costs to avoid the revolutionary overthrow Police hold back demonstrators outside: — Spanish embassy in London These people hope that the "nasty" sides of "Franco's regime such as the executions will go away and that he will peacefully hand over a regime that allows a few democratic reforms.

NO CONCESSIONS But Franco and his fascist friends see this differently - they see the danger of anything which can be seen as a concession to the moveme of the working class. They fear the kind of explosive momentum of a movement developing such as that in Portugal. This is why they are taking a hard line.

In the face of this reformism has no answer. The social democrats, with their all-out support for the capitalist Common Market fear the break down of attempts to bring fascist Spain closer into the EEC. The trade union leaders, refusing to give any focus for work ing class struggle, fearing their rank and file might feel their strength in action, hold back from official action.

In Britain the clearest example of this is the cynical, empty rhetoric of Jack Jones' speech on Spain to the Labour Party Conference. Both his proposals were a fraud.

He called for a boycott of Spanish holidays - while knowing full well that a number of trade unions, including ASTMS, run package tour to Spain through an operator with offices in Transport House - the T&GWU's own national headquartHe then called emptily for "spontaneous" actions to "delay and harass" Spanish trade, while himself having the powerammediately to impose an official black which could being Spanish goods to a standstill throughout the country -through T&GWU action on the docks, in road haulage, warehouses nd factories.

Alongside Jones' cynicism goes the international treachery of