New stage in Spanish crisis

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Last week's killing of two more retired military officers and a capitalistby ETA and the "autonomous anti-capitalist commandos"-has plunged Spain into a fresh stage of its political crisis.

As after every terrorist attack now the Cabinet went immediately into emergency session following which the Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo met with the military chiefs of staff.

That is the meeting of his economic package. But the vast military potential of the Shuttle programme seems likely to ensure that further funds are made available over and above the four flights already agreed by Congress.

US military planners had been worried at the recent successes of Soviet "killer which is increasingly becoming Spain's real cabinet.

The Ministers of the Democratic Centre Union (UCD) government are trying to avert the impending military coup by abdicating their authority-not vast to start with-to the military leaders.

Sham

And in turn the opposition parties-the Socialists and Communists-abdicate their political role to the weak and reactionary UCD.

Parliament has become more a sham than ever since sattelites" which manoeuvre close to and destroy target sattelites by detonating themselves.

The USSR is apparently ahead of US technology in this field, which would theoretically enable Soviet sattelites to wipe out key US military spy sattelites and those used for communicaEL SALVADOR it was hi-jacked on February 23 by Lt. Colonel Tejerowho has just sold his memoirs to a publisher and has published a long article justifying , the coup in the leading right wing paper ABC.

The only serious parliamentary vote since last year's vote of censure by the Socialist Party did, however, take place last week.

It was over whether ecclesiastic law should hold any sway under the new law which liberalises divorce.

The combined forces of the opposition parties and tions.

Research is going on into the production of sattelites equipped with sensors and laser guns.

Military outpost

But the Space Shuttle shows that the US imperialists may soon be able to go still further ahead-launchservicing their satellites at positioning and even will; capturing Soviet sattelites and taking them back to earth; and moving swiftly to establish a manned orbiting military outpost serviced by Shuttle.

Such an outpost could not only destroy enemy missiles but launch its own missiles against selected targets.

The US Air Force is already planning its own $450 million control centre for military space flights and its own launch pad for what is seen as an expanded arena of military baild-up.

In the forthcoming Shuttle flights substantial footage in the cargo bay has been allocated for undisrebel "social democratic" sections of the UCD led to a defeat for the "Christian Democrat" sections of the UCD.

The vote served to underline the lack of authority of the UCD government.

It has led to rumours of an impending cabinet reshuffle in which "social democrats" would be removed and beyond this to speculation about a possible emergency UCD Congress, a split in the party and to early general elections within a few months.

Shuttle blasts off closed US military use.

The cost of such military development is huge-and will itself cut down the scientific aspects of the Shuttle programme.

Every ten days

By the end of the 1980s it is predicted that Shuttle flights will be taking place every ten days. How many such flights will be designed for scientific work -and how many simply carrying aloft weapons of death and desIt could easily become a bargaining counter in the CP's plan to negotiate a new Iole in government alongside parties of the ruling class.

Gained little

Without the suspension of the scala mobile Forlani has gained little in these negotiations. If anything they bring nearer the moment when the Italian ruling class decides that his puny coalition government can serve their voracious interests no longer. truction in a further cosmic extension of the imperialist arms race?

Soviet President Brezhnev greeted the Space Shuttle by warning of the military implications of the programme, and appealing to the Reagan government to establish the same kind of peaceful coexistence' in Space as exists on earth.

Yet the fact is that as long as imperialism exists, the danger of war is an ever present threat hanging over the masses on a world scale.

From this distance looks very unlikely that suc elections could again be wo by the discredited parties c the right and that the oppo: ition Socialists would fin themselves unwillingly wit a majority.

There are few in Spai today who can imagine suc a scenario continuing unir terruptedly without anothe attempt by the military • ti oust the civilian politician altogether.

And yet the mai workers parties and union continue to stand idly by.

Brezhnev and his fellov Stalinist bureaucrats warn o the dangers of imperialismbut stand opposed t working class action to over throw it, fearing that suct struggle will also bring the end to their own privileged parasitic existence.

Only the building ol revolutionary parties ir every country to lead the struggle to defeat imperial ism and oust the Stalinist bureaucracies can answer the threat of nuclear annihila tion.

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