Pedro Morenes' observations regarding the military - its preparedness and its not reacting to absurd provocations - were deliberately vague. But vagueness demands that meaning is sought. And the Catalonians and Basques have taken the vagueness to mean them. A defence minister would be expected to speak positively about the military, but Morenes' veiled comments have been interpreted as a veiled threat.
A national politician can't - or you wouldn't think he could - specifically refer to military action of a domestic nature, but there has not been such reticence within military circles. There has been the example of Colonel Castro, who has stated the case for military intervention in the event of independence by Catalonia. If Morenes was indeed implying the same thing, then it is fair to ask whether his observations represent an alignment with the military - or elements within it, because Castro is well to the right - and as to who exactly might be setting the agenda. Is the military tail wagging the government dog, or is it the other way round? Whichever way round it is, Morenes and parts of the military will have taken note of what Mariano Rajoy had to say last year about upholding the Constitution if necessary. The "if necessary" was loaded with its own euphemistic vagueness.
The role of the military in today's Spain is an oddity. Theoretically, its role was diminished under the Constitution, and so a culture of militarism that had existed for decades and also the military's means of affecting the political process were removed. Historically, it had been the military, through the "pronunciamiento" - an officers' insurrection - which had brought about change to the political landscape. This all became firmly a thing of the past once democracy arrived.
Nevertheless, the military seems to still cling to these old days. You wouldn't have thought that a Colonel Castro could make the sort of comments that he has. And nor would you have thought that he could get away with them. But he appears to have, the Partido Popular excusing them on the grounds that they were personal opinion, a position contrary to that of the former Zapatero regime, which put General Mena under house arrest for daring to suggest something similar.
It isn't the case that parts of the military align themselves solely with the principles of Spanish nationhood and with the defence of the Kingdom of Spain. Again historically, the military didn't always see the nation and the monarchy as meaning the same thing. Franco certainly didn't. He was quite content for Alfonso to be in exile at the time of the Civil War and to overlook his successor, the current King's father. And there have also been elements of the military which have had an ideologically different position to that of Franco's: a Republican ideology.
There is one military Republican who is today commanding a good deal of attention. He is Colonel Amadeo Martínez Inglés, and he faces the prospect (remote, one would imagine) of being sent to prison for 15 years. His alleged crime? He has "injured" the crown. In other words, he has insulted King Juan-Carlos. Among various things of which the Colonel has accused the King, there is the small matter of the King himself having been behind the 1981 coup attempt.
What is attracting particular interest as a result of the Colonel's appearance at the High Court to face his charges is the law under which he has been charged. It is one that the European Court of Human Rights quashed, yet it has been reactivated in the case of Colonel Martínez, despite the European Court having made clear that the law went against the principle of freedom of speech.
The Colonel is insisting that certain witnesses are brought to testify, including Antonio Tejero, the officer remembered as the one who waved the gun around in parliament during the failed coup. He has also stated that he is in favour of the Catalonian wish for a referendum on independence. So in every possible way, he is the complete antithesis of what might be thought to be a typical Spanish military figure.
Considered a nutter by the right-wing, there are serious issues that his case throws up. One is the use of the law limiting freedom of speech. Another is that, for all he has become the darling of Catalanist and Republican supporters, he is from the military (albeit that he has retired). Like Colonel Castro and General Mena, it might be wiser were these military figures to keep quiet; freedom of speech or not. By making pronouncements, they are echoing the past, one that many would prefer was finally laid to rest. A pronouncement bears great similarity with "pronunciamiento".
* I acknowledge Alan Murphy's article about Colonel Martínez Inglés from Iberosphere - http://iberosphere.com/2013/01/spain-news-martinez-ingles-7709/7709
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Friday, January 11, 2013
Monday, September 24, 2012
The Crazy World Of Arthur Mas
Included in the Nueva Planta decrees issued by King Philip V in the early eighteenth century were those which allowed Navarre and the Basque Country to keep their charters. Both were given special privileges because they had supported Philip during the War of the Spanish Succession. Catalonia lost its charter because it had backed the wrong horse.
These special privileges still exist. Navarre and the Basque Country operate financial pacts with the Spanish state. These mean that they have tax-raising powers, a privilege that is not shared by Catalonia which wants greater powers as well as more of the financial pot and to stop having to pay for other regions to the extent that it has been. The president of Catalonia, Arthur Mas (who we should call Artur), has been told by Mariano Rajoy that he can't have such powers. As a result, Artur is considering not so much taking his bat home but pulling the whole team off the Spanish park.
Mas is saying that Catalonia needs its own structures as a state and that it is now its turn for transition (Spain having had its). The spokesperson for the Catalonian government, Francesc Homs, is saying that a referendum on independence is possible within four years. The King is telling the Catalonians to stop chasing rainbows. Rubalcaba, for the opposition PSOE, is telling Mas to back off. Rajoy is doing his best Charles de Gaulle ("non, "non") and is defending the Constitution. The European Union is getting into a bit of a flap about the whole thing.
When the 600,000, or one and a half million or two million (take your pick from the different sources) took to the streets of Barcelona on Catalonia's National Day (and the Catalonians celebrate a day when they were given a sound kicking by Philip V), Mas would have taken this as a signal to suggest he has a mandate for embarking on an independentist route. He doesn't officially have such a mandate, only one to negotiate a better financial deal for Catalonia, but this isn't stopping him from playing the independent card for his own political advantage (always assuming it is in fact an advantage).
Rajoy and Mas are not unalike. Both have the air of the cold fish about them. Mas has suggested in the past that he is more a technocrat than politician, so his movement towards separatism might appear strange. But technocrats can do their sums. Catalonia may be in debt up to its neck and may be needing a massive bailout from Madrid, but it would be argued that it wouldn't be in so much debt if it hadn't been made to hand over money to pay for mad projects in regions of Spain which don't have a euro to urinate into.
What Mas isn't is a raving loony. He is basically a conservative politician when he's not being a technocrat. There may in fact be method in his madness if it were to result in a redefinition of Spain's regions, one that is more federal. Yet this comes at a time when there are arguments aplenty to get rid of the regions because they have been so financially promiscuous. Mas can't be accused of this when he has been introducing austerity measures in Catalonia that have made him unpopular. The independence thing might, therefore, be purely a political gambit to re-establish this lost popularity.
It is, though, a dangerous game, and the danger goes deeper than just a threat to declare independence. It shouldn't be forgotten that in 2006 the army general José Mena was put under house arrest for suggesting that the military might intervene were Catalonia to be granted greater autonomy. Unlike Mena, an army colonel, Francisco Alamán Castro, appears to have avoided any sanction for stating the case for military intervention in the event of independence. This was in an interview with a far-right publication at the end of last month. Catalonia, separatism, independence conjure up memories and worrying scenarios that make the claim for independence a very different beast to that of Scotland's.
Mas may well call an election in November and hope that he gets a popular mandate for independence. It's not out of the question that he would, though any move towards independence would be blocked by Rajoy raising the defence of the Constitution which doesn't permit a region's independence. Mas argues that this is a clause that reflected the time when it was written, three years after Franco's death. Be this as it may, Rajoy has said he will uphold the Constitution if necessary. The question is how he is prepared to uphold it.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
These special privileges still exist. Navarre and the Basque Country operate financial pacts with the Spanish state. These mean that they have tax-raising powers, a privilege that is not shared by Catalonia which wants greater powers as well as more of the financial pot and to stop having to pay for other regions to the extent that it has been. The president of Catalonia, Arthur Mas (who we should call Artur), has been told by Mariano Rajoy that he can't have such powers. As a result, Artur is considering not so much taking his bat home but pulling the whole team off the Spanish park.
Mas is saying that Catalonia needs its own structures as a state and that it is now its turn for transition (Spain having had its). The spokesperson for the Catalonian government, Francesc Homs, is saying that a referendum on independence is possible within four years. The King is telling the Catalonians to stop chasing rainbows. Rubalcaba, for the opposition PSOE, is telling Mas to back off. Rajoy is doing his best Charles de Gaulle ("non, "non") and is defending the Constitution. The European Union is getting into a bit of a flap about the whole thing.
When the 600,000, or one and a half million or two million (take your pick from the different sources) took to the streets of Barcelona on Catalonia's National Day (and the Catalonians celebrate a day when they were given a sound kicking by Philip V), Mas would have taken this as a signal to suggest he has a mandate for embarking on an independentist route. He doesn't officially have such a mandate, only one to negotiate a better financial deal for Catalonia, but this isn't stopping him from playing the independent card for his own political advantage (always assuming it is in fact an advantage).
Rajoy and Mas are not unalike. Both have the air of the cold fish about them. Mas has suggested in the past that he is more a technocrat than politician, so his movement towards separatism might appear strange. But technocrats can do their sums. Catalonia may be in debt up to its neck and may be needing a massive bailout from Madrid, but it would be argued that it wouldn't be in so much debt if it hadn't been made to hand over money to pay for mad projects in regions of Spain which don't have a euro to urinate into.
What Mas isn't is a raving loony. He is basically a conservative politician when he's not being a technocrat. There may in fact be method in his madness if it were to result in a redefinition of Spain's regions, one that is more federal. Yet this comes at a time when there are arguments aplenty to get rid of the regions because they have been so financially promiscuous. Mas can't be accused of this when he has been introducing austerity measures in Catalonia that have made him unpopular. The independence thing might, therefore, be purely a political gambit to re-establish this lost popularity.
It is, though, a dangerous game, and the danger goes deeper than just a threat to declare independence. It shouldn't be forgotten that in 2006 the army general José Mena was put under house arrest for suggesting that the military might intervene were Catalonia to be granted greater autonomy. Unlike Mena, an army colonel, Francisco Alamán Castro, appears to have avoided any sanction for stating the case for military intervention in the event of independence. This was in an interview with a far-right publication at the end of last month. Catalonia, separatism, independence conjure up memories and worrying scenarios that make the claim for independence a very different beast to that of Scotland's.
Mas may well call an election in November and hope that he gets a popular mandate for independence. It's not out of the question that he would, though any move towards independence would be blocked by Rajoy raising the defence of the Constitution which doesn't permit a region's independence. Mas argues that this is a clause that reflected the time when it was written, three years after Franco's death. Be this as it may, Rajoy has said he will uphold the Constitution if necessary. The question is how he is prepared to uphold it.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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