Word: bunkerisms
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...course such a provisional government, presumably including Communists, would be unacceptable to the powerful Spanish right, especially the so-called "bunker"-the hard-line core of Franco's backers. Even if Juan Carlos favored a broad-based provisional government-and there is no hint that he (joes-it is extremely unlikely that he will want or dare to break with the right so soon. Since Communist demands for a provisional government are almost certain to go unfulfilled, the P.C.E. will probably launch a series of "democratic activities": strikes, walkouts, demonstrations. In fact, the Junta Democrática-a leftist...
Neither the bunker nor the Communists, for instance, are thought to represent more than 10% of the population. But each can mobilize strength far beyond its numbers. The P.C.E., with between 20,000 and 70,000 clandestine members, is Spain's most organized political movement and has deeply infiltrated the unofficial labor movement and key bourgeois professional organizations. The bunker is solidly rooted in the military, the church, the government-controlled official unions and the Movimiento Nacional. It can also call its forces out onto the streets-old Civil War veterans for mass marches and youthful terrorists, such...
Life as Usual. Even the military, which ultimately may determine who rules and what policies will be pursued, remains a political mystery. Its oldest officers and the veterans of the Blue Division (the volunteers who fought alongside the Nazis in World War II) back the bunker. Other key officers like former army Chief of Staff Manuel Díez Alegría openly advocate gradual, democratic reforms leading to a politically pluralistic Spain. Several hundred radicalized young officers who call themselves the Democratic Military Union have circulated an ideario (statement of ideas) that demands "democratic freedoms, reforms leading...
...challenged immediately. "Although many people in the opposition will not accept him because of his close association with Franco," observed Centrist Politician Marcelino Oreja, "most Spaniards want to give him a chance." No one knows for certain, however, whether Juan Carlos has the courage to break with the "bunker"-the group of hardline rightists who were Franco's most loyal backers and can be expected to oppose any realistic political reforms...
...Falange veterans, who fought under their Caudillo during the Civil War, feel a deep loyalty to the existing political structures. If the "bunker" denounces reformist measures as the work of Communists, these former soldiers might well take to the streets with rallies and demonstrations. The Communists and other leftists would probably respond with counterprotests and a wave of economy-crippling strikes...