Word: franco
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...Socialist Carmen Calvó, a former minister of culture, was blunt: "I don't like them at all. They're antiquated." United Left leader Gaspar Llamazares, objecting in particular to the Franco-esque ring of that "Viva España!," called them "stale." Artur Mas, leader of the Catalan party Convergence I Unio, sniped, "With words like this, I don't think you'll see me singing it much." Even the conservative Popular Party, which has made the addition of anthem lyrics part of its campaign platform, could manage only a tepid response. "They don't seem...
...sports team that sponsors language study? In Catalonia, the semi-autonomous region that makes up the northeastern corner of Spain, the coalition hasn't taken anyone by surprise. Barça has been a symbol of Catalan nationalism since its founding in the late 19th century. Under the Franco dictatorship, which suppressed the Catalan language as part of its campaign to create an authoritarian centralized state, the team provided an outlet for the expression of local identity, a place where Catalan flags could be waved and Catalan cheers shouted. And now, at a time when Catalonia has achieved an unprecedented...
...symbolic meaning. Barça and Real Madrid are long-time rivals, and not just because they are the two most successful teams in Spanish soccer history (and currently sit in first and second place in the standings). If Barça was a symbol of dissent to the Franco dictatorship, Real Madrid was the regime's - and the Generalísimo's - favored team. (Santiago Bernabeu, the former club president for whom the Galácticos' stadium is named, even fought with Franco's army during the Nationalist invasion of Catalonia). "For Catalans, who see themselves as a nation that...
...fascist" who had supported a 2002 coup attempt against Chávez. Chávez later spun Juan Carlos' outburst as a monarchical affront to democracy (though Juan Carlos was, in fact, key to restoring constitutional rule in Spain after the death of its genuinely fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, in 1975). "The king is a head of state like me," Chávez said, "only I've been elected three times with 63% support...
...that turned out so catastrophic a majority of politicians and voters in the U.S. now oppose it?" asks Jacques Mistral, head of economic research at the French Institute on Foreign Relations, and former official at the French Embassy in Washington during the darkest days of the Franco-American Iraq spat. "Virtually everyone in France is happy to see friendly feelings and a positive atmosphere restored, but people are also aware that Iraq, Guantanamo, Iran, and most issues that still divide us were carefully ignored," during Sarkozy's trip...