Word: juan
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...form a common front against the Francoist state after Franco. But rank-and-file Spanish laboring men, historically the most radical in the West, have not yet emerged as factors. Thirty-six years of repression and material prosperity have perhaps stemmed the revolutionary tide. Only when Franco dies and Juan Carlos attempts to enact reforms over visceral right-wing opposition will the working class have a chance to act for itself; until then, the parties claiming to speak for it command attention...
...FRANCO LIES on his deathbed after 37 years of autocratic rule, the state he leaves behind confronts the problem of political change. Spain's future is ostensibly in the hands of Juan Carlos de Borbon, designated by Franco as the next king and currently exercising interim powers. Though Juan Carlos's public speeches proclaim the perpetuation of Franco's one-party state, he has long been thought to favor some liberal reforms, such as easing censorship and permitting greater political participation. But whether Juan Carlos's liberal reputation is well-deserved or not, he will hardly make the crucial decisions...
...preserve the Franco state intact as long as possible, including its secret police and political arrests. These men represent Franco's family, civil war generals, high state officials, and a host of para-military groups like the Falange and the Guerillas of Christ the King. The bunker deeply distrusts Juan Carlos for his democratic leanings. It hopes to restrict his power when he officially becomes king by forcing him to retain the present Prime Minister, Carlos Arias Navarro, a moderate Francoist whose half-hearted reform measures have easily been curbed before...
...party of the aperture, monarchists who want Juan Carlos to enact democratic reforms, minimize the influence of the bunker despite its demonstrated ability to accelerate repression in recent months. These "moderates" are members of the Cortes and the National Movement, Spain's only legal political party, as well as high bureaucrats, corporate executives, and former ministers and ambassadors. They have organized political groups like the FEDISA (Federation of Independent Study Groups) and Tacito, which publish manifestos in the Catholic press and hope to direct post-Franco Spain...
...middle classes and the army leave slim possibilities for a smooth transition to stability under a Western-style political system. Whichever faction controls the government in the next few weeks, these conflicts will undermine any compromise and will propel the situation leftward. Though in the short run Juan Carlos and his rightist puppeteers have the initiative, in the long run the future of Spain depends on the actions of the left...