summer — on either side. Spain's authentic terrorists, the Civil Guard, and their licensed confederates in the fascist bands have added three more murders to the long catalogue of crimes being denounced Enrouenour ne spanisn stare ov nunored. of thousands of workers.
The first victim was Francisco Javier Verdejo, a militant of the PTE [Spanish Labour Party a split off from the Communist Party], an 18-year-old biology student shot and killed by the Civil Guard wille palnung bread, work, and rreedom on a wall in Almeria. Then Eduardo Moreno Bergaretxe [Pertur], 26, a militant of ETA[V] and the key figure in the Basque nationalist organisation's latest left turn -is so tar uncarted Dans for launcing an Abertzale [patriots'] workers party from tne forincoming ETA congress was kidnapped and almost certainly murdered by a fascist commando unit, on the French side of the frontier with Spain The latest fascist outrage took place in Fuentarrabia during ine continuing cam paign for amnesty in the Basque country [Euskadi]. Following a large demonstration in this small coastal village, the Civil Guard began attacking people at random. They entered a bar on ine assaulted the people inside with boots and rifle butts. There has been no truce in Spain this is politically unarmed. A very searching light is also being shed on the Democratic Coordination [DC), the class collaboraHOnISE alliance between tiny bourgeois groupings of never more than a thousand "militants") and the large workers parties -particular, the Spanish Communist Party.
The contradiction within this unprincip led alliance can only be magnified by upsurges such as the general strike in Euskadi last week. While the bourgeois figureheads must be less than satisfied with mei partners impotence in neacing or such explosions, the workers parties in the DC cannot long survive the repeated overshooting of their stated negotiating positions by the mass movement.
The viability of the proposed pact between the DC and the dictatorship depends on the ability of the Government to which it gives birth to satisfy and separate out the vast and intractable amalgam of political economic and social demands long sinc considered by the mass movement as their secuate interests are aspirators For example, with over a million unemployed [more than 8 per cent], inflation running towards 30 per cent by the end of the year, and only one in four workers recerving some form or social security, a massive assembly of the unemployed will take place in Madrid later this month. This will include in its central platform of demands: 100 per cent compensation on being laid off; official recognition delegates elected in assemblies of the unem. ployed; access to and control of the unem ployment figures and the employment agencies; plus a labour amnesty and the suppression of the black lists.
The demands that are being raised by this mass movement - fighting in ever growing numbers - take on a more and more overtly anti-capitalist character as the crisis deepens. This, and the profound desire of ers assembled in the centre of Sestao, the movement for real unity - the mos democratic expression of its combined repressive apparatus and fighting hand to force— is opening the way to a general strike throughout the Spanish state to bring down the dictatorship In this situation, those relatively small Commission was set up by the people of but rapidly growing forces that have fought suentarrans on ine same unes as nose ser consistenty tor te independence ane sent organisation of the working class — princi pally our comrades of the ICR-ETA[VI] and Liga Comunista approach thi coming battles of this autumn and winter disposal. Writing of the POUM and the Popular Front, Trotsky remarked: should never be forgotten that the revolution creates special acoustic conditions. the attention of the mass movement is That was true of Spain then, and it wa acutely focused on the fascist repressive certainly never more true of Spain than -nOw DAVID GARDNER