Juan Carlos, a transição e a continuidade da monarquia

Juan Carlos de Espanha foi fundamental na transição democrática e na manutenção da unidade de uma Espanha plurinacional? Sim, sem dúvida que sim, e estamos perante uma constatação à qual poucos ousarão opor-se. Mas atenção, porque é preciso ir um pouco mais longe: ao fazê-lo, Juan Carlos assegurou também a continuidade e legitimação da monarquia espanhola, marcada pelo "ferrete" de ter nascido de um pronunciamento militar contra a legalidade republicana e de uma guerra civil que dividiu também as nacionalidades de Espanha. Só ao conseguir conjugar, simultaneamente, democracia e unidade plurinacional a monarquia poderia assegurar a sua legitimação e continuidade. E só ao sobrepor-se aos direitos dinásticos de seu pai, D. Juan de Borbón (e este a eles renunciando), personalidade em ruptura com o franquismo, Juan Carlos poderia assegurar pelo menos a neutralidade de alguns sectores do franquismo e construir assim uma base social de apoio mais ampla para a transição. Digamos que, politicamente, Juan Carlos e os seus mais próximos agiram de modo brilhante.

Aliás, ao abdicar agora em favor de seu filho e de uma plebeia inteligente e também ela bem preparada (o rei, no seu discurso de abdicação, não deixou de se referir a Letízia Ortiz e não terá sido por acaso), em tempos de crise do regime, da família real e da figura do rei, Juan Carlos tenta novamente assegurar aquilo que, para si, e logicamente, nunca deixou de ser fundamental e valor que coloca acima de todos os outros: a continuidade da instituição monárquica. Veremos o que o futuro nos reserva naquelas que foram, pelo menos durante o século XX, as questões-chave da política espanhola: a natureza republicana ou monárquica do regime e a unidade plurinacional do Estado. 

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D. Juan Carlos, o elefante e a unidade de Espanha

Penso que os portugueses se esquecem com demasiada frequência que a Espanha, ao contrário do que acontece com Portugal, é um Estado multinacional, em que a sua unidade enquanto país não se alicerça numa língua e cultura únicas e num longo percurso histórico contra um inimigo comum. Ou mesmo como os USA, cuja unidade nacional foi em grande parte construída pelo facto de neles terem encontrado oportunidade de liberdade e de uma vida mais digna os pobres e perseguidos da Europa - mas também de alguma Ásia. Digamos que, raspada alguma camada superficial acumulada por umas poucas centenas de anos de vida em comum, muitas vezes forçada, continua um galego a ter mais a ver com um português do que com um catalão ou um basco, ou qualquer destes com um castelhano. Mais ainda, é muitas vezes esquecido que a sua guerra civil do século XX não opôs apenas a esquerda liberal, socialista, comunista e anarquista, à direita conservadora, fascista e ultra-católica, o trabalho e o capital, mas também as nações basca e catalã ao resto de Espanha e, principalmente, ao domínio de Castela.

Tendo dito isto, é bom lembrar que a precária unidade da Espanha actual muito deve ao rei Juan Carlos e ao seu papel na chamada "transição democrática", que estabeleceu as bases mínimas nas quais a grande maioria dos espanhóis se pôde rever, independentemente da respectiva nacionalidade, língua materna, opção politica ou de regime. Por isso mesmo, o que está agora em causa na tão badalada caçada aos elefantes do rei Juan Carlos, no Botswana, não é apenas uma questão moral pelo facto do rei ter decidido esbanjar uns milhares de euros, numa actividade frívola, num momento de austeridade para a grande maioria dos seus concidadãos. Muito menos uma questão, também ela moral, de ver o seu rei envolvido na crueldade ou brutalidade de uma actividade como a caça grossa, facto que não deixará de chocar muitos dos espanhóis. Embora ambas as questões não deixem de ter o seu peso, o que está fundamentalmente em causa e delas deriva é uma questão política e, neste aspecto, um erro crasso do rei que, ao arriscar com este seu acto colocar em causa a instituição monárquica, que com ele se confunde, não deixará, dado o papel que esta tem desempenhado desde a "transição", de contribuir também para enfraquecer a unidade do pais e o precário  equilíbrio multinacional em que esta tem assentado nos últimos anos. Numa república, o eleitorado não deixaria de lhe indicar qual o próximo caminho a seguir. Mas também tenho dúvidas que sem Juan Carlos e a monarquia a Espanha tivesse conseguido percorrer o mesmo caminho que iniciou em 1976 e fosse um país igual ao que é hoje. Mas cumprido esse papel, teremos que nos interrogar se o rei de Espanha ainda faz parte da solução ou, pelo contrário, se tornou num problema que é necessário resolver.

Eleições em Espanha: ainda a herança da guerra civil?

O que é curioso salientar ao efectuar uma primeira e necessariamente apressada leitura dos resultados eleitorais em Espanha, é a conclusão de que o PP apenas consegue um crescimento de 1.5pp (de 36 para 37.5%), apesar da participação eleitoral ter passado de 63.3 para 66.2%. É o PSOE que perde 7.5pp, mas para os pequenos partidos de esquerda, nacionalistas e votos brancos e nulos.

O que tal coisa parece confirmar é que, ao contrário do que acontece em Portugal, não existe quase nenhuma transferência de votos entre a esquerda e a direita; um centro político que ora vota mais à esquerda ora o faz mais direita, consoante as circunstâncias, dando a vitória a um ou outro dos maiores partidos.

Nada de demasiado estranho e que já não se soubesse: estamos ainda, de certa maneira e de modo adaptado aos dias de hoje, perante o velho e radical quadro político herdado dos tempos da Espanha da guerra civil, opondo uma aliança entre a esquerda republicana e as autonomias, por um lado, e a direita conservadora, centralista e católica, por outro.

A guerra aqui (mesmo) ao lado (45)

Mañana el mundo, hoy España

Tierra y Libertad -  Lithograph, 3 colors; 32 x 25 cm.

"In this poster, Hitler and a squadron of Nazi plans serve as the icons of fascism and its threat to Europe. The message seeks to place the conflict in Spain on a larger scale in which a fascist victory in Spain becomes a gateway to the spread of fascism across Europe and the "world." Note that the outline of France, with Paris marked, represents the "world" that Hitler hopes to conquer next. In addition to motivating Spaniards in Republican Spain to unify their efforts against fascism, this poster may have also hoped to rouse France and its government, which like Britain and the United States had assumed a policy of non-intervention even after Germany and Italy committed their resources in support of General Franco and his Nationalist army. Also, photographs of dead Spanish children surround a German document. These are juxtaposed with the picture of a smiling child in the center of the outline of France - the next target of the fascists.

The letter in the lower left corner recounts the interactions between its author and a Colonel Souza, possibly a nationalist, who has been in contact with Germans regarding their commitment to help the insurgency in Spain. The letter seems to have been written before the Nationalist uprising of July 1936. It reads:

Offices of the Front of German Work

Madrid

Confidential

Yesterday I casually met with Colonel Souza who told me that it had been a few days since he had been in communication with Berlin (aviation) or was with the delegate in question, who was introduced to him by Steffin.

Souza thinks that the situation here is getting worse every day and that he has heard from Germany of help for the national[ist] circles in the event of an uprising, but however, he is quite angry about the delay in Berlin. Perhaps it is advisable to report the matter to the A[uslands] O[rganization] Berlin, since, it is close by and would be able to accelerate the resolution of the affair through its intervention in aviation.

We have all interest in helping Sr. Souza. The situation here is that we cannot wait any longer [due] to the progressively increasing power of the Marxists.

I request that you respond to me straightaway.

With German regards,

The commander of the local group

Such texts and posters proved a powerful weapon in the Republican arsenal of propaganda. At the outbreak of the civil war, Republican Spain was composed of several factions, which disagreed about how to govern Spanish society. Some groups like the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) became more conciliatory and moderate during the course of the war; while other groups, like the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) pushed for more radical reforms of Spanish society as they viewed the civil war as an opportunity for a proletariat revolution. In the effort to unify such groups against Franco and the Nationalist, much propaganda of the Republican government focused on creating a unified front of anti-fascism. In fact, the slogan "first win the war, and then we can talk about revolution" became a popular rallying cry, which introduced the notion of prioritizing the stopping fascism over the revolutionizing Spanish society."

A guerra aqui (mesmo) ao lado (44)

"Obrers, organitzeu els campoinats de treball de cara a la guerra"

Arts Graphiques Thomas Lithograph, 4 colors; 100 x 69 cm.

"In this poster, a hand holding a laurel wreath - a symbol of victory - rises above symbols of war and industry that overlap it. The image of the laurel wreath may have a dual meaning here. On the one hand, it may be a reference to the victors in the "work contests" mentioned on the poster. On the other hand, it may also be a reference to the overall victory of Republican Spain over the Nationalists. Visually, the poster communicates a common theme among many of the Republican posters that the work done in industries in the rearguard will contribute to victory in the war against the Nationalists. A hand holding a hammer reflects the revolutionary character of the poster and represents the workers movement. This would have been a particularly important symbol to the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), which produced the poster. The outline of a factory, in red, and an airplane also figure prominently in the image.

Industrial production was particularly important to sustaining the war effort in Republican Spain during the Civil War. At the onset of the war, Spain had a population of 24 million people with 14 million in Republican territories and 10 million Nationalist territories. However, only 8% of the Spanish population worked in industry - 220,000 in war related industries. With the steady stream of aid that the Nationalists received from Germany and Italy particularly in terms of material and technological support, it was incumbent upon Republican Spain to ramp up its own industrial production. Thus, posters like this one were geared towards motivating those workers serving a vital function for the war effort. It is no wonder that many posters made a direct connection between worker production and victory. Finally, it is no surprise that the text on the poster is Catalan since Cataluña was the most important industrialized region in Republican Spain.

The UGT is mentioned on the poster and is probably the organization that oversaw the production of the poster. Also, Art Graphiques Thomas is the organization that designed and printed the poster. The artist is unknown."

A guerra aqui (mesmo) ao lado (43)

Camperols, escolteu les emissions radiades de la Conselleria d'Agricultura cada dimarts i divendres a les 7 i 1/2 del vespre

[Farmers, listen to the radio programs broadcast by the ministry of Agriculture every Tuesday and Friday at 7:30 p.m.].

(Sindicat de Dibuxants Professionals, U.G.T. Poster 4 colors; 100 x 70 cm)

"This poster is an advertisement of the Republican Ministry of Agriculture's radio programs. In the image, a farmer gestures toward a radio encouraging two other farmers to listen.
During the war, radios served several important functions. First, it served as a main means of communication with the civilian population. A contemporary observer describes Spaniards listening intently to their radios waiting for news of the rebel approach on Madrid: "Thousands upon thousands of bodies sat tensely [by the radio] in eager anticipation. In the sky and on earth there was a cosmic silence." Second, the radio served as a means of communicating the propaganda of the Republican and Nationalist governments to promote solidarity and hope as well as animate the population for battle. In other cases, government operatives used radio to communicate with citizens on the opposing side and to transmit or intercept secret orders. Military leaders even broadcast false information to trick their opponents.
In this image, the radio is functioning as a source of information about agriculture. In the regions of Aragon and Cataluña, state-controlled collective agricultural operations were not uncommon especially in the early months of the war. Collectivization, in some cases, afforded the opportunity to upgrade agricultural technologies and techniques. The use of the radio may have been simultaneously a means to communicate this information and an icon of the introduction of technology into farm life.

Like poster 72, the Sindicat de Dibuxants Professionals

(Syndicate of Professional Draftsmen) produced this poster. The artist remains anonymous.

A guerra (mesmo) aqui ao lado (42)

¡Obrero! Ingresando en la columna de hierro fortaleces la revolución.
C.N.T., F.A.I. Signed: Bauset.. A.I.D.C. Gráficas Valencia, Intervenido, C.N.T. U.G.T. Lithograph, 4 colors; 164 x 115 cm.

"In the poster, a Columna de Hierro (Iron Column) militiaman, gesturing portentously like a neo-classical orator, is calling on his fellow Anarchists to come and join the Column. "Worker!" he shouts, "Your entry into the Iron Column strengthens the revolution." The Iron Column was a Valencian militia unit that fought in the Teruel offensive during the first seven months of the conflict. In the first days of the war, the Column opened up the San Miguel de los Reyes Penitentiary and recruited several hundred of its inmates into its ranks. While a number of these recruits were Anarchists, many more feigned interest in the anarchist cause for the chance to get their hands on a rifle and indulge in some officially- countenanced aggression. In the weeks following, the Column gained a reputation as undisciplined and unpredictable, both at the front and away from it.

"
"Fiercely revolutionary, the Iron Column was against maintaining anything but the most tenuous ties to the moderate Popular Front government. Socialist prime minister Francisco Largo Caballero's call for militia reforms in September 1936 particularly infuriated the Column, which responded to the demand with mass desertions and insurrection. One historian recounts that in October 1936, "the Column abandoned the front ... and went on an expedition to Valencia spreading panic in its path. Its goal was to 'cleanse the rear of all parasitic elements that endangered the interests of the revolution.' In Valencia, it stormed hotels and restaurants, terrifying the city." At the conference of the anarcho-syndicalist trade union CNT in November 1936, an unyielding Iron Column representative told the gathering: "We accept nothing that runs counter to our anarchist ideas, ideas that must become a reality because you cannot preach one thing and practice another." Nevertheless, without the support of the CNT, whose leaders had backed the militia reforms, the Iron Column was unable to resist militarization for long. In the spring of 1937, the Column was dismantled and its members incorporated into the Eighty-Third Brigade of the Popular Army."

Copyright UC Regents 1998, All rights reserved

A Guerra Aqui (Mesmo) Ao Lado (41)

Salvar la cosecha es tanto como ganar una batalla al enemigo
Signed: Jesús Helguera. Ministerio de Instrucción Pública. Dirección Gral. de Bellas Artes.

Asociación de Obreros Litógrafos. Lit. GAL. Lithograph, 3 colors; 100 x 70 cm.

"This poster proclaims that harvesting the land is as important for the war effort as winning battles. The message comes to life in the images of the hard working fighter and peasant. The rifle carried by the fighter (probably a German-made Karabiner 98k) and the sickle used by the peasant intersect near the center of the scene, underscoring the need for their joint effort.
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 was followed by economic upheaval. In the area of agriculture, most of the grain-producing areas of the country were soon controlled by the Nationalists. On the loyalist side, revolutionary takeover of much of the land produced irregular results, and often made it difficult to supply the large cities and the front. Many peasants abandoned their land, and refugees from the advancing rebel army crowded into urban areas. The ensuing food shortage was made worse by problems in the distribution of foodstuffs. It was this situation that caused the government and other organizations to put out messages like the one in this poster. The poster was issued by the Ministry of Public Instruction, one of the most active agencies in the production of propaganda during the war. The ministry issued many of its posters in Madrid between early September and early November 1936.
The type of cap worn by the fighter in this poster, with a short tassel hanging in front, became a symbol of the popular militias during the first months of the war. The rolled-up sleeves of the same figure serve to emphasize the informal nature of his outfit. The portrayal of what appears to be a member of a militia (and not of the regular army) in a poster issued by the government reflects the lack of homogeneity and organization in the republican forces in the early part of the war.
Hardly anything is known of Jesús Helguera, the author of this poster. During 1936, he worked in the production of propaganda for the government in Madrid. Later, he worked with the youth organization Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas in Barcelona. The fact that his name is not otherwise recorded suggests that he may have come from the advertising arts, where there was little room for name recognition. The dynamic poses of the militiaman and the peasant in this scene, and the suggestion of a narrative sequence that stems from the use of different colors in the juxtaposed figures, is reminiscent of images used in billboards."

A Guerra Aqui (Mesmo) Ao Lado (40)

Protege con tu donativo a los huérfanos de los antifascistas asesinados en Campo Faccios

[Your donation will protect the orphaned children of the anti-fascists who were murdered on the rebel battlefield.].

Ricardo Yesares Blanco. Gráficas Valencia, intervenido U.G.T.-C.N.T. Poster, 4 colors; 104 x 78 cm

"This poster shows a revolutionary clenched fist behind two children in blue. It is asking viewers to provide donations for the support of orphaned children. Shortly after the start of the war, the Republican government and associated unions became actively involved in providing support for orphaned or refugee children. In this case, International Red Aid (Socorro Rojo Internacional or SRI) is the organization behind the relief effort.
SRI was a Spanish Soviet organization with connections to Comintern. It first emerged in Spain in October of 1934 when there were workers' revolts in the Asturias region of Spain. During the Civil War, the SRI was mostly involved in aid activities in the Republican zone such as the creation and administration of refugee camps, soup kitchens, libraries for Republican soldiers, transportation networks between hospitals and front, and the re-purposing of buildings into makeshift hospitals, blood banks, and schools. Much of the SRI's activities were focused on children. The included the founding its Escuela Nacional para Niños Anormales (National School for Mentally Disabled Children) and a Children's Park, both in Madrid.
Ricardo Yesares Blanco, who signed his work with the pseudonym "YES," is the artist of this poster. Yes was born in Madrid in 1911 to a family of Castilian farmers. Little is known about his early life and education. In 1931, his first artistic works began to appear in periodicals and magazines. Two years later, Yes participated in an exhibition of revolutionary art in Madrid sponsored by the Asociación de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists). Other artists in the exhibition included Ramón Puyol, Josep Renau, and Monleón whose works are also represented in this exhibit. Yes was imprisoned in 1935 and presumably was freed before or around July 1936 when the civil war began.
During the war, Yes published frequently in the "workers press" and other leftist publications such as Nuestra Cinema, El Tiempo Presente, Ruto, Mundo Obrero, La Lucha, Euskadi Roja and Ayuda! As represented here, he also worked for the Socorro Rojo Internacional (International Red Aid). In 1936 in Madrid, he published a book of twenty-five engravings entitled La Guerra al Desnuda. His introduction to the book provides some insight into his motives in publishing the text and his views on war and the function of art. He writes:
The publication of my first book is not responding to the looking glass of popularity or looking for critical success that would result in economic benefits. Just the opposite. The purpose, that moves me to produce this album, is to put within the reach of the popular masses a clear and naked vision of the most horrifying catastrophe that threatens to destroy Humanity, War!
In further speculating on the meaning of the war in Spain and the immediate future of Europe, he writes:
The fire [of war] was sparked by Italy, and nobody knows where the fire will go. It is probable that the call is supported by Germany or Japan. What new fire arises in Europe or Asia?
The only biographical information available at the writing of this entry is a short biography that accompanied Yes' 1936 book. Consequently, little is known of Yes fortunes after the war."

A Guerra (Aqui) Mesmo Ao Lado (39)

C.N.T., A.I.T., F.A.I.: Contra el matonismo militar, la fuerza invencible del Proletariado

[Against the military bullying, the invincible force of the Proletariat].

Signed: Muro.. Confederación Regional de Levante. Lit. García Cantos. Valencia Controlado, C.N.T. U.G.T. Lithograph, 6 colors; 100 x 70 cm.

"In the first days of the war, when less than thirty percent of the regular army remained loyal to the government, popular militias were formed by the left-wing political parties and unions in cities throughout Spain to defend the Republic. This poster depicts an anarchist militiaman wresting a bloodstained dagger-a symbol of treachery-from his diminutive Nationalist opponent. The caricatured enemy wears an antiquated uniform, a reflection of the old-fashioned system he represents. In contrast, the anarchist militiaman wears no uniform save for a red cap and bandanna, symbols of his solidarity with the revolutionary cause.
Although the militias fared well in streetfighting forays against the military rebels at the beginning of the war, their lack of experience and discipline placed them at a distinct disadvantage when they met Franco's troops under normal combat conditions. For this reason, in September 1936, the socialist prime minister Francisco Largo Caballero promulgated measures providing for the militarization of the militias and the creation of a Popular Army. While moderate anarchist leaders saw the necessity of these measures, more radical libertarians regarded any concessions to authoritarianism as a serious breech of the movement's central tenets. Nevertheless, threatened with having their arms, supplies and pay withheld by the central government, even the most militant anarchist militias eventually capitulated. By June 1937, all the Republican militias had been militarized or incorporated into the Popular Army.
The three groups mentioned in the caption, the CNT, AIT, and FAI, were all prominent organizations within the anarchist movement. The CNT was the anarchist trade union; the FAI was its political wing. AIT was the Anarchists' international umbrella group. The red and black letters evoke the red and black bands of the anarchist flag.
The poster was produced in the first months of the war by a committee of two trade unions, the anarchist CNT and the socialist UGT. These unions controlled the production process in Valencia until the Republican government transferred to the city in November 1936; thereafter the government's agencies began gradually to take charge of the situation. The artist who designed this poster, Muro, is not documented other than in this instance."

A Guerra Aqui (Mesmo) Ao Lado (38)

Hablar de la Falange es nombrar a España. Unidad, unidad, unidad.
F.E.T. y de las J.O.N.S.

Lithograph, 3 colors; 70 x 60 cm.

"While most of the posters in this exhibit are from Republican Spain, this poster is from Nationalist Spain. The predominant theme in this poster is, obviously, unity. A Falange soldier stands between two flags. The flag on the left, with the traditional red and yellow stripes, represents Nationalist and monarchist Spain. The one on the right, with the revolutionary colors black and red, represents Republican Spain and its various revolutionary groups. The flags almost touch each other behind the soldier in a strong representation of the power of the Falange to bring unity to Spain. Yet, there are no illusions in this image. It is significant that a soldier is holding the two flags in that it serves as recognition that military force seems to be the only way to bring about a unified Spain.
The Falange was an extreme nationalist movement formed in Madrid in October 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Shortly after its formation, the Falange merged with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalist (JONS) and expanded its name to Falange Española de las JONS. In 1934, the new Falange laid out its main principles in a twenty-seven point program that stressed Spanish unity, strong government, an incorporated state national syndical system, nationalization of banks and credit, military strength, traditionalism, and imperial expansion. In opposition to the socialist or Marxist revolutions, the Falange declared its support for the "national revolution" and, initially, identified itself as a fascist movement. As the term fascism became increasingly associated with foreign movements, the Falange distanced itself from the label in order to further its nationalist agenda.
When the Popular Front, a political coalition of socialists, communists and republicans, won the February 1936 elections, the Falange had only 10,000 members. The organization would grow significantly during the war. At the moment of the initial uprisings of Franco and other generals throughout Spain, Falange leaders pledged their support for the Nationalist insurgents. Between 1937-1939, over 250,000 volunteers served in Falange military units with many serving in Falange civilian units in the rearguard. In April 1937, Franco seized control of the organization, merged it with the Carlists, and renamed it Falange Española Traditionalista (FET) or the FET de las JONS (as listed on the poster). Consequently, the FET was elevated to the status of official state party.
It is clear that the FET de las JONS produced this poster as evidenced by the yoke and arrows - a common symbol of the organization."