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SPAIN:
25 YEARS AFTER THE ''23-F'' COUP, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
Joaquin Roy
FEBRUARY 2006 (IPS) - February 23 marks the 25th anniversary of one the most crucial and shameful events in contemporary Spanish history: the ''23-F'' coup attempt by Lieut. Col. Antonio Tejero Molina, writes Joaquin Roy, ''Jean Monnet'' professor and director of the European Union Centre of the University of Miami.
But what really happened on that day?
The element of 23-F of greatest importance today in terms of foreign policy is the role of the United States. Roy writes that the CIA and
other U.S. agencies knew of the preparations for the coup; proof were
military movements along the Spanish coast detected by U.S. bases on Spanish territory. In this context, the remark by then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig on the coup attempt provided adequate corroboration: ''It's an internal matter.''
U.S. leaders of the time cared little for the consequences of allowing history to slip backwards. It is frightening to consider how low Washington's prestige would be today had it been complicit in the rebirth of dictatorships in southern Europe, at the same time it was backing the emergence of bloody regimes in Latin America. Of course, given the spectacle of Iraq now before our eyes, nothing is surprising.
/NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ (END/2006)
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