Communist Party of Spain (Reconstituted)
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The Partido Comunista de España (Reconstituido), PCE(r) is a Spanish clandestine communist party that broke out from the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).
It was formed in 1975, by remaining elements of the Organization of Spanish Marxist-Leninists (OMLE) which was dissolved that year. OMLE, which was functioning from exile, had been formed through a split in the Communist Party of Spain in the 1968. In 1976 PCE(r) set up GRAPO, as its armed resistance front. Despite its present marginal status, the PCE(r)'s fierce Anti-Americanism still strikes a chord among some Spaniards [1]. The general secretary of the PCE(r) is Manuel Pérez Martínez ('Comrade Arenas').
[edit] History
Following the famous revolts in Paris in 1968, certain groups of leftist Spanish exiles were disappointed with the staunchly pro-Soviet and “frozen” stance of the Spanish Communist Party, the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and its leader Santiago Carrillo. This led in September of the same year to the foundation of the “Organización de Marxistas Leninistas Españoles” (OMLE) (Organization of Spanish Marxist-Leninists) in Brussels.
During the following years, this splinter-group of Spanish Communists was inspired by ETA’s rise and by the military coup in Portugal that led to the Carnation Revolution. Thus it accumulated a number of sympathizers and well-wishers, especially among left-wing circles in the Spanish youth. Franco’s illness was also interpreted as an omen for a wide-open future and a promise of success for the PCE(r)'s ambitions and goals.
The OMLE renamed itself “Partido Comunista de España Reconstituido” in June 1975. Its first violent action was the murder of four Spanish armed policemen on October 1st 1975, in the wake of the execution by firing squad of some ETA and FRAP militants. Two months after Franco’s death, in January 1976, during the Spanish political transition from dictatorship to democracy, the PCE(r) began a revolutionary struggle against the political reforms of the newly-established monarchy of King Juan Carlos I. In order to carry about its struggle, the PCE(r) restructured itself into different commissions; one of these was the “Technical Commission” which planned a wide armed struggle as a “front against fascism”. This “Technical Commission” eventually became the GRAPO, named after the October 1st 1975 date which was seen as the beginning of the PCE(r)’s armed struggle.
Despite its initial successes, the PCE(r) became increasingly a marginal group after certain key-measures were adopted by the transitional Spanish government. Foremost of these were the 1977 amnesty for political prisoners, the democratic normalization, and the growing success of the newly-introduced measures adopted by the Spanish police and the Spanish courts to combat terrorism.
After the issuing of a new law concerning political parties in 2002, the Spanish authorities severely curtailed the activities of the PCE(r) in 2003. Presently the courts are threatening to outlaw the group due to its allegiance to violent means.
[edit] References
- ^ Alessandro Seregni, El Anti-Americanismo Español
- Stanley G. Payne, Politics and the Military in Modern Spain. Stanford, California
- Junta de Castilla y Leon. El FRAP y el GRAPO en España
- About the continued existence of GRAPO: [1]
