The month of February, generally quite soulless, straddling a tough winter and spring and sometimes stands out in the midday sunshine, began to have political significance in Spain in 1974. On December 20, 1973, the terrorist group ETA assassinated Admiral Carrero Blanco, whom Franco had appointed Prime Minister some time ago. The former, at the time, the Interior Minister, Carlos Arias Navarro, was appointed new Prime Minister.
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| Antonio Tejero, in Congress (Source: laguia2000 ) |
The February 12, 1974 Carlos Arias Navarro led the nation's first speech in many years that had some political content, which were beginning to talk a little in terms of political openness, and that means were called the Spirit of 12 February.
A few years later, in 1981, the political situation in Spain was complicated. Adolfo Suarez had been forced to resign by the stress and strife in what was his party, the UCD (Unión de Centro Democrático). The Congress was celebrating the inaugural session of who would be his successor, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. The terrorist group ETA was extremely active, murdering and extorting a lot. And, moreover, in early February the King had been booed at the meeting house of Gernika.
The Army was still quite Franco, their beliefs and their ways, and had been hearing noise of swords in recent months. In fact, some attempts were dismantled regressive that came to nothing, as Operation Galaxy (so named because the conversations between the conspirators were held in the cafeteria Galaxy Madrid).
This Wednesday on Onda Cero heard an interesting phone interview that made him the former General Carlos Herrera Alfonso Armada, 91 currently. In his own words, in early February 1981 that would have prevented it had launched a coup attempt. A mid-month left its destination in Lleida, to join as deputy chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabeiras reporting. During the coup and the subsequent trial, always thought it was Navy white elephant that the coup leaders in Congress expected to take of the situation. He always refused, stating that their presence in Congress to negotiate with Tejero was obeying orders Gabeiras.
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| Jaime Milans del Bosch (Source: eldiariomontanes ) |
However, the fact is that the February 23 1981, at 6.23 afternoon, Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero (which had already been convicted of a previous coup attempt), he entered Congress with 200 civil guards. And the rest is history.
I had finished military service a few months earlier, in November 1980. I did after some extensions on the occasion of my college, when I had to draw near my home in Barcelona. In fact, I served in the fourth quarter, the period known as the Defense Operational Planning, Ca'n Torelló in Gava, about 20 kilometers from Barcelona. Belonged to the Antiaircraft Artillery, but Bofors antiaircraft guns that were available were the remains recovered from the Americans after the Korean War, and his ability to shoot down enemy planes was beyond doubt: it was zero. The base was abandoned by the army in 1994.
I graduated as a Corporal, and as the headquarters was small, I played from time to time act as an officer on duty. Just in the last call I made, just before graduating, I lived through the worst episode of the entire military. A pair of military surveillance patrol was leaving the village, and were picking up his service pistol in the Guards. I was scoring the data in the log book, when one of them checked the operation of the gun, but forgot to remove before the charger. Pulling the trigger, then, should have been heard only a click if I had done correctly. Instead, blew like a cannon shot . The bullet passed me no more than eighteen inches from my head through the wall of the room and dug out the candles on a truck that was in the garage, right behind. When I looked up, terrified, saw the soldier pale as wax, with a gun (loaded with new, of course) in his trembling hand, and I feared the worst. I snatched the gun from his hand, left the room, took out the charger, emptied the bullets from the chamber, and all began to breathe again.
I thought the incident would keep me out for home the next day, it was business as planned, and I graduated without.
introduced in December 1980 in the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona (ETSIIB), where he attended school during the five years preceding the Final Year Project which was already nearly completed before joining ranks. I passed and with it ended the career and became an Industrial Engineer.
In January 1981 I got a job shadowing, for the morning. I slipped on a computer project rondón turned out to be the precursor of today so much talk as tag (the cloud computing), although that ended in failure. Was GEISCO (General Electric Information Systems) to develop an application using the computers available to them in one of his (known) Supercenters (in the Netherlands or the United States). Was a failure, because each build had to be done of the programs we were developing was sent to the supercenter, and back came the mistakes and start trembling bill for the use of resources. In fact, there was no budget to hire staff, and all we get on the team was something like twenty or thirty thousand pesetas, I suspect sisadas of any other chapter, for almost three months of work. Yes, the office was next to the Plaza of Spain, and there was a cafe next to preparing a wonderful breakfast sandwiches mixed in midmorning. In fact, we charge misery was breakfast.
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| Alfonso Armada Comyn, which always suspected it was the white elephant . (Source: chrono-story ) |
At the same time, he won a scholarship FPI (Personal Training Investigator) by working every evening in the Department of Computer Methods in my school.
23F So I worked in GEISCO morning (breakfast included), and when the events broke out in Congress, I was working at the Chair of the ETSIIB.
must understand, first of all, that in 1981 there were no mobile phones. Internet was only a dream, and social networks (Facebook, Twitter ,...) were concepts that no one had yet even imagined. The media, therefore, were limited landline phones, television (little more than binary at the time: on or off, with enough presence testimonial UHF), radio and newspapers. And by word of mouth in person, of course.
worked with us in the Chair an army commander who was who we were informed of the progress of the facts, and we conveyed that, in Catalonia there seemed no movement of any pro-coup Unlike Valencia, of course.
Anyway, I went home when they would be half past eight or nine. I then ran a Seat 600 of which I've spoken on another occasion . Going back home, I was very nervous. Not by the facts of Congress who were going over 600 miles away, but by the impact they may have in the immediate future of the country and all of us. I guess that would be confused with that and, at a stoplight, I had a collision with the car. The result was that it broke one of the beacons 600. Although I do not remember, I guess that we would write papers for insurance and stuff. And I went on my way home.
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| The King in his speech 1.14 in TVE (Source: Blogs.prensaescuela ) |
At home, my information was based on television, English television, of course. The main problem during the coup is that all armed forces were under suspicion. When new troops appeared next to the Congress or elsewhere, it was not clear whether they were for or against. It was not clear whether they were deployed to support the coup, or to support the Constitution. Civil Guard, by the action of Tejero, not at all reliable, and only the presence of the National Police (the gray , then) gave some respite, but I suspect that no one was entirely clear.
When I got home, I think English TV had already reissued usually after having been occupied by military forces for several hours. Again, it was unknown whether they were military movements to protect or to submit.
The images could be seen from Valencia were troubling. A grown Milans del Bosch had taken over all civil and military powers, and had removed the tanks in the streets. His position did seem clear, support the Tejero coup.
By half past ten there was a statement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicating that it had taken all appropriate measures to punish any violation of the Constitution. Well, the size of Lieutenant General Gabeiras, old mustache and military presence hundred percent Ancien Régime is not that inspired, in fact, the utmost confidence in his defense of democracy. And the language used by everyone (and counter-coup) had to be similar, since they were all convinced we are saving the country (sorry, by country.)
followed each deslabazadas information on the interim government was formed in the Palace, in front of Congress, secretaries of the various prisoners who were not there. He was in the vicinity of Congress, military personnel of all stripes, and no one could tell who was in favor and who is not. Surely, many of them were neither entirely clear, but they were at anchor waiting for events to position the winning side, of course.
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| ETSIIB (now ETSEIB) Barcelona (Source: UPC ) |
Around midnight, came at the Congress General Aramburu Topete (then Director General of the Guardia Civil) and Navy Comyn (second chief of staff). The presence of both raised in that time all kinds of doubts and interpretations. It is normal that Aramburu was demanding to lower the attitude coup deposed, but there were also performances (later denied) that the totality of the Civil Guard would be at the service of the coup attempt. General Aramburu Topete left the Congress soon after (and in fact took over the post held device to release). Aramburu died in the reserve in 2010.
Armada Comyn, as well Galician, wake up much suspicion. He knew he had warned about the preparation of a regressive attempt, which placed him in the eye of the hurricane. And many sources believed that Navy could be the white elephant hoped that the coup leaders to take charge of the situation. Never been shown, and he himself has always denied. Having been military mentor of Prince Don Juan Carlos for some years, it presupposed a certain descent in the Zarzuela.
The key to see which way it is resolved things was the Brunete Armoured Division, with its barracks near Madrid, since the unit was more prepared and equipped with all the Army. At its head was General José Juste Fernandez, who that day was absent from the barracks, for some reason. Taking advantage of this absence, there was a suspicious visit the former head of the Division, General Torres Rojas, very close to Milans del Bosch and had by then his arrival at La Coruña.
Torres Rojas revolutionized Possibly some commanders of the Division, which already had some personal preferences for the coup. When General Juste arrived at his office in the afternoon, he found the track quite upset, because it seems to him that the Army general was head of the coup. At that point there was the call that it appears that broke up the attempt, and the Brunete clearly opted for the status quo. General Zarzuela Juste called to speak with his good friend Sabino Fernández Campo, who was then general secretary of the House of His Majesty the King. Juste Sabino asked if Navy was at the Zarzuela Palace. With its good Spaniard phlegm, Sabino replied that is not, nor is he expected , while he motioned to the King, who was just on the phone with the Navy in time. The general died in the reserve Juste barely a month ago, 91 years old.
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| So were the remains of the barracks in 2008 Torelló Ca'n (Author: Sergio T ) |
So the Brunete was clearly positioned in favor of the Constitution. Several orders for Valencia Zarzuela outputs Milans del Bosch forced to abandon their attitude.
A is 1.14 am Rey appeared on television, Dress Captain-General, making clear its position and the orders he had taken. The end of the uprising and was only a matter of time. Following the comical episode of the escape of some civil guards through the windows of Congress, accountability Tejero occurred at 12.27 noon on February 24, to its Director General, Aramburu Topete.
After all that, he restored order that should never be threatened. Remain as I remember the bullet holes in the floor, still clearly visible (as is deliberately left as testimony to the follies of the past), and the experience of Members who were prisoners in Congress overnight coup by delusions of a lieutenant colonel in the Guardia Civil.
After the intervention of King on TV, I went to sleep, and more reassured. The next morning I went to work normally, and other events and successive saw television news.
To me the 23-F cost me a beacon of 600 and a night without reading anything, watching television. And a bit of sleep the next morning. Finally trifles compared to what could have cost us all if things had developed differently.
And Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of such events. Almost nothing.
JMBA
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