A Spanish Communist Looks Ahead

Among the most interested observers of recent events in Portugal are members of the Spanish Communist Party. Founded in 1921, the party is strongly nationalistic and independent of Moscow, with which it officially split over the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Although banned by the regime of ailing Dictator Francisco Franco, 82, the Communists are conservatively estimated to have 12,000 members, and by their own count many more. Recently, they have enlisted a broad spectrum of individuals, including many professionals, in the junta democratica--an umbrella organization whose professed purpose is "to unite the opponents of the government and ultimately restore democracy" to Spain after Franco's death.

The foremost strategist is Secretary-General Santiago Carrillo, 60, who has spent the past 36 years in exile, almost all of them in France. Last week in a joint declaration with Italian Communist Party Leader Enrico Berlinguer, Carrillo indirectly criticized the Portuguese Communists: "Socialism can only exist through the development and realization of total democracy."

To hear his views on Iberian politics, Otto Fuerbringer, Editor of Magazine Development for Time Inc., and Europe Bureau Chief William Rademaekers visited Carrillo in his cottage in the Paris suburbs.

ON SPAIN'S POLITICAL SITUATION:

We are at the end of the dictatorial regime of Franco, but what is not clear is what will come immediately after. Different forces are in motion. On one side are those people who talk of democracy without the participation of the Communists. On the other side there is the junta democratica, which includes Communists, socialists, monarchists, liberals and representatives of all economic and social classes. We want a democratic regime as one understands it in the West, with universal suffrage.

You cannot end fascism with a center-left policy that excludes the Communists. The junta democratica is the best solution. If the democratic forces do not come to power in Spain, the country could go the way of Portugal. By that I mean there could be a serious radicalization of the political situation, a radicalization that could include the young officers of the Spanish army. That is a great danger because the way to socialism in Western Europe must be democratic.

It is essential that Spain should not repeat the Portuguese experience. In my opinion there are many negative developments in Portugal. Soares and the Popular Democratic Party have been thrown out, and I consider it an error. I have shown and will show my disagreement with certain political aspects of the Portuguese Communist Party.

ON RELATIONS WITH MOSCOW: We are not willing to sacrifice our own interests for the interests of the countries in the East. We are a unified party. They did us a favor by supporting all those [proSoviet members] who disagreed with our policies and encouraging them to create a new party. This in effect purged our party of all undesirable elements.

ON THE U.S. ROLE IN SPAIN: We cannot understand the policy of the United States. It seems that there is an accord between the superpowers to prevent progressive forces from coming to power in Western Europe. The radicalization in Portugal is to a great degree the fault of the Americans. They could have stopped it.

Whether the U.S. wants it or not, Communists in Italy and Spain will share in the power of government. Why make enemies of us? We do not want to make enemies of a country as powerful as the United States. We are not proposing that the American forces withdraw from their bases in Spain. Nevertheless we think they should leave Spain one day just as the Soviets should leave Czechoslovakia. We are ready to protect American investment. We are not advocating a program of economic starvation.

ON THE POST-FRANCO PERIOD:

Juan Carlos is in effect the son of Franco. All Franco's structures will have to disappear, including Juan Carlos. The junta democratica believes in free elections. If there is a monarchy, if the people decide they want one, then the monarch will be [Pretender to the Throne] Don Juan, not Juan Carlos. If the people decide for a republic, it will be neither one nor the other. Political parties will surface. They are almost on the surface now, and among them, of course, is the Communist Party. This will happen independent of whether Juan Carlos wants it or not. The transition will not be completely peaceful, but it will not be violent I hope.

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