Relics of the Future

The unprepossessing gray stucco building in the working-class Parisian suburb of Boulogne hardly looks like an official seat of government. No bronze plaque or carved insignia identifies the occupants of the four-room ground-floor apartment at 56 Avenue Jean-Jaures as ministers of a republic that is almost a half-century old. Inside, however, there are clues. A large reproduction of Picasso's Guernica adorns one wall, and a small, faded red, yellow and purple flag flutters above a desk cluttered with state documents. Here last week, as they have for the past 30 years, the ministers of the Spanish Republican government in exile gathered for a three-hour Cabinet meeting to discuss the political future of a Spain without Franco.

Members of the present Cabinet, the seventh since government headquarters was moved to France from Mexico in 1945, include three veterans of the Spanish Civil War--President Jose Maldonado, 74, Premier Fernando Valera, 79, and Deputy Premier Julio Just, 81--plus four younger refugees from more recent political purges in Franco's Spain. In addition to the Boulogne headquarters, there are embassies in Mexico and Yugoslavia, the only two countries that recognize the Republicans as the legitimate government of Spain. The government publishes monthly newspapers in Paris, Mexico City, New York and Buenos Aires, and it issues passports, which are useful only if the bearer limits his travel to Mexico and Yugoslavia. The government also bestows medals upon Defenders of the Republic. The decoration has been awarded to French Philosopher Albert Camus, British Employment Secretary Michael Foot and Trades Union Leader Jack Jones. To finance their activities, the Republicans rely upon the generosity of supporters willing to buy government bonds that are based on the Civil War value of the peseta (5 to the dollar) and backed by no known resources.

President Maldonado, who teaches Spanish at the University of Paris, insists that his government is not simply a relic of the past: "We are the future of Spain. We alone represent the vast majority of Spanish who are Republicans." The attempt to return Spain to monarchy through the succession of Prince Juan Carlos, warns Maldonado, "will necessarily lead to violence and chaos." Premier Valera is more specific: "For the usurper Juan Carlos, we foresee a war without mercy. Instead of climbing carpeted stairs to the throne, he will be forced to mount the scaffold. Regicide awaits him."

Many exiles concede, however, that Spain's younger liberals and leftists probably do not even think about the government in exile any more. Even the fiery Valera has had moments of realistic resignation. "We're getting old," he said at a Republican gathering in 1974, "and we'll disappear soon. We won't ever take over." At least one triumph, however, seemed virtually assured to Valera and his fellow veterans. They were close to winning their 40-year struggle to outlive the Generalissimo.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.