Communist Party of Spain (Reconstituted)
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
clandestine communist party that broke out from the Communist Party of Spain
Communist Party of Spain
The Communist Party of Spain is the third largest national political party in Spain. It is the largest member organization of the United Left electoral coalition and has influence in the largest trade union in Spain, Workers' Commissions ....
(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 the Antifascist Resistance Groups October First
Antifascist Resistance Groups October First
The First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups is the armed wing of the Partido Comunista de España-reconstitutido , a Spanish clandestine Maoist group aiming for the formation of a Spanish Republican state, based on the model of Maoist China....
(GRAPO), as its armed resistance front. Despite its present marginal status, the PCE(r)'s fierce Anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
still strikes a chord among some Spaniards .
The general secretary of the PCE(r) is Manuel Pérez Martínez ('Comrade Arenas').
History
Following the famous revolts in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1968, certain groups of leftist Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
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
Santiago Carrillo
Santiago Carrillo Solares is a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain from 1960 to 1982.- Childhood and early youth :...
. 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
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
’s rise and by the military coup in Portugal that led to the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
. Thus it accumulated a number of sympathizers and well-wishers, especially among left-wing circles in the Spanish youth. Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
’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 1 October 1975, in the wake of the execution by firing squad of some ETA and FRAP
Frente Revolucionario Antifascista y Patriótico
The Frente Revolucionario Antifascista y Patriótico , sometimes also called Frente Revolucionario Antifascista y Patriota , better known by its acronym FRAP, was a radical Spanish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary organization that operated in the 1970s.-History:FRAP began operating around 1971 in the...
militants.
Two months after Franco’s death, in January 1976, during the Spanish political transition from dictatorship to democracy
Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
, 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 prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s, 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.