The Association of Spanish Military Members (AME), the same one that in 2018 promoted an apologetic manifesto by Francisco Franco that justified the military uprising of July 18, 1936, has now released a letter in which 50 retired chiefs and officers ask their active colleagues in the Armed Forces to dismiss the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. That is, they stage a coup d’état. The manifesto, whose existence has been anticipated by Infolibreensuring that it was in the signature collection phase, has actually already been published on the website of this association which, however, does not provide the identity of those who subscribe to it.
However, EL PAÍS has been able to verify that the list includes three division generals, four brigadier generals, 23 colonels, four lieutenant colonels, seven commanders and nine captains. All the officers and chiefs who sign are already retired, so they are not subject to the disciplinary regime of the Armed Forces, although they damage the image of the institution by identifying themselves with their military jobs.
Among the signatories are several members of the so-called chat of the XIX, for the promotion of the Air Force to which they belonged, whose content, known in 2020, caused a great stir, as they advocated “shooting 26 million Spaniards.” The Prosecutor’s Office ended up archiving the proceedings on this WhatsApp group because it considered that its content was private.
The promoter of this new manifesto, according to military sources, is the same one who then promoted the sending of a letter to the King in which the retired commanders asked him to ignore his constitutional powers. This explains that, despite the fact that the Air Force is much less numerous than the Ground Force, 37 of the 50 signatories of the text belong to the former. There is, however, none from the Navy.
The manifesto mixes a hodgepodge of issues, from the change in the Spanish position on the Sahara conflict to the demand of the nationalist parties for the Ministry of Defense to give up the Bardenas shooting range (Navarra) or the amnesty law; and even warns of a “possible rupture of the unity of the Spanish nation, unique and indivisible, by accepting again [Pedro Sánchez] for the aforementioned investiture, the holding of a self-determination referendum”; what is false.
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All to conclude by remembering that the eighth article of the Constitution states, “in relation to the missions of the Armed Forces, in addition to guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of Spain and the defense of its territorial unity, that of defending the constitutional order, which we consider in serious danger due to the lack of judicial independence, the inequality of Spanish citizens before the law and the possible breakdown of the unity of the Spanish Nation.” For this reason, he adds, “this group of former members of the Armed Forces, today in retirement, concerned about the future of Spain […]we ask those responsible for the defense of the constitutional order, the dismissal of the President of the Government and the calling of general elections, which we submit to the consideration of the Spanish citizens in order to prevent it and to make them aware of the seriousness of the situation current”.
By remembering that the Armed Forces have the mission of defending the constitutional order immediately before addressing “those responsible for the defense of the constitutional order,” they make it crystal clear that the recipient of their call is none other than the Armed Forces themselves, to whom who urge a coup d’état. The manifesto, which has been circulating in military circles for several weeks, is dated last Thursday, November 16, the day Pedro Sánchez was inaugurated as President of the Government by the Congress of Deputies.
The dissemination of the manifesto has caused discomfort among active military personnel who see how commanders who have, in some cases, been away from the Armed Forces for many decades, once again present themselves as if they were their spokespersons. Already on the 7th, retired Major General Rafael Dávila spoke out on his blog, one of the most followed on military affairs, against a manifesto against the amnesty of retired commanders. “Do not use the military as a defense of your interests in the face of the clear failure of your policies,” he wrote.
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