[LAST Friday Col. Luis Munoz visited General Milans…]

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LAST Friday Col. Luis Munoz visited General Milans de Bosch in the luxurious quarters where Milans had been held since being sentenced to 30 years jail for his part in the attempted coup of February 23 1981.

For four hours they worked on the thick portfolio of plans for a new coup which they had formulated over the previous three months. Milans could have any visits he liked, and his phone was not bugged.

Unfortunately for them, Munoz then left the coup plans in his car! They were picked up by an intelligence agent, and Munoz and two other colonels were arrested.

Their intention was to seize communication centres and public buildings on October 27, the day before Spain's scheduled general election, and mobilise army units to gain full power. Clearly they must have had a wide network of contacts involved in the plot, but no-one is pushing for a full investigation.

Manuel Fraga, leader of the Popular Alliance, the parliamentary party closest to the military, commented laconically on the arrest of the colonels: "That's bad news. It's regrettable".

Felipe Gonzalez of the Socialist Party (PSOE), which looks set to win the election, was hardly more. vocal. "We can't have any military man interpeting the wishes of the people", he said. "We need professjonal and constitutional armed forces to defend us against our enemies". Pressed further, he said that coup attempts were inevitable but could never succeed.

The Spanish CP was equally muted.

A colonel who disapproved of the coup explained to the Paris daily Le Monde that he considered it unnecessary. 'Today the real 'coup' is the weight of the armed forces in political life. It is great enough that the PSOE, once in power, will... content themselves with seeking coexistence with the military"

Whether even such compliance would save a PSOE government from another coup attempt is dubious. Spain has already had nine coup attempts or alarms since August 1977.

Cajoling the military to be professional and constitutional' ', trying to kill the coup danger by kindness, will not work. The only serious measure for Spain's workers' parties and unions to take against the military plotters is to arm the workers' organisations.

The PSOE, like many reformists elsewhere, continues to argue that the sacredness of democracy is best guaranteed when the bourgeoisie is armed to the teeth and the workers are disarmed. It is heading down a road of disaster for itself, for Spain's frail parliamentary democracy, and for the associated trade union and other rights.

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Socialist Organiser, Thursday 7 October 1982 Page 2 NHOC. LOW port ort END