"SPAIN VOTED THE LEFT: A Possible Victory for Peace and Socialism"

by Melvin Little

With the upcoming May Day Celebration, I think about what it means to be a socialist living in this country. Most people think we are brainwashed misfits waiting to take a way all property and micromanage the lives of the individual by the state. Some people think that socialism is anti-religion, yet it is ironic that Norman Thomas was well known as both a Presbyterian Minister and as a highly respected Socialist for many decades. We are called names like communists, traitors, and anti-American, for most people do not understand the history of our movement. Some people love to point out that socialism is an abysmal failure wherever it has been tried. What many Americans never fully realized, however, is that socialism is not a failure. In fact, people are willing to vote for "socialist-parties" around the world. How many political parties use the word "capitalist" in their name? Socialism is indeed a positive buzzword in most places except in the United States. On March 14th, the people of Spain voted for the center-left Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE). This is a wonderful development for the working class of Spain, and not considered very encouraging news for the Bush Administration. Some on the far right in the US claims that an electoral Socialist victory in Spain is a big win for the various terrorist networks that exist in the Arab world. In this article, I will discuss the reaction of the American far right to the new Spanish Socialist government and what it could actually mean for the people of Spain and the presently occupied situation of post-war Iraq.

On March 11, 2004; there was an act of cowardice that took place in Madrid, Spain. Terrorists tied to Al Queida Network set off a bomb on a commuter train which resulted in the murder of 202 people. It was originally thought by the previous conservative Popular Party government of Jose Maria Aznar that it might have been the militant faction of the Basque nationalist movement, but it turns out that Basque nationalists weren't connected at all. There are some that claim this act of terrorism was in reaction to the previous government's ties to George W. Bush and Tony Blair; moreover, this was just days before the National Elections. Of course, what looked like to be a fairly easy win for the (then) ruling center-right Popular Party turned out to be a win for the Socialists. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is now the new Spanish Prime Minister.

There are plenty of conservatives in the US that are convinced there's a formal or an informal connection between the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party and the various terrorist networks in the Middle East. What they fail to realize or actually admit is that the previous center-right government tried placing blame on the Basque nationals like ETA. As it turned out, the people of Spain realized that the government just blundered. It caused the Popular Party their electoral defeat. The FOX News Network, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Robert Novak, and many others from the corporately owned conservative media claim that there was a connection between the Spanish Socialists and the terrorists. It is an attempt to divert the American audience from the fact that people in other countries are comfortable with voting for "socialist-parties," so they do what they can to discredit the movement. It makes no sense, however, to make the Spanish election tied with the situation in Iraq. The Al Quieda Network are ultra-religious right-wing Islamists and denounces the former Iraqi Baath Government of Saddam Hussein as "socialist infidels." Just for the record, there was nothing "socialist" at all about the Iraqi Socialist Baath Party, for they were at one time linked with the CIA.

The main source of blame should be placed on former President Ronald Reagan. It was initially the Reagan Administration which supported Osama Bin Laden and what became the Al Quieda Network in Afghanistan in the name of fighting Soviet Communism. At the same time, it was the same Reagan Administration that sold arms openly to the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein while secretly selling arms to Iran. Some might ask today, "for what purpose?" It was to fund the right-wing Contra rebels against the (then) democratic-socialist Sandinista (FSLN) government of Nicaragua. Of course, the CIA has a history of undermining democratic-socialist governments past and present. Just look at Prime Minister Michael Manley's (socialist) People's National Party government of Jamaica during the 1970s. The US gave the Jamaican government a hard time, due to the government making attempts to get rid of poverty and having the audacity to befriend Cuba. In 1973, the US assisted the right-wing in overthrowing the Salvador Allende Socialist government of Chile, thus resulting in the destruction of South America's oldest democracy. The United States has the knack of undermining the various progressive movements in Latin America. It is certainly going on currently with Hugo Chavez's government in Venezuela today. The main point here is that terrorism can come just as easily from the corporate influence and covert agencies of the United States government as it could from the Arab world. Terrorism is terrorism.

Some on the far right claims that the new Spanish Socialist government are appeasing the terrorist world by promising to withdraw the 1,300 troops that are currently present in Iraq. But how can this make any sense? Even the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party themselves didn't expect to win the election originally, so this only prove that the Socialists were campaigning on anti-war principles. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made it clear that the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party will take the lead in withdrawing the troops; the Socialists will honor their campaign pledge. The majority of "socialist-parties" around the world are uncomfortable with President George W. Bush's method of coercing other nations to bend toward his will instead of using international institutions like the United Nations to resolve these conflicts. In fact, most of these "socialist-parties" opposed the US led effort of launching a war against Iraq. Many leading figures from "socialist-parties" around the world felt that British Prime Minister Tony Blair turned his back on his friends. For example, the German Social Democratic Party, the French Socialist Party, and the New Democratic Party of Canada were some of the major "socialist-parties" that strongly opposed to the Bush-Blair led police action against Iraq last year. Even many within the British Labour Party (i.e. over 1/2 of Labour MPs inside the House of Commons, Labour Against the War, the Socialist Campaign Group, and the Christian Socialist Movement) opposed the war. The center-right British Conservative Party decided to give Tony Blair their full support. It certainly appears that George W. Bush and Tony Blair lost an ally in the recent Spanish election.

What does this election mean for the people of Spain? It means two positive factors. One, this is a victory for the peace movement inside Spain and perhaps around the world. This is not a win for the US Administration, and I would argue that this is not really a win at all for any of the terrorist networks around the world either. Why? A Socialist government anywhere means democracy. It means that there will be a society whereby a commitment will be attempted to eradicate poverty. It means the expansion of civil-liberties for every individual. Socialist governments usually are akin with tolerance and democratic pluralism. This will certainly be in conflict with the Islamist's outlook of the world which is as intolerant as the Christian right (or the Christian Taliban) politics of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and many other ultra right-wing Republican Party activists here in this country. There's nothing in itself wrong with Christianity or Islam; therefore, I hope all readers will realize that there's no attempt to make a slur at Christianity, Islam, or any other religion with this point.

The other factor for the people of Spain is that eight years of conservative rule is now over. Eight years of the Popular Party and Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar meant privatization measures of public services, the weakening of labor unions, and placing unwanted dangers on the people of Spain with the Prime Minister's close ties with George W. Bush. The Popular Party was formed in the late 1960s during the Francisco Franco period of fascist rule. It was one of the few political-parties Franco allowed to exist, and many of the party's founders are tied to the fascist or paleo-conservative historical legacy of Francisco Fracno. The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party, nevertheless, is a traditional "socialist-party" that headed the once leftist Popular Front Government in the 1930s before the Spanish Civil War which lasted from 1936-1939. With the help of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini, the fascists defeated and successfully overthrew the leftist Popular Front Government by 1939, Francisco Franco banned the Socialists, the Communists, the Trotskyists, the trade unions, and the various anarchist groupings right away. When Spain became a democracy again after the death of Franco in 1975, the Socialists and other leftist-parties and groups were allowed to exist and function as political movements. The Socialists' been in and out of power in the last 28 years, and they were responsible (as both a governing party in power or as part of coalition governments) for labor unions gaining back their political power, the creation of a socialized medical system, abolishing the death penalty, and other social-democratic reforms. Perhaps, this new Socialist government will reverse the many damages to the economy caused by Anzar's former government. In this election, 77% of the people went to the polls to vote. The Socialists (PSOE) won 43% of the vote, while the Popular Party (PP) got 38%. Some of the other vote totals were the Catalan Regional Party (CiU) which received 3%, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) gotten 2.5%, and the United Left (IU) which ended with 5% of the vote.

In conclusion, I want to say that I am optimistic about our friends in Spain. This is something that make May Day worth celebrating. Whenever a conservative nay sayer in this country talks about the failures of socialism, we can always point to the examples of the people of Spain that voted against poverty and war. Socialism is an alternative to both the authoritarian communism of the former Soviet Union and the heartless ultra-capitalism of the United States. It is comforting to know that the people of Brazil, New Zealand, Sweden, and many other nations around the world including Spain today are solidifying our case. Let's congratulate the electoral populace of Spain.