ship throughout Spain.
grows Over last weekend actions took place across Britain in solidarity with the struggle against the Spanish dictatorship.
In London, 150 people attended a solidarity rally organised by the Spanish Solidarity campaign (SSC) on Friday.
They were addressed by speakers from the International Marxist Group, the International Socialists, and the Portuguese Workers Co-ordinating Committee, and two militants from the SSC, who explained the importance of the struggle taking place in the Basque country and the political crisis rocking the dictatorOn Saturday more that 600 militants took to the streets for a demonstration called by the SS to protest against the murder of Basque militants Garmendia The demonstration was supported by a wide range of groups, in cluding the IMG, IS, the Portuguese Workers Co-ordinating Committee, the Spanish Communist Party, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Clann na h'Eireann, and the International Branch of the Transport & General Workers' Union.
In Manchester, some 80 militants responded to the call of the local Spanish Solidarity Campaign and marched through the city centre. A picket was then mounted outside the iberian Airline offices and a leaflet distributed denouncing Franco's reign of terror. Amaccording to the extent of the repres sion in the preceding weeks. The case of Hernani, a big town six miles south of San Sebastian, confirms such an hypothesis... "There has been propaganda, but nothing resulted", a student told us, stopping for an instant every time the door of the cafe opened. "It would be enough, undoubtedly, for the workers in one factory to stop work for the others to do likewise, but fear is stronger. Half of the known militants have crossed the border (into France). The others are in hiding. It's difficult to move, even Word of mouth *At Beasain, on the other hand "they came out"....CAF workers - makes containers and railway carriages...At 8 o'clock in the morning everyone turned up for work One shop stopped work. By telephone, word of mouth, "sometimes , one worker told us - the movement spread like an oil By 9 o'clock everyone was out, and, shortly afterwards, returned home, Meanwhile, the most determined formed picket squads to go to smaller factories and "persuade the comrades to Repression Despite the difficulties encountered by the strike because of the repression, most foreign jounalists agreed with the Le Monde correspondent's view that it was a 'relative success under the circumstance. While it was, much smaller than the December strike movement - in which more than 200,000 woefters forms can be tossed to the workers took part the organisers, and many workers, saw 11 June as a way of warming up' for even bigger struggles to be launched in protest at the dictatong those participating were militants of the IMG, the IS, the women's movement the Communist Party, and a number of International Brigade veterans.
In Liverpool, more than 60 militants took part in a picket of the Spanish Consulate, called by the Merseyside International Women's Year Committee (a sub-committee of the Liverpool Trades Council), followed by a street meeting. The picket was centred on the themes 'Free Eva Forest', 'Free all political prisoners, and Down with Franco's Dictatorship, and was supported by militants from IMG, IS, the Labour Party Young Socialists, and other groups.
Plans are under way for further activities in solidarity with the Spanish strug gle in the Merseyside area. A picket of the Spanish Bank has been called for Wednesday 18 June, and the International Women's Year Committee has written to the Joint Docks Shop Stewards Committee proposing a month-long blacking of Spanish goods.
In asgow, me spanis Delence Com mittee organised a contingent for the Scottish miners gala, and their slogans against the dictatorship and in solidarity with Spanish political prisoners were taken up by other contingents at the gala Franco-tottering on cliff's edge ke, along with the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE). Clearly these groups understand that the Basque working class is going to go ahead and fight the dictatorship irrespective of what bankrupt 'advice' reformists try to dish out to them.
Meanwhile, a former Franco cabinet minister, Pio Cabanillas, has publicly called for the resignation of Franco and the inauguration of Prince Juan Carlos as king, so that a few phony removement. But the ruling class has already had to take up capitalism's weapons of last resort - repression and terror - in order to hold the Span