Luis Carrero Blanco

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Image:Carreroblanco1 lou.JPG Luís Carrero Blanco (March 4, 1903 – December 20, 1973) was a Spanish admiral and statesman. He briefly served as Prime Minister of Spain and was thought to be the likely successor to Francisco Franco. His death may have facilitated Spain's move to democracy since Franco died without an ideologically similar successor.

He entered the Escuela Naval Militar, the Spanish Naval Academy, in 1918 and participated in the Moroccan campaign of 1924-1926.

In July 1936, when the Spanish Civil War erupted, he found himself behind the coalescing Republican line. Taking refuge in the embassy of Mexico and later that of France, he was able to sneak across the front and reach the Nationalist side in June of 1937. Blanco then served in the Nationalist navy. After the Nationalist victory and subsequent installation of Generalísimo Francisco Franco as military dictator (Caudillo) of Spain, Blanco became one of his closest collaborators as well a chief of naval operations. He was said to be in opposition to Spain entering World War II on the side of the Axis powers, a notably different political position compared to some other Falangists. Blanco himself was a monarchist. Devoted to the Roman Catholic Church, he was the chief patron of the powerful Catholic pressure group, Opus Dei, within the Franco government.

With the infusion of American capital in the 1950s, the Franco regime's Falangist policies were liberalized, without relaxing authoritarian control. "The Falange syndicalists resisted the economic opening of the regime to capitalistic influences, while the technocrats of Opus Dei, "de-emphasized the role of the syndicates and favored increased competition as a means of achieving rapid economic growth. The technocrats prevailed, and members of Opus Dei assumed significant posts in Franco's 1957 cabinet" (U.S. Library of Congress). Carrero Blanco and Opus Dei, without explicitly supporting political liberalization, aspired to economic integration with European markets. Carrero Blanco became a minister in Franco's regime in 1957,

Carrero Blanco was made vice-admiral (1963) and admiral in 1966; he held the post of vice-president of the state council from 1967 to 1973.

His political career reached its zenith in June 1973 upon being named Prime Minister of Spain and made a top deputy to Franco. It seemed as though it was only a matter of time before he would succeed the ailing dictator.

Within about six months of being named prime minister, he was assassinated in Madrid by four Basque members of ETA, who carried out a bombing while he returned from mass in an armored car. ETA placed one ton of explosives in a tunnel they had excavated under the street, which was definitely more than enough to assassinate Carrero. The blast catapulted the vehicle over the church it was parked in front of, and it landed on a second floor balcony on the other side. Because of this, Spanish people joke that Carrero was the first Spanish astronaut.

In their manifesto, ETA wrote:

"In itself, the execution had a clear aim. Starting from 1951, Carrero was practically Government's head in the regime. Carrero symbolized better than anyone the figure of a "pure Franquist" and without linking himself to any particular Franquist tendency, he only intended to help Opus Dei take power. A man without any morals, he consciously made his own state in the state: he created a network inside the Ministeries, inside the Army, inside the Falange, and even inside the Opus Dei. His police succeed in placing itself in all the Franquist apparatus. This is how he converted himself into a key element of the system, and in a key figure of the oligarquia political game. On an other hand, he became impossible to substitute because of his experience and managing capacity, and because nobody actually achieved in maintaining an internal balance of franquismo (...)." Template:Ref

This assassination, dubbed "Operación Ogro", was in retaliation for the execution of five political opponents by the regime (including some members of ETA) and was applauded by all liberal opponents of the Francoist government. Since Carrero could have become the most powerful figure in Spain upon Franco's passing, his death was instrumental in the transition toward a democratic government in that country.

In his first speech to the Cortes on February 12, 1974, Carrero Blanco's successor, the new prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro promised liberalizing reforms, including the right to form political associations. Though he was denounced by hardliners within the regime, the transition had begun.

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References

Julen Agirre; Operation Ogro: The Execution of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco; Quadrangle; ISBN 0812905520
Template:Note "En la siguiente declaración uno de los militantes del commando Txikía respondía a la pregunta de por qué se había ejecutado a Carrero: “La ejecución en sí tenía un alcance y unos objetivos clarísimos. A partir de 1951 Carrero ocupó prácticamente la jefatura del Gobierno en el Régimen. Carrero simbolizaba mejor que nadie la figura del «franquismo puro» y sin ligarse totalmente a ninguna de las tendencias franquistas, solapadamente trataba de empujar al Opus Dei al poder. Hombre sin escrúpulos montó concienzudamente su propio Estado dentro del Estado: creó una red de informadores dentro de los Ministerios, del Ejército, de la Falange y aún dentro del Opus Dei. Su policía logró meterse en todo el aparato franquista. Así fue convirtiéndose en el elemento clave del sistema y en una pieza fundamental del juego político de la oligarquía. Por otra parte llegó a ser insustituible por su experiencia y capacidad de maniobra y porque nadie lograba como él mantener el equilibrio interno del franquismo […]".

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