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Apologies for any cross-posting. Geoff West Hispanic BL London -----Original Message----- From: Gayle Williams [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 06 October 2004 14:09 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Cela Franquista spy >>Copyright 2004 Guardian Newspapers Limited >>The Guardian (London) - Final Edition >> >>September 25, 2004 >> >>SECTION: Guardian Foreign Pages, Pg. 17 >> >>LENGTH: 806 words >> >>HEADLINE: Spanish novelist spied for Franco's regime: Nobel laureate >>volunteered information on dissidents >> >>BYLINE: Giles Tremlett in Madrid >> >>BODY: >>One of Spain's greatest modern novelists was an informer for Franco's >>fascist regime and betrayed fellow intellectuals during the 1960s, >>according to recently discovered official records. >> >>Camilo Jose Cela, the last Spaniard to win the Nobel prize for >>literature, continued to inform against other authors and academics >>even when they thought he had joined an emerging front of dissident >>writers. >> >>The revelations have come from the well-known historian Pere Ysas, who >>found papers showing that Cela, who died two years ago, had >>volunteered advice to Franco's information ministry and suggested some >>dissident writers could be bribed, tamed and "reconverted" by the >>generalisimo's regime. >> >>The claims will add to the legend of the controversial and flamboyant >>Cela, who was accused of stealing ideas, plagiarism and using >>ghost-writers during his career. >> >>He denied all the allegations, but had a seemingly infinite capacity >>for provoking controversy and creating enemies. >> >>Mr Ysas's discovery comes at an uncomfortable time for Spain as it >>considers how to deal with the legacy of the Franco period. It also >>raises the question of which other intellectuals were informers - or >>informed upon. >> >>The historian said he found an internal report to Spain's then >>information minister, Manuel Fraga, who ran the censor's office, based >>on ideas volunteered to ministry officials by Cela after a Spanish >>writers' conference in 1963. >> >>Among other things Cela told the officials that 42 of the 102 >>signatories of a letter denouncing police violence against striking >>miners in the northern region of Asturias were members of the Spanish >>Communist party. >> >>Cela had signed the letter himself. The writer also claimed that most >>of his fellow signatories were "totally recoverable (for the regime), >>either through the stimulus of publishing their work or through >>bribes," according to the report made to Fraga. >> >>Cela suggested that the regime should target Pedro Lain Entralgo, a >>leading intellectual, on the basis that he was a weaker character than >>other anti-Francoists in the group. >> >>The report suggested following Cela's advice and proposed setting >>aside a budget of 20m pesetas, worth around £120,000 at the time. >> >>There is no evidence, however, that the money was approved or that the >>plan was put into action. >> >>The revelations about Cela, a maverick whose works were censored by >>Franco's regime and who edited a literary magazine considered to be >>anti-Francoist, add mystery to an already controversial biography. >> >>"Cela is a complex character," said Mr Ysas, a historian at >>Barcelona's Autonomous University. >> >>"At some stages of his life, it seems he played with all the cards in >>the pack." >> >>The evidence suggests that Cela, rather than being coerced into >>becoming an informer, approached the information ministry himself to >>offer his help. >> >>"There is nothing that indicates any previous action calling for his >>help," said Mr Ysas. "It seems this was something freely done by him." >> >>Mr Ysas, who has published his findings in a book, Dissidence and >>Subversion, said Cela may have simply been trying to curry favour with >>the regime. >> >>Fraga has said that, around that time, the writer had been trying to >>win some form of public distinction or medal in recognition of his >>status as one of the country's leading authors. >> >>The revelations come as Spain debates whether it should be doing more >>to heal the wounds still remaining from Franco's 36-year rule. >> >>The new socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has >>recently established a committee of ministers to consider the demands >>of those who believe that the suffering of Franco's victims has been >>largely forgotten. >> >>The democratic transition that followed Franco's death in 1975 >>included an amnesty for all his officials. >> >>Spain did not go through a "truth and reconciliation" process similar >>to the one in post-apartheid South Africa, nor has there ever been a >>public "naming and shaming" of Franco agents and collaborators as >>there was, for example, in some of the eastern bloc countries. >> >>Among the petitions being considered by Mr Zapatero's government are >>calls to locate and dig up what are believed to be hundreds of mass >>graves of those killed by Franco's death squads in the 1930s. >> >>Other demands include the creation of a truth commission of >>historians; changes to the way the civil war is taught in schools; the >>removal of Francoist monuments and street names; and a permanent >>exhibition in the huge underground basilica at the Valley of the >>Fallen outside Madrid - where Franco is buried - explaining that it >>was built with the labour of republican prisoners. >> >>There have also been demands for a formal overturning of political >>senten-ces, including up to 50,000 death sentences, handed down by his >>courts. >> >> >> >>LOAD-DATE: September 27, 2004 ----- End forwarded message ----- ************************************************************************** Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. 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