CNI Spanish secret service. A kings business? Part 5

We have repeatedly said that the king has a preference for the PSOE. This may sound odd taking into account PSOE´s history and its republican tradition. But it is that very same tradition of republicanism and the long history of betrayals, coups d´etat, murders and intrigue that the PSOE has that makes this party the King´s favourite.

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The king has had no fears about the conservative party (PP) same as he did not fear Adolfo Suárez party (UCD) so he has allowed himself to act as a despotic king (it is in his genes) imposing appointments in the defense minister or in the secret service (among many other things). He knows that usually PP leaders and officials are less likely to protest or to air his royal sins.

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On the other hand Juan Carlos does fear PSOE a lot, he specially did in the early years of our very deficient democracy.

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Between 1975 and 1982 he contemplated how the conjunction of a savage terrorsit activity, a raging economic crisis, an increase upsetting in the military, and the annoying demands of nationalistic and separatist parties, were undermining the control of circumstances that an increasingly weaker Adolfo Suárez Administration had.

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All these things were endangering the success of the political process Spain was undergoing, and worst of all it was putting at risk his king business. The king knew that the PSOE was anxious to govern the country before things would get any worse. Adolfo Suárez was forced to resign and when he wanted to change his decision (during the theatrical coup d´etat in february 1981 Suárez tried to undo his resignation and he was not allowed by someone) he was stopped and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (a good manager but with no charisma) managed the months before PSOE overwhelming triumph in the 1982 elections.

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Keep your friends close to you and your enemies even closer the saying goes. With PSOE in office the king did all it was in his royal hand to please the newcomers in every aspect being always well awared of the fact that PSOE was not as easy to manipulate as other more liberal or conservative parties. During the 14 years that Felipe gonzález was in office the King forged a real tight alliance with the party apparatus and the government and same as the PSOE leaders did he also became a really wealthy man.

During these years (1982-1996) PSOE placed its members and sympathizers by thousands in the public administrations, public companies, the secret services, the police, and shamelessly benefited those entrepreneurs and business men that where on the PSOE side. Felipe González helped media giant PRISA that was managed by Mr. Jesús de Polanco (who became rich during Franco regime by selling text books for school children) by granting this company licences for radio stations and tv channels and by laminating those media that were not so supportive with the PSOE.

But lets go back to the kings business. Jesús Cacho a well reputed journalist says in his book "El negocio de la libertad" (The freedom business):

"...One of the earliest forms known was oil, oil commissions coming from the oil imports Spain needed to meet its energy needs. As soon as Juan Carlos I occupied the throne after the death of the dictator, Manuel Prado y Colón de Carvajal, was devoted to send several royal letters to many reigning monarchs, especially the Arab world, asking for money on behalf of the King of Spain".
There is documentary evidence of a letter signed by Juan Carlos I and addressed to the Shah of Persia, on July 4, 1977, where the monarch following a description of the political situation said: "I take the liberty, with all respect, to subject to your generous consideration the possibility of granting 10 million dollars as your personal contribution to strengthening the Spanish monarchy. "

Manuel Prado y Colón de Carvajal who recently died in 2009 was a close friend of king Juan Carlos, he was appointed as senator in 1977 (the King used to have a quota of senators he could freely appoint), was also President of Iberia Airlines when this company was public and the list goes on and on (Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz Order, France´s Legion of Honor...).

With respect to the book we have quoted above Mr Prado y Colón de Carvajal said about journalist Jesús Cacho:

"We must get rid of what you represent"

Such a gentleman!

Prado y Colón de Carvajal was imprisoned on April 26, 2004 in the Seville prison serving a sentence of two years for the "Wardbase" case. For humanitarian reasons he was awarded the second grade prison two months later.

As head of "Grand Tibidabo", he was convicted in 2008 for misappropriation: three months' imprisonment by the High Court.

The Supreme Court had already sentenced him to one year in prison for misappropriation in September 2007 by a diversion of money from Grupo Torras.

The royal scandals finally reached France, where during the preliminary investigation about Elf (2003) for misappropriation, its former chairman Le Floch-Prigent said about buying ERTOIL:

"...having delivered 55 million francs in Spain to many politicians, in particularly those close to Felipe Gonzalez and King Juan Carlos environment ", with who Le Floch-Prigent claimed to have met in multiple occasions.

According to Jose Garcia Abad, author of the book "la Soledad del Rey"(The Solitude of the King):

"Felipe Gonzalez turned a blind eye to the royal businesses and trips and even got to make some important negotiation for the benefit of the royal family: he sent his righ-hand man, Julio Feo , to negotiate with the Greek government about the return of the assets of the family of Mrs. Sophia, which had been confiscated when King Constantine was deposed"

The list is endless and all the royal family has been benefited with important positions and lucrative businesses: daughters, son, sons in law, daughter in law.

Then we could list the list of lets call them venial sins like promoting brands in the annual yacht race named after him, subliminal advertising and so on.

How much money does the king have?
The cost item of the General State Budget for the expenses of the royal family by law is not subject to review by the Court of Auditors. The 1978 Constitution allows the monarch to dispose of it without further explanation. In 1980 the government assigned 200 million pesetas (1,2 million euros of that time would be like 6 to 8 million currently). Until then, the king just collected a salary of captain general. Currently the General State Budget assigns some 7.78 million euros for the king and his family.
Due to the opacity of the royal house, the fortune of the king is difficult to quantify. Forbes Magazine (April 2003) includes Juan Carlos I in the sixth place among Europe´s monarchs and with a fortune of 1,790 million euros the king is the 134th among the richest in the world.

The advent of the socialist party was a blessing for the King´s financials and his pro-PSOE attitude has paid well off. But being King and serving so much is a non stop job and the king must look after his family and his wealth and to do so he needs to keep all mouths shut and it is of key importance to keep the secret services under the control of trustworthy people that will not leak information whatsoever.

In this context when Aznar´s PP won the general elections in 1996 it was of utmost importance for both the King and the PSOE to keep the secret service under the "right" control, thus both the minister of defense and the director of the CNI were imposed to the new President José María Aznar.

By doing so the PSOE could be sure that all the information regarding the corruption and the crimes of state would be under lock and the King could nothing but agree. The saying goes: "you scratch my back and I scratch yours" and it seems to have worked out fine for this singular alliance.

Now you can believe in Santa Claus and the eastern bunny or in the Reyes Magos (the three wise men that bring presents in the night of january 5th to children in the Spanish speaking world) if that makes you happy, same as you can go on thinking as most people do that the King of Spain is a goody fellow, kindhearted and always friendly. Maybe he is like that sometimes, we are all humans, specially with his family but he is also a powerful individual with a huge interest in keeping his way of life.

End of the series.

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