Page 8 - aruba-today-20180825

A8 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 25 auguSt 2018
Spain sets in motion plan to dig up former dictator Franco

By BARRY HATTON they do not reply, the gov-
IAN SULLIVAN ernment will choose a "dig-
Associated Press nified place," Calvo said.
MADRID (AP) — Spain's Francisco Martinez-Bordiu,
center-left government ap- a grandson of Franco, de-
proved legal amendments scribed the government's
Friday to make sure that the exhumation plans as "bar-
remains of former dictator baric," telling Antena 3 on
Gen. Francisco Franco will Friday that descendants
be dug up and removed would assess their legal op-
from a controversial nation- tions for halting it.
al mausoleum honoring the An exhumation of Franco's
nation's civil war dead. embalmed body — possi-
The minority Socialist gov- bly as early as October —
ernment is certain that would cement the govern-
parliament will endorse the ment's reformist, liberal cre-
amendments, probably in dentials after taking power
a debate next month, dep- last June. Removing Franco
uty prime minister Carmen from the mausoleum, which
Calvo told reporters. is owned and operated by
The amendments to Spain's the cultural heritage agen-
Historical Memory Law of cy, a public-funded body,
2007 grant the government Flower are placed on the tomb of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco inside the basilica at has long been discussed
the power to exhume Fran- the the Valley of the Fallen monument near El Escorial, outside Madrid, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. in Spain. Calvo said the
co's body. That change Associated Press government is fast-tracking
aims to thwart legal efforts the exhumation because
by Franco's descendants complex is most conspicu- buried there," Calvo said. Franco, who died in 1975. it wants to "end a state of
and supporters to block the ous public legacy of Fran- She noted that a visiting Spain's Memory Law, which affairs which cannot go on
exhumation in the courts. co's rule, built by the dic- U.N. delegation said four outlawed public events any longer."
Removing Franco's remains tator as a tribute to those years ago that "democ- supporting the Franco re- At next Friday's Cabinet
from the Valley of the Fall- killed in the war in which racy is incompatible with a gime, fell short of address- meeting, the procedures
en, a mausoleum he or- he deposed Spain's demo- tomb that honors the mem- ing the broad demands of for the exhumation will be
dered built 50 kilometers cratic government. ory of Franco." civil war survivors and vic- set out, she said.
(30 miles) northwest of Ma- Some 34,000 people from In addition to exhuming tims' relatives for exhuma- The Valley of the Fallen
drid, would be a momen- both sides of the fighting Franco, the government tions and reparations. complex includes a mau-
tous event in Spain, which are buried at the site, most also plans to unearth and Franco's descendants will soleum and basilica in a
still bears social and politi- of them never identified. identify the 114,000-or-so be consulted and will have neoclassic style and is a
cal scars from the country's "Having Franco's tomb (at victims of the civil war and 15 days to say where they popular pilgrimage site for
1936-39 civil war. the complex) shows a lack the four decades of dicta- would like the remains to people nostalgic for the
The vast Valley of the Fallen of respect ... for the victims torship that followed under go after exhumation. If dictatorship. q

Huge wildfire southwest of Berlin sets off WWII arms blasts

BERLIN (AP) — Firefighters police told her to grab her breaks. Several roads were
struggled Friday to tame a jacket, ID and medication closed and local trains halt-
wildfire southwest of Berlin from her home before tak- ed service in the area close
but had to maneuver care- ing her to a nearby gym for to the fire.
fully as the blaze set off old the night. Stein said the fact that the
World War II ammunition Firefighters were trying to fire broke out in several
that is still buried in the for- douse the flames in areas places simultaneously sug-
ests around the German they could not enter with gested it could have been
capital. water-bearing helicopters arson, but Brandenburg's
Flames forced the evacu- and water cannons. Interior Ministry said it was
ation of several nearby vil- "The fire continues to be a still investigating the cause
lages and sent clouds of big threat," Woidke said. of the fire.
acrid smoke toward the "But we will do everything Germany has seen a long,
German capital. A forest is light by wildfires near the village Klausdorf, about 85 to protect people's prop- hot summer with almost no
The fire, which was the size kilometers (53 miles) south of Berlin on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. erty." rain, and large parts of the
of 500 soccer fields, has al- Associated Press Overnight, winds blew the country are on high alert
ready set off several deto- smoke to Berlin, where peo- regarding possible wildfires.
nations of old ammunition, tinguish it, Brandenburg denburg. By evening, au- ple in some neighborhoods Raimund Engel, who is in
according to local law- state's governor, Dietmar thorities had evacuated were told to keep their win- charge of forests in the
maker Christian Stein. Fire- Woidke, told reporters. 500 people from the villag- dows closed. In some cases state of Brandenburg, said
fighters were not allowed The fire started Thursday af- es of Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf the smell of smoke was so 400 wildfires have already
to enter suspicious areas. ternoon and spread quick- and Tiefenbrunnen. strong that residents called been reported this year.
"The ammunition is very ly through the dry pine for- "Something like that, we Berlin emergency services. "I hope the weather will
dangerous, because one ests in the Treuenbrietzen didn't even experience More than 600 firefighters play along and the winds
cannot step on the ground, region, 50 kilometers (30 during the war," 76-year- and soldiers were brought won't increase again," Stein
and therefore one cannot miles) outside of Berlin in old Anita Biedermann told in to battle the wildfire, cut- said. "We are yearning for
get close to the fire" to ex- the eastern state of Bran- the dpa news agency as ting trees to make long fire- rain."q