The assassination of Pertur

            I used to go every day to wait for my girlfriend Maravillas to come out from the Tourism Official School, which was at the back of the Ministry of Information and Tourism. I waited for her at the way out door or at pubs or cafeterias near. Maravillas worked also for the Naval War School, job about which she could not tell me anything because it ought to be secret. She told me only she worked every day playing a game the Navy called Game of the war, during which they made a simulacrum of naval attack against Spain and they activated all the mechanisms of the Spanish Army to neutralise the attack. What I could do was to mention aircraft carrier Dédalo, that was the only one the Spanish Navy had by then, for her to say that of course the Dédalo had to intervene always.

             I had bought El País newspaper like every day and that day I was waiting for Maravillas seated at a terrace very near to the School (Tourism Offcial), at one side of the Ministry. On the front page of the newspaper appeared a picture of the bleeded body of ETA activist Pertur, by then chief commander of ETA and therefore of Euskaldun Army, shot inside a Renault 5, and the headline said ETA had killed Pertur. Until saturation they tried to manipulate the people accusing ETA of having been the killers.

     Maravillas appeared with three elegant-like classmates and we made room to sit. One of the classmates in a flash of sympathy told me they had amongst them talked about it: I always waited for Maravillas and always with my newspaper. Yes, I said smiling, you are witnesses I do both things. By the way, today, I said showing them El País front page, they have killed Pertur, chief commander of ETA, and the brain is not far from here. There was a minimum silence, because the sympathetic classmate asked at once: Is he not far from here? What do you mean? I did not think much about it and explained why mine were not even only suspicions. You, I said to them, study at the Tourism Official School, in the Ministry of Information and Tourism headquarters. Well, I continued, Manuel Fraga Iribarne has been Minister from 1962 to 1969, and today he is vicepresident of government and Minister of governation. What has that to do with it?, asked me again the most interested, the sympathetic. Maravillas, who knew I had a special antipathy for Fraga, like all Spanish women and men had, smiled and I think she guessed to what extent I was able to reach. Before being Minister of Information and Tourism, I went on, he was  Minister of Interior, and like nobody is so innocent, that position, Minister of Interior with Franco, supposes a sentence for ever, because he was responsible of fusillades, assassinations, tortures and prisons, of violent repression by Franco’s police forces during protestations, who had gone to the extreme of saying the streets did not belong to students and workers, that they were his, because furthermore, as we all know too well, the dirty war against communism and revolutionary terrorism was orchestrated by Franco from that Ministry.

            Well, you cannot be so categorical and say the former Minister of Information and Tourism is the brain of Pertur’s assassination, argued the classmate with conviction. Or yes, I may be, I said, because that sort of position conveys usually a perpetual bloody pact. Well, another nice classmate said, let’s hope the actual Minister is not target of ETA , because we study in the Ministry and it would be something sinister. Movement there would be, of course, I said. They stayed looking at me. I am about to leave right now with Maravillas just in case and it would be good advice for you not to lose a second sitting here.

           I then suddenly stood up, took Maravillas's hand and doing as if we were in a rush to run away I asked them: Shall we run away? We sat down again, I sighed and said laughing: Well, we shall stay here, even knowing Fraga is involved in all cases, because we have no fear. And we all laughed. For an instant we thought it was true , I mean, your intention of running away, said the most communicative. Maravillas did so good her role!, she said later, and we all laughed again. We stood seated with the four of them for a while yet. Maravillas understood my excitement and my way of acting. If they only knew you and your brothers are activists, they wouldn't have come and they would probably have admonished me to break our engagement, Maravillas told me as we walked down towards the bus stop. It is to be so far away from them, I said to her. I had told Maravillas I was chief lieutenant of FRAP and some events in which I have been involved. That's what I knew as I walked down alone from Maravillas's place to mine. One thing I knew for sure, some day I would be president and chief general of the Spanish Red Army. I knew this and I knew ETA hadn't killed Pertur.