The Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH), which initiated the scientific pursuit of individuals missing due to Franco’s repression in 2000 in Bierzo and facilitated the Argentine lawsuit against Franco’s regime, will be included in the administrative file through which the Cabildo of Tenerife seeks to classify the monument to dictator Francisco Franco—symbolising his “launch” to instigate the coup d’état—as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).
The ARMH asserts in a communiqué that it is directly impacted by “the endeavour of a democratic institution to declare the protection and public significance of a sculptural group that signifies the commencement of a massacre involving tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom remain missing to this day.”
Emilio Silva, president of the ARMH and grandson of the first genetically identified victim of Francoism in Spain, expresses that “it is unfathomable for a democratic institution to so profoundly insult the victims of the most heinous crimes committed in this nation, and in this way, to continue trampling upon the memory of the families who endured the brutal violence of Franco.”
He further comments: “That monument has existed in democracy for more years than it did under dictatorship, and it is unacceptable for a representative of a democratic institution to deem it ‘interesting’ to glorify the individual accountable for thousands of atrocities, for the exiled deaths of tens of thousands of citizens, and for the ongoing humiliating and violent persecution of millions who resisted his coup d’état and aimed to continue living in a democratic Spain.”
The association intends to participate in the administrative dossier of the Tenerife Cabildo, considering itself a stakeholder in the decisions made by a public institution that impact a monument “erected to demean the victims and celebrate suffering unprecedented in the annals of this country.”
“Enough with the hypocrisy from the right, which legally pursues those who glorify terrorism while attempting to memorialise and celebrate someone who was far more lethal and harmful than any violent group that has ever existed in this country,” adds Silva. He concludes: “If the individual at the helm of the Cabildo possesses even a shred of human empathy, then any person who has grasped basic human rights should stand with the victims; acknowledging them, compensating them, and demanding the demolition of the monument.”
