Word: calvo
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...this explosive atmosphere, the new Prime Minister, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, chose to proceed as if he were walking through a minefield-which he was. To assert civilian control over restive soldiers, Calvo-Sotelo had to crack down on the known conspirators, but not so hard as to trigger another putsch. To remove the roots of discontent in the armed forces, he also needed to show rapid progress in curbing the Basque separatist terrorists, whose bloody attacks against the paramilitary Guardia Civil and police had inflamed the franquista officers. Here too, Calvo-Sotelo had a problem...
...eight days. But more militant guerrillas blew up a national police patrol car in the Basque town of Portugalete, injuring three policemen; a few days later they killed the police chief of Bilbao. As pressure mounted from the right to declare a state of emergency in the Basque region, Calvo-Sotelo flew to Bilbao to pay respects to the dead man's family...
Shocked and sobered by the attempted coup, the country's political leaders sought to put aside some of their differences. They returned to the pock-marked chamber the following day and elected Calvo-Sotelo their new Prime Minister by an absolute 186-158 majority. That was 16 more votes than Calvo-Sotelo had expected to get in the earlier, rudely interrupted balloting. The Deputies also gave standing ovations to Suárez and Gutiérrez Mellado, both of whom had courageously stood up to Tejero. But the loudest applause was reserved for the King, who was praised...
...caution was understandable on that score. Suárez's unbridled eagerness to move Spain into NATO had not only met fierce opposition from the Communists and Socialists, it had caused grumbling within the ranks of his own divided party. Seeking to defer action on NATO membership, Calvo-Sotelo proposed further consultations on the question by parliamentary committees. He altogether omitted another highly sensitive subject: a pending divorce bill, initially approved by Suárez, that threatened to alienate the Roman Catholic hierarchy from the U.C.D. and split the party...
...What Calvo-Sotelo did pledge was to remain in office until the next elections, scheduled for 1983, but few took the possibility seriously. With so little parliamentary support, the new government could easily stumble over the first serious issue it tackles; elections seem all but inevitable later this year. The intervening months could give the U.C.D. time to resolve its differences. Failing that, it faces possible defeat at the hands of Spain's second biggest party, the Socialists. As Socialist Leader Felipe González told party colleagues last week: "The election campaign has begun...