SPANISH RULE Arias drops 11 Ministers

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33425, 5 January 1974, Page 11

SPANISH RULE Arias drops 11 Ministers

.X Z. Press Association-Copyright)

MADRID, January 4. fhe Government of the new Spanish Prime Minister (Mr Carlos Arias

Navarro) takes over in Madrid today, and is generally expected to usher in an era of tougher Right-wing rule.

Mr Anas, who is 65, and took power after Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco had been assassinated in a bomb i blast in Madrid two weeks ago, announced his Cabinet last night. It disclosed sweeping! changes, the previous For- [ eign Minister, Mr Laureano I Lopez Rodo, and 10 other Cabinet members being dropped. The new Foreign Minister' is Spain’s present Ambassador to France, Mr Pedro Cortina. aged 65, a lawyer and career diplomat. He takes over his portfolio just when French-Spanish relations are running a delicate course, mainly because of outlawed < Basque separatist activities in south-west France. Mr Cortina and the 19 other members of the new Cabinet will swear loyalty to General Franco, thej Head of State, at a ceremony j at the Pardo Palace in Madrid later today. Members of the Roman Catholic lay organisation, Opus Dei (God’s work), have now been completely ousted

from the Cabinet: Mr Lopez Rodo was the last Opus Dei member remaining when Admiral Carrero Blanco appointed his Cabinet before his assassination. That Cabinet lasted only 203 days, and had little opportunity to see its policies develop. I The new Cabinet includes 15 lawyers, three military men, an economist, and an engineer. Opinion is divided as to whether it heralds a post-Franco era or will merely act as a stop-act Government. Six Ministers appointed or confirmed in their posts when Admiral Carrero Blanco announced his Government last June retain their portfolios in [the new Cabinet: the Ministers of Finance, Labour, Justice. Agriculture, Army and Navy. The new Minister of the Interior is Mr Jose Garcia Hernandez, aged 68, a State lawyer and former civil provincial governor, who, like the Prime Minister, is regarded as a tough advocate of law and order.