ACTION AGAINST SPAIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 March 1946, Page 5

ACTION AGAINST SPAIN

THREE-POWER DECLARATION EXPECTED COMMUNISTS CALL FOR STRIKE (Recd. Noon). LONDON, March 1. Britain is almost certain to agree with the United States proposal for a three-Power declaration on Spain, which has already been accepted by France, says the Press Association. Conferences are proceeding at high speed in the three capitals. The British Ambassador at Washington, Lord Halifax, has seen the United States Secretary of State, Mr. Byrnes to clear up points of the American note. The declaration under the present proposals will probably invite General Franco to resign and demand free elections and an amnesty for political prisoners. It will also offer joint support for a broadbased “caretaker” government. ; The Associated Press Madrid correspondent reports that the Spanish Communist party has issued a leaflet calling for strikes and the closing of shops in protest against the Franco regime. The leaflets went through the postal service in plain envelopes.

France considers the Franco regime in Spain a danger to peace. This is emphasised in a Note handed by France to the British, American, and Russian Ambassadors in Paris, says the Daily Telegraph’s Paris correspondent. The Note says General Franco has taken up a dangerous attitude _in concentrating troops and ordering the execution of political opponents without reference to or consideration of justice. This conduct, it is stated, imperils peace and international security. The Note invokes the Yalta Declaration on steps to be taken to enable European peoples to destroy the last vestiges of Fascism and calls for its implementation. The Note asks the three Governments whether they are prepared to join France in bringing the. matter before the Security Council. In Washington yesterday, the American State Department reported that the French Government had accepted “in principle” American proposals that Britain, France, and the United States should issue a joint declaration deploring the Franco regime, promising recognition to a new Spanish Government, and affirming that the changing of the Spanish Government is a .matter .for .the Spanish people. Britain has not yet replied but American diplomatic officials closely in touch with the situation said Britain had also decided to accept the proposals.