Brigada Político-Social
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Political-Social Brigade (, BPS), officially the Social Investigation Brigade (, BSI), was a
secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...
in
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
in charge of persecuting and repressing opposition movements. The brigade was a section of the
General Police Corps The General Police Corps (, CGP) was a law enforcement force of Spain established by the Francoist Spain, Francoist regime in 1941 to conduct criminal investigation and enforce political repression. They should not be confused with the Armed Polic ...
(CGP). During the
Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...
, it was restructured and replaced by the
Central Information Brigade Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...
(BCI). Among the anti-Franco opposition, it was known colloquially as "the Social", "the Secret" or "the Brigade".


History


Origins

The Political-Social Brigade originated at the beginning of the 20th century, with the creation of the Information Brigade and the Brigade of Anarchism and Socialism as units to combat
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
and the growing
labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
. At the end of the
dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
of
Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...
, the Social Investigation Division was created by General
Emilio Mola Emilio Mola y Vidal (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was a Spanish military officer who was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936 that started the Spanish Civil War. After the death of José Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, M ...
and headed by Commissioner
Santiago Martín Báguenas Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, ...
. The brigade's immediate roots were in the
Nationalist faction The Nationalist faction (), also Rebel faction () and Francoist faction () was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup of July 1936 ...
during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. A 24 June 1938 decree created a bureau for "the control of matters in political action" and the "prevention and repression" of any activities which "obstruct or deviate" the "general guidelines of the government". Many of its first members came from the Information and Military Police Service (SIPM), the Francoist secret service during the war which was led by General
José Ungría Jiménez José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...
. In 1940, during his visit to Spain,
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
leader
Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest Uniforms and insignia of the Schut ...
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
ensured that , an officer in the
Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...
(SS) and the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
who was stationed in Spain, would train the new Spanish secret police. Winzer instructed new agents of the Political-Social Brigade until 1944. It was created in 1941 with the Law on the Operation of the Superior Police Headquarters and the Law on Surveillance and Security. In addition to its own investigative work, the brigade could count on reports from the Falange's
Information and Investigation Service Information is an abstract concept that refers to something which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the interpretation (perhaps formally) of that which may be sensed, or their abstractions. Any natur ...
, which also functioned as a political police. A 1949 British report described the brigade:
Blas Pérez González Blas Pérez González (13 August 1898 – 7 February 1978) was a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Governance of Spain between 1942 and 1957, during the Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dic ...
, Minister of Governance from 1942 to 1957, was the main organizer of the brigade and the Francoist police.


Repression

Commissioner
Roberto Conesa Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footbal ...
, appointed to head the brigade during the last years of Francoism and the
transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...
, was notorious among the clandestine left-wing sector for his brutal methods of interrogation and torture. A prominent police officer,
Melitón Manzanas Melitón Manzanas González (9 June 1909 – 2 August 1968) was a high-ranking police officer in Francoist Spain, known as a torturer and the first planned victim of ETA.Iglesias, María Antonioa"Hablan las víctimas de Melitón Manzanas" ''(The ...
(head of the brigade in
Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...
), was also known for brutal torture during interrogation. Manzanas was assassinated in 1968 by
ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...
. Another police officer who stood out for violent methods during interrogations at Directorate-General of Security (DGS) headquarters was
Antonio González Pacheco Antonio González Pacheco (10 October 1946 – 7 May 2020), known also as Billy the Kid (''Billy el Niño''), was a Spanish police inspector in Francoist Spain who was charged with 13 counts of torture and sought for extradition by an Argentine ...
(known as "Billy the Kid"). González Pacheco became Conesa's lieutenant in the brigade.
Antoni Batista Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the f ...
and the Democratic Justice group of judges, prosecutors and lawyers deepened the Political-Social Brigade's repression. Democratic Justice reported that police torture was practiced with impunity and civil rights were suspended during multiple states of emergency from the 1960s to
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
's death in 1975, primarily in three regions: the Basque Country,
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
and
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. According to the reports, the brigades presented their reports and petitions for a judge's signature with undue haste. The possibility that a judge would refuse was remote; although they could investigate complaints by detainees and victims of torture, the judges were also subject to the brigades. Torture, ill-treatment and humiliation of detainees (including "beatings with a baton and wet towels,
cigarette burns Cigarette burns are usually deliberate injuries caused by pressing a lit cigarette or cigar to the skin. They are a common form of child abuse, self-harm, and torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a p ...
and cuts with razor blades") were still frequently carried out in BPS offices as late as 1975, near the end of the
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
.


Dissolution

The powers of the BPS were restricted by decrees which were approved in 1976, 1977 and 1981. The last decree was issued after the
1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt A coup d'état was attempted in Spain in February 1981 by elements of the Civil Guard and the Spanish military. The failure of the coup marked the last serious attempt to revert Spain to a Francoist government and served to consolidate Spain ...
. Although the brigade was restructured and replaced by the
Central Information Brigade Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...
(BCI) in 1978, but its dissolution was not completely formalized until
Organic Law An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law. By country France Under Article 46 of the Constitutio ...
2/1986, of March 13, of Security Forces and Corps was approved during the first government of
Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically- ...
. The transition did not include debriefing former members of the brigade; after it was disbanded, many its members continued their careers with the Spanish police (including commissioner Roberto Conesa, head of the newly-created BCI). Brigade members known for their brutality, however, tended to be assigned to background positions or were encouraged to leave the force. According to some sources, the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...
archives contain about 100,000 political files from the Franco era (including Political-Social Brigade files). Other archives, such as those identifying members of the secret police responsible for the surveillance and monitoring of opposition members, were presumably destroyed.


Structure and function

The brigade was integrated within the General Commissariat of Public Order, dependent on the
General Police Corps The General Police Corps (, CGP) was a law enforcement force of Spain established by the Francoist Spain, Francoist regime in 1941 to conduct criminal investigation and enforce political repression. They should not be confused with the Armed Polic ...
(CGP). This, in turn, depended on the Directorate-General of Security (DGS) and the Ministry of Governance. During its early years of history, it also had
Falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...
elements. When the Civil Guard operated in cities, it was integrated into the brigade.
Spanish Maquis The Maquis (; ; also spelled maqui) were Spanish guerrillas who waged irregular warfare against the Francoist dictatorship within Spain following the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War until the early 1960s, carrying out sabotage, rob ...
guerrilla activity, such as the 1944 urban
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
in
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
. occasionally triggered intervention by special BPS units.This intervention took place after the death in strange circumstances of the inspector Julio Romero Funes, during a shooting with republican guerrillas . Its agents depended on the governors and the Ministry of Governance, and its repression was directed at opposition to the Spanish state and based on the
Law of Political Responsibilities The Law of Political Responsibilities () was a law issued by Francoist Spain on 13 February 1939 two months before the end of the Spanish Civil War. The law targeted all supporters of the Second Spanish Republic and penalized membership in the Po ...
and similar statutes. Their actions consisted of surveillance (including wiretapping), unregulated control of private and business correspondence, indefinite government detention, confiscation of property, and torture as an instrument of interrogation and punishment. The (which theoretically guaranteed
fundamental rights Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...
) remained in effect without enforcement. The Spanish government was also allowed to suspend the Fuero for long periods of time in specific regions. Police housing records were a common (and feared) BPS practice. Many of the brigade's activities were examined by two courts created specifically for
political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...
: the Tribunal Especial para la Represión de la Masonería y el Comunismo and the
Tribunal de Orden Público The ''Court of Public Order'' (Spanish: ) was a court created in Francoist Spain to deal with most political crimes. It was instated as the supreme body in the newly created Public Order Jurisdiction, which also comprised an additional court, the P ...
(TOP). Other courts and judges knew little about the brigade's activities.


See also

* Geheime Staatspolizei (
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
) of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
* Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo (
OVRA The OVRA, unofficially known as the Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism (), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign of King Victor Emmanuel III. It was founded in 1927 under the regime of Italian f ...
) of
Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
and the RSI * The
Kenpeitai The , , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, HUMINT, interrogated suspects ...
of the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
* Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado (
PIDE The International and State Defense Police (; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the PIDE were the border, immigration and emigrati ...
) of
Estado Novo (Portugal) The ''Estado Novo'' (, ) was the Corporate statism, corporatist Portuguese state installed in 1933. It evolved from the ''Ditadura Nacional'' ("National Dictatorship") formed after the 28 May 1926 coup d'état, ''coup d'état'' of 28 May 1926 ...
*
Centro Superior de Información de la Defensa The (; CESID) was the Spain, Spanish intelligence agency before the current National Intelligence Centre (Spain), Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) took over as its successor in 2002. History Following the dissolution of the Information Ser ...
(CESID) of democratic Spain


Notes


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * VV. AA. (Justicia Democrática) (1978); ''Los jueces contra la dictadura. Justicia y política en el franquismo'', Tucar Ediciones, Madrid. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Political-Social Brigade Defunct Spanish intelligence agencies Political-Social Brigade Political repression in Spain Defunct law enforcement agencies of Spain Government of Francoist Spain 1941 establishments in Spain 1978 disestablishments in Spain Anti-communist organizations in Spain Military of Francoist Spain Political repression in Francoist Spain