Madrid:
Gen. Miguel Primo de Rivera, dictator of
Spain for the past six years, announces late tonight that he will step
down. He had asked the military
essentially for a vote of confidence two days ago, and evidently not satisfied
with the response (or lack thereof), he resigns. Rivera holds a cabinet meeting in the
evening, after which he drives to the royal palace and submits his resignation
to King Alfonso, who in turn asks Gen. Damaso Berenguer to form a new
government.
“The king accepted my
resignation and those of all the other ministers. He praised each one and expressed his best
wishes to all . . . . The king entrusted
formation of the new government to Damaso Berenguer. I was very . . . pleased with this
designation, for he is a man of great serenity of judgment, possessed of much
discretion and dearly beloved throughout our country. I suppose he will call on me tonight to
exchange views. I repeat, I am highly
pleased with the selection for there is no man better fitted for the
place.”
The development gives
rise to rampant speculation – and some violence – that some form of constitutional or republican government may return to Spain (as de Rivera himself had hinted– see Dec. 13,
1929). Students in the capital riot against
both military dictatorship and monarchy, but despite this, the nation is
reported to be generally calm.
No comments:
Post a Comment