Day: January 27, 2014

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In the bunker of Montjuïc

It was still night and the Castle of Montjuïc overlooked the city with its stubborn look of suspicion, with the attitude of those whose only aim is to stand there with an aura of annoyance. In the bunker beneath the granite and slate mountain, the Commander of the infantry corps was standing for about thirty minutes, the time his speech lasted, and would remain standing during the brief round of questions that the members of the General Staff had presented to clarify what happened in Banyoles street last Monday at midday.

The expression in General Roel’s face did not change during the brief monologue of the Commander. Once considered the operative failed to intercept and eliminate Francesc Bastida before he arrived in Barcelona, and because of the danger that implied by the presence of such serious subversive elements in the capital, a decision was made to make him disappear sharply. The order to eliminate the target within a period not exceeding four hours was transmitted to the command of the special operating service of Barcelona .

When the command was about to carry out the action, they received two notifications that forced them to abort the mission. The Intelligence Services warned of the presence in Banyoles street, where the operation was to be developed, of those two police officers previously in charge of monitoring Bastida’s movements. In addition, the members of the special forces operative, hidden in Travessera de Gràcia, identified two people carrying a homemade bazooka, at a few meters distance from their position.

The two armed people advanced within less than a hundred meters from Banyoles street and fired a projectile that left one casualty, agent Pujol, and several wounded. These include agent Cabanillas, the employee of a burger bar and Bastida. Both the police and the bartender had already made statements at the police station, while Francesc Bastida, in custody at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, suffered severe injuries that make his withdrawn to justice impossible.

Regarding the responsibility for the attack in Banyoles street, the first hypothesis suggest that the responsible are a rival group, not very numerous, but dynamic and with important contacts abroad. This faction was banned some months ago after the meeting in which Francesc Bastida emerged as the reinforced and undisputed leader of the Apparatus.

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No búnker de Montjuïc

Aínda era noite e o castelo de Montjuïc observaba a cidade coa súa teimuda mirada de sospeita, coa actitude de quen non ten outra cousa que facer que estar alí só para amolar. No búnker situado baixo o granito e a lousa da montaña, o  comandante do corpo de infantería estivo en pé durante case trinta minutos, o tempo que durou a súa intervención, e permanecería en pé na breve rolda de preguntas que a cúpula do Estado Maior tivo a ben efectuar para esclarecer o acontecido na rúa Banyoles durante o mediodía do pasado luns.

O xeneral Roel non cambiou a expresión do seu rostro durante o breve monólogo do comandante. Unha vez que se considerou fracasado o operativo para interceptar e eliminar a Francesc Bastida antes de que chegase a Barcelona, e por mor do perigo que entrañaba a presenza de elementos subversivos tan graves na capital, tomouse a decisión de facelo desaparecer de forma taxativa. As ordes foron transmitidas ao comando do servizo de operativos especiais da capital para que eliminasen o obxectivo nun prazo de tempo non superior ás catro horas.

Cando o comando estaba a piques de levar a cabo a acción, foron recibidas dúas notificacións que obrigaron a abortar a misión. Os servizos de intelixencia advertiron da presenza na rúa Banyoles, o lugar onde se desenvolvería a operación, dos dous axentes da policía previamente encargados da vixilancia do obxectivo. Ademais, os propios membros do operativo das forzas especiais, agochados en Travessera de Gràcia, repararon en dúas persoas que portaban un bazooka de fabricación caseira a poucos metros da súa posición.

As dúas persoas armadas avanzaron até situarse a menos de cen metros da rúa Banyoles e dispararon un proxectil que causou un morto, o axente Pujol, e varios feridos. Entre estes atópanse o axente Cabanillas, o empregado da hamburguesería e Bastida. Tanto o policía coma o camareiro xa prestaron declaración na comisaría, mentres que Francesc Bastida, en custodia no Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, sofre graves feridas que polo de agora imposibilitan a súa comparecencia ante a xustiza.

No tocante aos responsables do atentado da rúa Banyoles, as primeiras hipóteses suxiren que a súa autoría é obra dun grupo rival, non moi numeroso, pero dinámico e con importantes contactos no estranxeiro, expulsado hai meses tras a asemblea na que Francesc Bastida saíu reforzado como líder indiscutible do Aparato.