Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario
The Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario ( MPAIAC ) was a Canarian underground organization whose goal was the establishment of an independent Canarian state.
history
The MPAIAC was founded on October 22nd, 1964 by the lawyer Antonio de León Cubillo Ferreira (* 1930, † 2012). The organization operated a radio station in Algiers , with which it tried to incite the Canarian population against the Spanish government and to make Berber language popular - a relationship between the former Canarian language Guanche and the Berber languages is suspected in science. In Algeria, the MPAIAC enjoyed tacit government support; Both the first President Ahmed Ben Bella and his successor Houari Boumedienne , who came to power through a coup , let the organization go. In addition to the independence of the Canary Islands, the MPAIAC also called for Spain to renounce its enclaves in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla . The organization did not enjoy any appreciable support from the Canary Islands population and never had more than 100 members. The MPAIAC carried out a total of five attacks, four of which used dynamite originally intended for road construction.
The Fuerzas Armadas Guanches (FAG), often referred to as the "armed arm" of the MPAIAC, were a sub-organization of the MPAIAC. The organizational and personnel relationship between MPAIAC and FAG is unclear. The MPAIAC's political arm was the Partido de los Trabajadores Canarios (PTC), which, however, was not affiliated with the MPAIAC, but split off from it out of rejection of Cubillo's leadership style and its support for further militant operations. During its existence, the PTC has not won an election in a single community.
In 1978 the Spanish secret service CESID carried out an attack on Cubillo in Algiers, in which he was stabbed by two assassins and left him with permanent disabilities.
In 1979 the MPAIAC declared a unilateral renunciation of further use of force. After the Spanish Parliament granted the Canary Islands extensive autonomy in 1982 as part of the establishment of Comunidades Autónomas , the movement finally stopped its activities. In 1985 Cubillo was granted an amnesty and he returned to the Canaries.
While the MPAIAC was politically unsuccessful, the flag it had designed was used as part of the Canary Islands' efforts to achieve autonomy.
Assassinations
| date | place | target | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd January 1977 | Las Palmas | Office of South African Airways | Bomb attack on the Galerias Preciados shopping center. |
| March 27, 1977 | Las Palmas | Florist in Gran Canaria Airport | Bomb attack; Triggered the plane disaster in Tenerife . |
| March 1977 | La Isleta, Las Palmas | Spanish Navy branch | Attempted theft of weapons, perpetrators killed by security guards. |
| May 13, 1977 | Madrid | Galerias Preciados shopping center. | Bomb attack |
| February 1978 | La Laguna, Tenerife | A policeman dies in the unsuccessful defusing of an MPAIAC bomb. |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Canarian flag history. Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
- ^ The Independent, January 11, 2013, available online