Estados Unidos ante el Caso Español en la ONU, 1945-1950

Abstract

To achieve a world free of Fascist and Nazi regimes was one of the most important purposes of the United Nations Organization in 1945. The Allies had waged war against the Axis powers for too long to allow any reminiscence of totalitarian nations in Western Europe, like de Franco regime was. The United States wanted to withdraw Franco as the Head of the Spanish State but, at the same time, it did not want to intervene directly because this act could provoke another civil war in the peninsula. A majority of countries in the UNO was of the same opinión, so this international organization approved a resolution against Spain, in 1946, with one main objective: to remove Franco by peaceful means. The U.S. always questioned the advisability of this measure but it did not vote against it. The inefficacy of this resolution and the growing "red menace" in the late 1940s made the US change its approach toward the Franco regime, and act in the UNO to repeal the resolution against Spain. At the end of 1950, the General Assembly of the UNO revoked this resolution. At that time, the U.S. voted for its repeal because Franco's Spain could help in the fight against communism, from then on, the most important issue in US foreing policy for forty five years.