Spain: Armed forces chief dismisses far-right ex-military chats

The WhatsApp texts criticised the current left-wing government and praised former dictator Francisco Franco.Spain’s armed forces chief has dismissed as “not representative” leaked chats by retired military officers allegedly talking about shooting political adversaries and praising late dictator Francisco Franco. In a statement on Friday, Air Force General Miguel Villarroya Vilalta also said the remarks by the retired military members “damage the image of the Spanish armed forces and only confuse public opinion”. The messages from a private WhatsApp group were published recently by Spain’s Infolibre news website. They were reportedly posted by members of the General Air Force Academy class that started training in 1963, when Franco still ruled the country. Some of them were among dozens of retired officers who wrote King Felipe VI last month to criticise Spain’s left-wing coalition government. The letters to the monarch included some of the language used by far-right politicians and expressed discontent with the “social-communist” government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and its deals with separatist parties in parliament. The royal palace has not commented on the letter. It is not clear how many people were involved in the chats. Spain’s defence minister on Thursday asked prosecutors to investigate, saying…
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