Adolfo Suárez, father of Spanish democracy, dies at age 81

The first prime minister of the democratic era, the man who guided the transformation of Spain after the Franco dictatorship, passed away in Madrid on Sunday

King Juan Carlos and Prime Mininster Adolfo Suárez, pictured in 1976. / MARISA FLÓREZ

Adolfo Suárez, Spain’s first prime minister following the Franco dictatorship, the man who spearheaded a rocky but successful transition to democracy by legalizing the outlawed Socialist and Communist parties and the labor unions, died on Sunday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 81.

The former prime minister had been suffering from the disease for the past decade and had not appeared in public since 2003, when he attended a political rally for his son, Adolfo Suárez Illana.

On Friday, a tearful Suárez Illana announced at a news conference at the Cemtro de Madrid clinic that physicians had given his father no more than 48 hours to live. "The disease has progressed a lot and everything indicates that the end is imminent," he said.

The elder Suárez had been taken to the clinic on Monday suffering from a respiratory infection.

History will remember Suárez for his bravery in standing up to a gang of Civil Guard officers who tried to take over the young Spanish government in an attempted coup on February 23, 1981. Led by Civil Guard Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero, the armed men stormed into Congress the day lawmakers were voting on the prime minister’s successor, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo.

As deputies ducked for cover when Tejero and his men began firing their weapons, a stoic Suárez remained calmly seated without even flinching. The entire event was captured by television news cameras.

King Juan Carlos looks on as Adolfo Suárez is sworn in 1976. / EL PAÍS

Born in Cebreros, Ávila province, Suárez studied law at the University of Salamanca. He held several top government posts during Francisco Franco’s regime.

In 1976, months following the death of Francisco Franco, King Juan Carlos had asked Suárez to take over as prime minister from Carlos Arías Navarro – the dictator’s last prime minister – and organize free elections. The monarch’s choice didn’t sit well with many leftists because Suárez had held various Cabinet posts under Franco, including minister of the National Movement – the only legal political organization during the dictatorship.

A mastered negotiator, Suárez ruffled feathers in the military and among the far-right after he invited Socialist leader Felipe González, who had been living in Paris, and Santiago Carrillo, the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) chief who was in Moscow, also in exile, to join the democratic process.

To read more, click here

Adolfo Suárez (El País in English) 

Adolfo Suárez (BBC News) 

Rest in peace Mr President.

 

 

Homework for Monday & Tuesday and 'Going Solo'

As we are spending the whole week doing exams, I'd like to set the homework for next week, for both groups, Monday& Tuesday:

- Reading and lexis of the file 5A (Who's in control) for Monday 24th & Tuesday 25th:

     - exercises a - d  (reading) and
     - e, f  (lexis)

-Going Solo:
 As some of you have asked me to postpone the date to talk about the next pages (up to page 140) of the book, these are the new dates for both groups:
     - Monday 31st March
     - Tuesday 1st April

I hope that after the stressful week of exams you'll find some time to relax before we start again.

March exam - IMPORTANT

Dear students,

To make sure we can give you more time to do the exams, we have decided to split them into 2 parts:

Monday or Tuesday (depending on your group):
Writing exam

Wednesday and Thursday:
Listening comprehension and Reading

We'll reorganise the orals after the first part of the exam.
Sorry if this can cause you any inconvenience.

PLEASE TELL EVERYBODY IN YOUR GROUP!

Infinitive or gerund?

As promised, the key to the exercises.

Key to exercises ing-infinitive
 

INFINITIVE OR GERUND?

I know it's quite hard to know when the verbs are followed by infinitive (with or without to) or gerund in English.

You can see here a table which has a list of verbs for all the cases, including when they are followed by an object and when it's posible to use a 'THAT clause'. You can also find verbs that change their meaning depending on the verb form that follows.

I hope you find it useful.

Infinitive or gerund

A new war? Will we ever learn from our history?

Russia keeps pressure on Ukraine with Crimea stand-off
BBC News

Russian and Ukrainian troops in Crimea are involved in a tense stand-off but fears of an imminent Russian assault have eased.

Ukraine's main military bases on the peninsula remain surrounded by Russian forces. Thousands of Russian troops have been pouring into Crimea.

An alleged ultimatum for Ukrainian forces to surrender - denied by Moscow - expired without incident.

Russia says its troops went in upon a request by the ousted president.

Viktor Yanukovych asked Russia to send troops across the border to protect civilians, Moscow's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin told the Security Council. He said Mr Yanukovych had written to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Russian troops who were on exercises in western Russia, near the Ukrainian border, have been ordered back to barracks after completing their tasks, the Kremlin says. Up to 150,000 personnel were involved in the exercises, which started last week.

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow says the exercises had fuelled fears that Russia was preparing its armed forces for a full invasion of Ukraine.

In Crimea, two Ukrainian warships are reported to be blocked by a Russian minesweeper in the port of Sevastopol.

The Ukrainian navy headquarters in the city was surrounded by pro-Russian gunmen and civilians, who formed a human chain.

And at Crimea's Belbek air base in Sevastopol, pro-Russian troops who have seized it fired warning shots into the air to prevent around 300 Ukrainian soldiers approaching, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Ukraine's UN envoy Yuriy Sergeyev says Russia has deployed about 16,000 troops to the península.

Click here to read the whole article:

BBCNews_Ukrania