Paul Preston - The Last Days of the Spanish Republic

Dolores Ibárruri recalled in her memoirs that the PCE leadership had informed Negrín of its belief that Miaja and Casado should be replaced. This reinforces the likelihood of the document having been drawn up by Cordón. She claimed that Negrín had refused to dismiss either man ‘lest it provoke acts of indiscpline that could undermine resistance’. 18Had Casado been replaced by Modesto and Pedrero by Hervás, the planned coup would probably have been dismantled before it could be implemented. Of course, the Francoist high command had other sympathizers to whom it could turn – above all Matallana, but also numerous key elements in the general staff, notably Colonel José López Otero, the head of Casado’s general staff. Nonetheless, the SIPM had focused its plans on Casado. There remained the existence of the anarchists’ fierce opposition to Negrín and the Communists. The IV Army Corps led by Cipriano Mera was to be an essential element of Casado’s project. However, it might be speculated that without Casado and with Cazorla, Monzón and Hervás in control of the security services, anarchist subversion might have been forestalled. Shortly after his return to Spain, on 11 February, Negrín had ordered that Pedrero be dimissed. When Santiago Garcés, the overall head of the SIM, asked him to resign, Pedrero replied that he could do so only if ordered by the Minister of the Interior. He added that, if he was sacked, Casado would resign as commander of the Army of the Centre. When Negrín met Casado the next day, he confirmed that he would indeed resign if Pedrero was removed. 19In the event, the only elements of the suggested reorganization of military and security forces that were implemented were those relating to Miaja and Matallana.

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