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Franco introduced the Spanish Miracle during 1953-1973

Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Editor,

The Random House Dictionary defines dictator as, "a person who exercises absolute power, especially a ruler with absolute, unrestricted control of government". There is also a broader meaning of the word dictator used by political scientists that is given to leaders of one-party states or similar set-ups in which a dictatorship does exist in practice like Cuba, and yes, Singapore, and yes, Dubai. You do not have to kill thousands of people or do any other atrocity to be considered a dictator, as it seems Mr. Mokofisi believes this to be a requirement for a person to be a dictator.

I am also amused with Mr. Mokofisi, stating that under Franco, "Spain suffered economically from 1953 - 1970." This exact period (actually 1953 - 1973) in Spain's history is called the "Spanish Miracle". From 1953 all the way up to 1973, Spain becomes an economic power house in the world. Beginning in 1951, Franco began to change the isolation policies of Spain and began a policy of opening up Spain's economy, and his general policies shifted to decrease government intervention in many aspects of the country. These policies were officially made public by Franco in 1959 and called the Stabilization Plan. This set the stage for the Spanish Miracle. Tourism and manufacturing boomed catapulting Spain's Gross Domestic Product levels into the top ten in the world every year by 1966, whereas just before this period Spain was considered one of Europe's poorest and weakest countries. Average incomes of the Spanish working class sky-rocketed during this time period, which in turn fueled unheard of local consumption of locally manufactured items such as cars, that even further propelled the growth of Spain's economy. In 1946, a total of 72,000 cars were owned in the entire country, and by 1963 over 1,000,000 people had cars and the growth still continued. A strong middle class was created and urbanization saw city populations also skyrocket which is one of the products of industrialization. Before this period of astronomical economic growth, about 80% of Spaniards were involved in agriculture, and by the time of Franco's death in 1975 only about 25% of Spain's working class was still making a living through agriculture. Spain had become an industrialized nation under his watch.

The global oil crises of 1973 created a short lull in the economic growth rates of previous years, but Spain has since remained in the top ten economies of the world. Overall, I think it is criminal for Mr. Mokofisi to actually write such a thing against all facts and books written in history about the economic growth and success of Spain during this period. He should score low on credibility if not zero for stating something so blatantly not true.

Mr. Tupou, once your time line hit 1874, Fiji was not Fiji's until 1970 which I had already mentioned previously. Fiji was a British colony from 1874 and their destiny was not in their own hands until 1970, so I am afraid most of the things in your timeline is irrelevant and you totally miss the point.

Malo,

PS- quote of the day by Alexander Pope, "A little learning (ie knowledge) is a dangerous thing; drink deep or taste not..."

Daniel K. Fale

mauitekelangi [at] gmail [dot] com