Divide and conquer: The great strategy to put an end to ETA.
In the early morning of December 2nd, 1991, Cadena SER broadcasted an exclusive: for the first time in history, ETA prisoners criticized the leadership of the band for their latest terrorist actions and expressed their opposition to the attacks that had children as victims. In other words, members of ETA discredited those who claimed that there were no fissures in the support for the attacks.
On this occasion, nothing was censored: the recordings were clear and revealed the names, surnames and background of the ETA members. This was where it all began, it was the beginning of the end.
These were difficult times and the terrorist violence was part of the daily life of the Spanish society. There seemed to be no way to cut off the ETA members, but alas there was. Two men, two prison officers, Manuel Avilés, director of the Nanclares de la Oca penitentiary center, and Antonio Asunción, general secretary of Penitentiary Institutions, carried out one of the greatest battle strategies: divide and conquer. And so it was. Their objective was to disperse the criminals so that they would cease to be a unified group. Thus, after the attacks that ended with the death of the child Fabio Moreno in Enradio and the amputations of Irene Villa, there began to be dissenting prisoners. He recorded the conversations and sent them to the Ministry. At two o’clock in the morning of December 2nd, 1991, the exclusive story was released.
A myriad of stories and characters: young prostitutes with no future in their twenties, very dangerous murderers who manage to organize riots from prison, institutionalized prisoners after so many years of conviction who seek new ways of protest from the rooftops, incompetent officials eager to get ahead… Prisons, Whores and Guns (De prisiones, putas y pistolas) is a glimpse into all of their lives.
Prisons, Whores and Guns (De prisiones, putas y pistolas) is the story of a friendship and a promise, of how two friends sketched and carried out a plan expecting nothing in return, initiating what then seemed impossible: the beginning of the end of ETA. A stunt that would be a turning point for the terrorist organization and public opinion.
RELEVANT DATA: Prisons, Whores and Guns (De prisiones, putas y pistolas) is a chronicle that explains some of the most unknown, interesting, controversial, and substantive chapters leading up to the end of ETA.
A story based on real events that its author, Manuel Avilés, experienced firsthand.
Manuel Avilés Gómez was an official of the Special Corps of Penitentiary Institutions, deputy director of management of the Fontcalent Center in Alicante and director of the Penitentiary Center of Nanclares de la Oca in Álava, among other things. He has collaborated with Diario Información and Diario de Mallorca, and today he collaborates with the literary program of Onda Cero Alicante.
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Film, TV Movie.
LANGUAGES AVAILABLE: Spanish.
