The Neosocialist Iberian Workers’ Committee, better known for its Spanish acronym CONSI (Consejo Obrero Neosocialista Ibérico) is a left-wing insurgent movement operating all across southwestern Europe. It is led by Santiago José Carrillo Solares, a veteran Spanish revolutionary who has been fighting Franco for almost three decades.
Born after World War II from the ashes of the Spanish Civil War and the failed resistance against Francoist rule, CONSI rapidly evolved from a loose anti-Falangist network into a highly disciplined revolutionary vanguard. Unlike traditional Trotskyite movements, the CONSI follows French neosocialism in that it is fanatically nationalistic, combining socialist totalitarianism, militarism, and Iberian ultranationalism. The principles of guerrilla warfare as practised by French partisans during Allied occupation have also been perfected over the decades, turning a would-be rabble of extremists into a genuinely dangerous force, designated by the governments of both The Spanish State and The Kingdom of France as a terrorist organisation.
CONSI’s strongholds lie in Catalonia, the Basque Country, and the Pyrenees, where anti-Francoist sentiment remains strongest. Far from a mere guerrilla force, it has developed into an organized shadow state, featuring a Politburo operating from underground bunkers in the mountains, dictating military and ideological policy, urban paramilitary cells in every major city across Spain, a growing underground economy that "taxes" the citizenry and engages in organised criminal activity to fund itself, and a standing insurgent army in the Ejército Popular Neo-Socialista. CONSI also benefits from a cult-like following, using psychological conditioning, propaganda, and a network of informants to root out traitors. Indoctrinated members swear a blood oath to the revolution, making defections rare and brutal. CONSI is a pioneer in the development of novel terror tactics such as improvised explosive devices, car bombs, televised executions and public assassinations.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics covertly supports CONSI through financial aid and arms smuggling, though in public it decries the organisation as well-intentioned extremists. On the other hand, Franco's regime (primarily through the Brigada Político-Social, Spain's secret police) is engaging in a brutal counter-insurgency campaign against it. Suspected CONSI members are forcefully disappeared, tortured and executed for information, while entire villages are razed if they are found supporting its activities.
Whatever the future holds for Iberia in the mid-1960s, the process will be very violent.