Old Dictators Never Die.

Franco lives! The indictment against Baltasar Garzón, the Spanish judge who went after Pinochet, was bound to happen, because anyone who insists on digging up the past will face the stern opposition of those who want it buried. There are still people who, given the chance, would return gladly to the "good old days" of Franco's regime. If you or your father or grandfather were involved in that regime, you don't want someone going over that period because, chances are, your name will come up, and all that respectability will go down the drain.

This is why in Spain, as in other countries in which major violations of human rights have taken place, as soon as the regime ends, laws are passed calling for "amnesty" and "reconciliation", a nice way of saying "let's bury the past." But, the dead and their loved ones are left without recourse, and that is what Garzón, technicalities and legal niceties aside, has tried to provide for the victims of Franco's brutal regime.

Franco died in 1975, but the only way to bury him and his infamous legacy properly is to do whatever justice is possible to his countless victims.