During the Cold War, and under the umbrella of the Truman Doctrine, the United States launched a network of clandestine armies known as Operation Gladio. This system, officially codenamed stay behind, was designed by the CIA and NATO to act in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, and was used given the positive image the USSR enjoyed in several European countries after its victory against Nazism. However, its existence did not come to light until October 1990, when Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti acknowledged it in Parliament.

The ultimate motivation behind this plot lay in the anti-communism and anti-progressivism shared by several intelligence services and establishment powers. Beyond its supposed defensive mission, these structures were used to destabilize and halt the political rise of the left in allied countries. Thus, the objective was to prevent any threat to the capitalist status quo, often through unconventional warfare methods such as espionage, bombings, and violent attacks.

Italy became the main theater of these operations. There, the network was linked to the so-called strategy of tension, a series of false-flag attacks attributed to leftist groups to justify their repression. The Piazza Fontana bombing in 1969, which killed 17 people, is one of the best-known episodes of this period. The political scandal that followed Andreotti’s revelation led to judicial and parliamentary investigations in several countries, although most of the documentation remains classified.

But this network was not limited to Italy; it extended to some fifteen European countries, including Belgium, Greece, and Turkey. Although its presence in the Spanish State was never officially confirmed, various investigations suggest that Spain played “a key role” in these operations.

Despite the lack of direct sources, investigations have pointed to a connection between Italian secret services, the far right, and the Gladio structures.

The existence of this operation only highlights the functioning of persecution by NATO and the CIA against any movement that might question and threaten capitalism.