Nº 11 (2025)

The article sums up the changes in Spain's foreign policy in the post-Franco epoch. It is emphasized that with the death of F. Franco on November 20, 1975, not only the domestic political and socio-economic transformations of a bourgeois-democratic nature was launched in the country, but significant changes occurred in the system of Madrid's international relations. These changes affected both the political and diplomatic sphere and the areas of Spain's foreign trade, economic, and military-strategic relations, and decisively crossed out the long period of international isolation of the Franco regime. The place and role of the Spanish state in European and world affairs have undergone a significant evolution, and the voice of official Madrid has become heard on all continents. At the same time, the deep geopolitical and geo-economic fault lines of recent years are severely testing the ability of the Spanish establishment and business community not only to adapt to the ongoing global changes, but also to be able to protect fundamental national interests.

The article is devoted to the problems of public security in El Salvador during the presidency of N. Bukele (2019-2025). The issues of the legality of the decisions taken by the administration from the point of view of human rights in the context of the fight against organized crime are raised. The methods of comparative legal analysis of legislative changes in the country, content analysis of official reports and media, as well as statistical data on the level of crime and public opinion are used. Despite the continuing threat to democracy, the author is inclined to believe that N. Bukele's actions are caused by the need to eradicate the criminal subculture in the country.

The analysis of the retrospective and current state of the electric power industry of Cuba, including electricity consumption, the electricity generating sector and the electric grid infrastructure, is carried out. The chronology, scale and indicators of emergency shutdowns of electricity consumers, as well as the development of the energy crisis on the island are studied. The tasks and results of the Energy Revolution declared by Fidel Castro to combat the energy crisis, potential external electric ties of Cuba with the formation of an interstate power interconnection in the Caribbean region, as well as Russian-Cuban energy cooperation are considered. Priority and long-term proposals have been formulated to overcome the permanent energy crisis and transition to sustainable operation and expansion of Cuban electric power sector, including through partnership with Russia.

After the establishment of the Franco regime, official memory of the events of the 1936-1939 civil war was reduced to the memory of the "victors," and the legacy of the Second Spanish Republic was consigned to oblivion. In the 1960s, the regime's ideologists formulated a renewed agenda. This article provides a critical assessment of the evolution of historical memory in Spain during the Franco regime, in particular the transition from triumphalism to reconciliation, as well as the reaction of intellectual dissenters.  The analysis is based on sources such as the official documents of the Francoist regime and the materials of the magazine Cuadernos Para El Diálogo, reflecting the views of the intellectual opposition. The study emphasizes that the change in the configuration of Francoist historical memory in the 1960s was accompanied by a noticeable shift in the ideological orientation of the regime, as well as the promotion of ideas of "reconciliation" and "dialogue" in intellectual circles, where at the same time the thesis that "the future is more important than the past" was formed, which became key for Spanish society during the transition from Francoism to democracy.

The article is a continuation of the study of the legacy of Vasily Mikhailovich Chichkov, a special correspondent for the Pravda in Latin America and the author of journalistic and fictional works. The second part examines the influence of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and the Chilean Revolution of 1970–1973 on Chichkov’s views, as well as his contribution to the creation of the Soviet image of these hallmark events in the 20th century Latin American history. Based on archival and published sources, an attempt was made to compare the work of Chichkov with the process of evolution of the ideas of the highest Soviet party and state bodies and academic circles about the nature and expediency of armed struggle in Latin America. This theoretical and practical dilemma occupies a central place in Chichkov’s play “The Unfinished Dialogue”, dedicated to the policies of the Chilean Popular Unity government and its comparison with the Cuban approaches to revolutionary transformation. In creating that work, the author relied on both his personal experience of communicating with Ernesto Che Guevara and Salvador Allende, and on the already established interpretation of these figures by Soviet propaganda. Having experienced a fascination with “revolutionary romanticism” in the 1960s, he did not completely part with it at a time when the official ideological line emphasized the need for the Communist parties and other left-wing forces in Latin America to achieve participation in political life through elections and compromises. This became the reason for serious editing of the text of the play according to censorship requirements. In conclusion, it is indicated that official reports, newspaper articles and literary works of Chichkov were both typical and unique for Soviet Latin American studies, reflecting its strengths and weaknesses.