The interview also explains what this concept of “escapades to the network” means: provoking mistreatment of detained militants in order to capture their leadership. “I called the Civil Guard command and told him the network ended with me. He replied that this could prevent him from being effective against ETA, and I answered him then and now what I think: that torture is worthless and counterproductive, and the same GAL, and on the same moral scale,” Belloch explains. It obviously makes it clear that its predecessors allowed torture, but the complaints and testimonies of the time, and the current investigations, make it clear that at the time the Spanish security forces continued to torture.

In the memory book that he himself has written, he also refers to issues discussed in various media such as the GAL, torture, General Enrique Rodríguez Galindo or the arrest of former Civil Guard Director Luis Roldán. Throughout the interview it is clear that he does not regret what has been done and even that he would repeat certain behaviors, such as the appointment of Rodríguez Galindo as a general.

In 1995 he named General Rodríguez Galindo, who had already had to do with the torture and murder of Lasa and Zabala when they were great indications. The general was arrested and imprisoned in May 1996 and sentenced in 2000 to 75 years in prison. Only four.

Asked if he would reappoint Galindo as a general, he firmly says “yes, no doubt”, “the best results and the most information he contained.” Belloch says it was clear that the merits of Galindo had to be differentiated from the merits of the trial, so he named general: “But it happened. He committed crimes and has been tried.”

As for the GAL, it specifies that in society at the time people were not against them, and that was known because these surveys were being conducted by the Ministry of the Interior. “GAL was a tremendous awkwardness, not only because of the mistakes made, but also because of the loss of trust between Spain and France,” and considers that “France was clear that this was state terrorism.” In his view, it is clear that the GAL “could sustain government rockets”, but that was not institutional terrorism, “otherwise it would be more effective”.

He also talks about the famous X of the GAL, but Felipe González, former leader of the PSOE, moves away from his leadership. “Was Julián San Cristobal X from the GAL?” Answer: “I don’t know, the only thing I know for sure is that Felipe González wasn’t.”