Rodolfo Martín Villa

Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 3 October 1934) is a Spanish engineer and politician, who served in various capacities in cabinets of the Spanish transition to democracy, including interior minister and first deputy prime minister. He is being investigated in Argentina for aggravated homicide and crimes against humanity committed during the 1976 Vitoria massacre.[1][2][3]

Rodolfo Martín Villa
(1980)
First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
In office
1 December 1981 – 28 July 1982
Prime MinisterLeopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
Preceded byManuel Gutiérrez Mellado
Succeeded byAlfonso Guerra
Minister of Interior
In office
5 July 1976 – 6 April 1979
Prime MinisterAdolfo Suárez
Preceded byManuel Fraga Iribarne
Succeeded byAntonio Ibáñez Freire
Minister for Trade Union Relations
In office
12 December 1975 – 5 July 1976
Prime MinisterCarlos Arias Navarro
Personal details
Born (1934-10-03) 3 October 1934
León, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Political partyUnion of the Democratic Centre (until 1983)
People's Party

Early life and education

Villa was born in Leon[4] on 3 October 1934.[5] He holds a university degree in engineering.[4]

Career

Villa is an industrial engineer and tax inspector by profession.[6] In February 1962 he became the head of the SEU, the university syndicate of the Spanish Falange movement.[7] He replaced Jesús Aparicio-Bernal in the post.[7] Villa's tenure ended in December 1964 and Daniel Regalado assumed the post.[7]

He was a member of the Union of the Democratic Centre.[8] He was the civil governor of Barcelona until his appointment as Minister for Trade Union Relations in 1975.[9] His tenure as Minister for Trade Union Relations lasted until 1976.[10]

He was appointed interior minister in the first cabinet of Adolfo Suárez on 5 July 1976, succeeding Manuel Fraga Iribarne as interior minister.[5][11][12] Villa won a seat in the first democratic elections of Spain since 1936 held on 15 June 1977 for the UCD,[11][13][14] representing León province. Following the election he retained his post as interior minister and he was responsible for internal security, local administration and also, civil rights.[14] He also tried to institutionalize certain reforms about these issues, but he could not manage to realize the reformation of the Spanish police due to the intervention of Spanish army.[15] On 6 April 1979, Villa's term as interior minister ended and he was replaced by Antonio Ibáñez Freire in the post.[5][15][16]

In a reshuffle of September 1980, he was appointed minister of the regions to the cabinet led by Suárez.[17] He then served as first deputy prime minister from 1 December 1981 to 28 July 1982.[5][6] After holding his seat for the UCD in the 1979 and 1982 general elections, he resigned in February 1983, but returned to the Congress at the 1989 election as a member of the People's Party, representing Madrid province, holding his seat in the two subsequent elections before resigning in February 1997.

In addition, he was a board member of the institution Caja de Madrid, a savings and loans institution.[6] On 10 February 1997, he was named as the chairman of the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales.[6] From February 1997 to May 2002, he was the chairman of Endesa, the government-controlled electricity group.[18][19] He became honorary chairman of the company in May 2002.[19]

In 2006, he was appointed chairman of Sogecable, a Spanish pay-TV provider.[12] His term ended in October 2010[13] and Manuel Polanco replaced him in the post.[20][21] In addition, Villa is a member of the advisory committee of FRIDE, Madrid-based think tank organization.[22]

Controversy

Argentinean human rights lawyers announced in Madrid on 23 April 2013 that three former Spanish ministers of the Franco regime, including Villa, should be arrested and tried due to their alleged participation in killing of Argentinean citizens.[10] Villa is specifically being accused of giving orders of five workers' executions during a labor strike in Vitoria in March 1976.[10]

References
  1. "Interpol pide la detención de 20 imputados por crímenes franquistas". 12 November 2014.
  2. "Interpol pide la detención preventiva de Martín Villa y otros 19 imputados por crímenes franquistas". 12 November 2014.
  3. "Estos son los 20 españoles acusados de crímenes en el franquismo a los que busca Interpol". 12 November 2014.
  4. "The Spanish, impossible capitalism". El blog d'En Joan Quetgles. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. "Spanish Ministries". Rulers. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  6. "Endesa makes announcement". Business Wire. 10 February 1997. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  7. Stanley G. Payne (1999). Fascism in Spain, 1923–1977. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 440. ISBN 978-0-299-16564-2. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  8. "Fallece el ex Ministro del Interior Juan José Roson tras combatir cuatro años contra una enfermedad incurable". El Pais. 19 August 1986. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  9. S. D. Eaton (1981). The Forces of Freedom in Spain, 1974-1979: A Personal Account. Hoover Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8179-7453-4. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  10. "Argentinean lawyers want former Franco ministers to face human rights charges". El Pais. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  11. "Left ahead in cities in Spain's election". The Guardian. 16 June 1977. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  12. "Dr. Moisès Broggi, The International Brigade surgeon". Catalonia Press. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  13. Almiron, Nuria; Ana I. Segovia (2012). "Financialization, Economic Crisis, and Corporate Strategies in Top Media Companies: The Case of Grupo Prisa". 6: 2894–2917. Retrieved 9 July 2013. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. Jesus Duva (8 February 2012). "The week democracy nearly fell". El Pais. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  15. Paul Preston (19 June 2004). The Triumph of Democracy in Spain. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-203-39296-6. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  16. José María Maravall; Adam Przeworski (2003). Democracy and the Rule of Law. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 287. Retrieved 20 December 2013. – via Questia (subscription required)
  17. "Suarez reshuffles Spanish Cabinet to earn credibility". The Christian Science Monitor. 10 September 1980. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  18. Natasha de Terain (26 July 2004). "The party is over at the house of Aznar". Financial News. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  19. "Manuel Pizarro Moreno, Appointed Chairman of ENDESA". Business Wire. 14 May 2002. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  20. "Manuel Polanco to Replace Rodolfo Martin Villa at Prisa Group". The Hollywood Reporter. Madrid. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  21. "Manuel Polanco appointed new president of Sogecable". PRISA. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  22. "Advisory Committee". FRIDE. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
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