He was found in Buenos Aires, but continues to enjoy impunity. In Spain and Argentina it is necessary to demand justice against crimes against humanity.
By Rubén Tzanoff
Arturo Ruiz García was born in Granada, on December 5, 1957, he was a Spanish student and leftist activist when he was murdered in Madrid, on January 23, 1977 during a pro-amnesty demonstration.
The criminal who ended his life was the far-right José Ignacio Fernández Guaza. He fled Spain with the collaboration of the Civil Guard and the French CRS. With a false passport provided by the Spanish security services and under the umbrella of the military dictatorships of Argentina and Paraguay, he was able to reside in those countries without any problem. Fernández Guaza is the son of a Falangist soldier, friend of the president of the Franco government Luis Carrero Blanco. He had excellent relations with the police, with the torturer Antonio González Pacheco (Billy the Kid) and with the Spanish authorities.
Displaying unlimited impunity, he also said that: in Spain he participated in Franco’s plan to liquidate anti-dictatorship activists, that in Argentina he received a visit from officials who in 1979 asked him if he was going to continue “working”, that in Paraguay he held a meeting with agents of Interpol with whom he agreed to remain on the run, who had contacts with the Italian neo-fascists of Stefano Delle Chiaie, linked to several murders in Spain and also with fascist organizations that committed crimes during the transition. His statements are overturned by a ruling from the National Court that determined that the murder of Arturo Ruiz was not due to the Franco dictatorship.
They found him in Buenos Aires
All of the aforementioned confessions were made in an interview that, after 46 years, served to locate him in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The family’s lawyers requested the arrest and investigation, but the prosecutor argued that it is not proven that it is a crime against humanity. As a cruel paradox of life, Manuel Ruiz, Arturo’s brother, died today, knowing that the murderer lives with impunity in Argentina without the Argentine and Spanish justice system doing anything, nor the “progressive coalition” government of Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE.
It is evident that the criminal enjoys total impunity in Spain and Argentina, that it is necessary to go bankrupt so that justice is done, as demanded by Arturo’s relatives, his lawyers and the Collective for the Forgotten of the Transition (C.O.T.[1] ). The crimes of Arturo Ruíz, Yolanda González and Gustau Muñoz are just three of the cases that demonstrate that the Franco dictatorship was ferocious and that the crimes continued during the transition that was by no means exemplary.
The transition was not exemplary
According to the data offered by historian Gonzalo Wilhelmi, between 1975 and 1982, there were 233 victims of state political violence, 156 of whom were victims of members of the security forces and 77 of the extreme right in connivance with the state apparatus. The transition was the consecration of the reactionary monarchical-parliamentary regime of ’78.
Support for the “Argentine Criminal Complaint” and the arrest and punishment of Arturo’s murderer. Gustau’s crime demands punishment against the impunity of Martín Villa in the “Argentine Complaint” and Arturo’s murderer must be immediately arrested, investigated and tried for crimes against humanity. No matter what time passes, it is necessary to fight for truth and justice, in Argentina and Spain. It is about reclaiming memory for the dignity of the victims and so that the crimes are never repeated again. This is what we do from Socialism and Liberty (SOL)– Spanish State and the Socialist Workers Movement (MST-Argentina) as members of the International Socialist League (ISL).