Antonio de León Cubillo Ferreira (3 June 1930 – 10 December 2012) was a Spanish Independentist, politician, lawyer and militant from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Biography

Cubillo was born on 3 June 1930 in

San Cristóbal de La Laguna San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna, ) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands, Spain. The former capital of the Canary Islan ...

. He was married and had three children. He received a law degree from the

University of La Laguna The University of La Laguna (ULL; Spanish: ''Universidad de La Laguna'') is a public research university situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands. The univers ...

. Cubillo founded the

Canary Islands Independence Movement The Movement for the Self-Determination and Independence of the Canary Archipelago (, MPAIAC), was a Canarian nationalist and socialist organization, founded in 1964 by Antonio Cubillo, whose objective was the secession of the Canary Islands fro ...

in 1963. While exiled in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, escaping the Francoist dictatorial regime, he began a campaign to gain independence for the Canary Islands in the late 1970s. In 1978, he was crippled in an assassination attempt linked to the security forces of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. After the Canary Islands Independence Movement was disbanded in 1982 following the creation of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, Cubillo was able to return to Spain and founded the National Congress of the Canaries, a democratic party, in 1985. In 2002, the Supreme Court of Spain recognized that the Government of Spain committed

state terrorism State terrorism is terrorism conducted by a state against its own citizens or another state's citizens. It contrasts with '' state-sponsored terrorism'', in which a violent non-state actor conducts an act of terror under sponsorship of a state. ...

against Cubillo in the 1978 assassination attempt and paid him

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

as a result, the first time the State officially recognized it engaged in crimes against civilians. In 2011, a documentary called ''Cubillo, historia de un crimen de Estado (Cubillo, story of a state crime)'' was shown on national television highlighting the role of the State. Cubillo's core claims were that the Canary Islands could be better off if they could preserve and develop more of its resources and thus maintain greater autonomy from Madrid. He claimed that resources were considerable in terms of tourism, geo-political location for maritime traffic development, fishing fields, oil fields and natural energy resources. The movement he founded, however, failed to attract public support among the Canarian populace owing to its violent nature. The organizations that have succeeded Canary Islands Independence Movement, such as the

Popular Front of the Canary Islands The Popular Front of the Canary Islands () or FREPIC-AWAÑAK is a marginal leftist political party seeking independence from Spain for the Canary Islands. FREPIC-AWAÑAK was formed by merging minority Canarian political organizations such as Or ...

(FREPIC), have remained largely marginal. Cubillo died on 10 December 2012 at age 82 at his home in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

. He was buried in the Cementerio de Santa Lastenia in the same city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cubillo, Antonio 1930 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Spanish lawyers People imprisoned on terrorism charges People from San Cristóbal de La Laguna Canarian nationalists Canarian independence activists