Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta
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Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta y Merelo (5 October 1896,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
– 9 July 1992, Madrid) was a leading
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
politician with both the
Falange Falange () is the name of a political party whose ideology is Falangism. Falange primarily refers to: * Falange Española, a Spanish political party active 1933–1934, it merged with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS) * Falange ...
and its successor movement the Spanish Traditionalist Phalanx of the Assemblies of National-Syndicalist Offensive.


Early life

A native of Madrid, Fernández-Cuesta studied at the
local university Local colleges and universities (LCUs) are higher educational institutions that are being run by Administrative divisions of the Philippines, local government units in the Philippines. A local government unit (LGU) maybe a barangay, a municipalit ...
, where he gained a law degree.
Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *'' Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester P ...
, ''
Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...
'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 124
He was a close friend of
José Antonio Primo de Rivera José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falan ...
from childhood. An early member of the Falange, which he joined in 1933, he served as the movement's first secretary and garnered a reputation as one of the new group's most effective public speakers. He was a candidate for the Falange at the
1936 election The following elections occurred in the year 1936. Africa * 1936 Egyptian parliamentary election Asia * 1936 Ceylonese State Council election Europe * 1936 Belgian general election * 1936 Bielsko municipal election * 1936 Danish Landsting elec ...
, although he was not elected.


Spanish Civil War

Fernández-Cuesta was imprisoned upon the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
by Republicans and, although he escaped twice, was recaptured on both occasions. He was released from captivity in October 1937 when he was involved in a prisoner swap with
Justino de Azcárate Justino de Azcárate y Flórez (23 August 1903 – 17 May 1989) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. He came from a wealthy family with a tradition of involvement in politics, and had republican but not left-wing opinions. He was a deputy in the ...
, who was held by the Nationalists. Soon after his release he was appointed Secretary general of the unified Falangist-Carlist movement although he did not prove talented as a political organiser and was replaced in the role by
Agustín Muñoz Grandes Agustín Muñoz Grandes (27 January 1896 – 11 July 1970) was a Spanish general, and politician, vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister with Francisco Franco several times; also known as the commander of the Blue Division between ...
in 1939. His appointment as leader was largely intended to keep onside Falangists who feared the influence of both the Army and monarchism on Franco, but the role proved to have little power since real influence over Franco was instead to lie with
Ramón Serrano Súñer Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1990), B ...
. Within this early
Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...
-based government of
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
, he also fulfilled the role of Agriculture Minister. This too however proved to be largely a failed endeavour.


Removal

Such was the influence of Súñer that, after the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, he engineered the effective exile of his rival Fernández-Cuesta, who was appointed Spanish ambassador first to
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
(1940–1942) and then to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
(1942–1945). Alongside this, Fernández-Cuesta's reputation was damaged by his failure in the Agriculture portfolio, with Spain facing famine in the 1940s largely as a consequence of the failed policies he had previously adopted in the role. Nevertheless, his personal loyalty to Franco was never less than absolute, a fact that ensured he would never be fully excluded from positions of influence.


Return to politics

Fernández-Cuesta was effectively absent from the frontline of Spanish politics until 1945 when he was appointed Minister of Justice. As part of his remit he oversaw a liberalisation of Spain's treatment of dissidents designed to win the regime support from
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
, including announcing in December 1949 plans to release 13,000 political prisoners (although in fact only 3,000 were ultimately released under the scheme). He was moved in 1951 to the post of General Secretary of the Movement and oversaw a return to much more draconian ways as unrest over rising unemployment repression under Fernández-Cuesta's direction. He lost this position in early 1956 after Franco came under pressure by leading figures in the Army to remove him following a riot at the University of Madrid in which it was said that the Falangist ''Frente de Juventudes'' had acted too heavy-handedly in battling students seeking to organise their own syndicate outside of the official government body. His position was however filled by his ally
José Luis de Arrese José Luis de Arrese y Marga (15 April 1905 – 6 April 1986) was a leading Spanish politician with both the Falange and its successor movement the FET y de las JONS. Early years Arrese was born in Bilbao to a Basque family which was noted f ...
as Franco continued to seek a balance between the different wings of his movement within the cabinet. Effectively sidelined, Fernández-Cuesta became loosely associated with extreme rightists such as General Iniesta Cano and
Blas Piñar Blas Piñar López (22 November 1918 – 28 January 2014) was a Spanish far-right politician. Having connections to Catholic organizations, during the Francoist dictatorship he directed the Institute of Hispanic Culture (''Instituto de Cultur ...
.De Blaye, ''Franco'', p. 357 Removed from the political front-line once again, he nonetheless remained a member of the
Cortes Españolas The Cortes Españolas (), known informally as the Cortes franquistas (), was the name of the legislative institution promulgated by the ''Caudillo'' of Spain Francisco Franco which was established on 17 July 1942 (the sixth anniversary of th ...
he became recognised as one of the most hard-line and reactionary of the old clique of Franco loyalists who continued to occupy the back benches of the parliament.Rees, p. 125 He was especially critical of the gradual liberalisation that began to creep in during the early 1970s as an increasingly frail Franco began to exercise less day to day power.


After Franco

After Franco's death he re-founded the Falange Española de las JONS, a nostalgic group that failed to make any headway in democratic Spain.C.P. Blamires, ''World Fascism - A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 233 Despite leading his own party he was allowed to simultaneously hold membership of Blas Piñar's
Fuerza Nueva New Force (, FN) was the name of a far-right political party in Spain founded by Blas Piñar, director of the Institute of Hispanic Culture and longtime ''procurador'' in the Cortes Españolas during the Francoist period. Originally operating ...
, with the two parties running a joint campaign in the 1977 election. The groups managed only 0.21% of the vote however. Fernández-Cuesta retired from politics in February 1983, with
Diego Márquez Horrillo Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...
succeeding him as Falange Española de las JONS leader. He published his memoirs, ''Testimonio, Recuerdos y Reflexiones'', in 1985.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez-Cuesta, Raimundo 1896 births 1992 deaths Politicians from Madrid Spanish Falangists Agriculture ministers of Spain Spanish fascists Justice ministers of Spain Ambassadors of Spain to Brazil Ambassadors of Spain to Italy Complutense University of Madrid alumni FET y de las JONS politicians