Martin Villa believes that the events in Vitoria "should have been cut sooner"
The then Minister of Trade Union Relations has made these statements in the sound documentary "Vitoria, March 3. The Force of Memory" produced by Radio Vitoria on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Vitoria massacre.
The sound documentary "Vitoria, March 3. The Force of Memory", produced by Radio Vitoria on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the eventsof March 3, 1976, contains the testimony of Rodolfo Martín Villa, then Minister of Trade Union Relations.
In the interview, Martin Villa stressed that the situation in the Alavesa capital "was not peaceful and there was no freedom" and added that the events "should have been cut off earlier". In his view, the city could not be "either in the hands of the police or of course", but also "in the hands of the promoters of the movement".
When asked who ordered the conduct of the police, he clearly replied, "It may be a boutade, but I will answer you like this... "" I don't. ""That's it." The former minister believes that in those days "the exercise of authority was completely denied . "He mentions the lack of leadership of the institutions. He explains that the civil governor was new in office and had no experience, and that other political leaders did not fully perform their duties.
Asked if there was a lack of "hard hand," he said that what was missing was "the hand that an authority must have," whether it was the civilian governor, the commissioner, or the then head of the Armed Police (now the National Police), and that whoever has that responsibility "cannot stand as if nothing happened, with his arms crossed."
With regard to the possibility of apologizing to the relatives of the victims, he has stated that he wrote in his book about what had happened and that he had spoken of "sins that could hardly be forgiven", but he has not expressly mentioned forgiveness. He has also acknowledged that his failure to attend the parliamentary committee left him "with a thorn nailed" , adding that, in politics, inaction may be more "serious" than action.
Martin Villa has stressed that each person has "his or her own memory" of the events and that his or her own is "sincere", although he admits that he or she cannot share what the victims' relatives have. "There is no secret, what is clear is that I have kept nothing, "he concludes in the documentary.
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