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Antonio Tejero, the author of the 1981 coup d'état, died at the age of 93

On 23 February 1981, the Civil Guard Antonio Tejero entered the Congress of Deputies to the cry of "Stop all!" After the failed coup d'état, he was expelled from the Civil Guard for military rebellion and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment, serving only half of his sentence, and released in 1996.

ANTONIO TEJERO EFE
Image of Antonio Tejero during the attempted coup d'état. Photo: EFE

Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero diedat the age of 93, according to the newspaper 'El Mundo'.

Tejero was born on 30 April 1932 in the Malagasy municipality of Alhaurín el Grande. In 1981 he was Lieutenant General of the Civil Guard. He entered the Civil Guard in 1951, from where he was expelled on charges of the coup d'état of the 23-F. He was sentencedto 30 years' imprisonment for military rebellion, but eventually served only half his sentence and was released in 1996.

In addition to being the face of the failed coup, he is known for the phrase "Stop all!", which interrupted the vote that was taking place at the time in the Congress of Deputies, the appointment of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as President of the Government, which would succeed the resignation of Adolfo Suárez.



Tejero entered the Chamber at 6.23 p.m., accompanied by more than 250 armed civilian guards, ordering the assistants to throw him to the ground. All the deputies bowed, except three: Adolfo Suárez, Vice-President Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado and the leader of the Communist Party (PCE), Santiago Carrillo.

After King Juan Carlos I 's early morning message on television, the coup began to deteriorate; the Crown, in the uniform of Captain General of the Armed Forces, supported the Constitution and democracy. Without military or political support, Tejero had no choice but to surrender.

Since his release, he has rarely appeared publicly, but he has made remarkable appearances. in 2006, he sent a letter to the editor of the newspaper 'Melilla Hoy' assuring thatthe Statute of Catalonia would "kill" Spain ; in 2012, he accused the then President of Catalonia, Artur Mas, of "conspiracy and proposal for sedition"; and in 2023, he accused the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, of "betraying Spain" for negotiating the investiture with the Catalan independentists and "murderers of ETA".

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