Rafael Xambó: "There is a common thread between the murder of Guillem Agulló and the investigation against Mónica Oltra"

ValenciaFor the Valencian sociologist Rafael Xambó, the media coverage and judicial investigation of the assassination of the independentist militant Guillem Agulló were entirely tendentious. 33 years after the crime, the also specialist in media, publishes L'assassinat de Guillem (Rebel, 2026), with a prologue by the writer Núria Cadenes and an epilogue by the former CUP leader David Fernández. An extensive work in which he analyzes why only Pedro Cuevas was convicted and the other four far-right militants who accompanied him were acquitted. The book will be presented this April 23rd at the Ateneu del Pallars in Tremp, on the 24th at the Ateneu La Baula in Lleida, on the 28th at the Casal Popular Tio Cuc in Alacant, on the 29th at the Casal Jaume I in Elx, and on May 5th at the Ona bookstore in Barcelona.

Of the media coverage, he especially criticizes the role of the newspaper Las Provincias (LP). What was its importance?

— He had an overwhelming hegemony. He was the most read and influential. His obsession is to exempt the far-right from responsibility because they do not want the case to be politicized. They want it to be interpreted as a fight between youth gangs.

LP didn't want far-right violence to disappear?

— Not only did they not want to, but, in addition, they considered it functional. In 1993, there was [the independentist youth organization] Maulets, which was growing throughout the Catalan Countries, the squatter and libertarian movement, which was gaining a lot of strength, and this had to be stopped. That is to say, who pays the lawyer for Pedro Cuevas, who was José Miguel Morató Enguídanos, who had been the last Francoist mayor of Manises, and who was very expensive? Who pays for the office of Javier Boix [lawyer who has defended PP leaders Carlos Fabra, Francisco Camps, or Rafael Blasco]? Because Boix's wife, Amparo Palop, was the defender of one of the accused, José Camilo Cuñat Montaña. The families [of the accused] did not have the resources to pay for it.

Who are the key figures of the Valencian far-right during this period?

— Fundamentally, José Luis Roberto. He is involved in the placement of a bomb at the Llevant stadium [at independence meetings], the accusation for which miraculously disappeared. He creates the Central Obrera Nacional Sindicalista, a far-right union, sets up the company Levantina de Seguridad, the political party España 2000... He organizes demonstrations in the city against immigrants... He is also behind the complaint against Mónica Oltra.

It also criticizes the performance of the public television Canal 9 and the Generalitat, which was then led by the PSPV.

— In Canal 9 they calculated what they could say and what not. In June [of 1993] there were general elections, therefore, in April [when the assassination takes place] there is already a pre-election atmosphere. The PSOE's positioning is very lukewarm, it does not want the case to stimulate positions to its left. They use it to position themselves in the center, as the benevolent solution. All that violence also suits the PP very well to show itself as a centered, non-violent party.

How do you rate the judicial action?

— The court's obsession is not to accept any evidence that links the accused with far-right groups when there is a very clear relationship.

Years later, the fourth section of the Provincial Court of Valencia, presided over by Judge Pedro Castellano, annulled the Panzer operation case against the neo-Nazi group Frente Antisistema, in which Guillem Agulló's murderer was charged. Is there a common thread?

— In the case of judge Castellano, it is more than clear. In the Panzer case, the Civil Guard destroyed part of the arsenal they had and the Court of Appeal annulled the proceedings. What a coincidence that the blunders always benefit the far right.

Does the judiciary still condition Valencian politics?

— There is a sector of judges who are clearly far-right or right-wing and who act deliberately. There is a common thread between Guillem's murder, the people behind it, who are the ones paying the lawyers, and Mónica Oltra's investigation, and that common thread comes from the Transition and reaches up to the present day. With different names. First it's Acción Radical, then Frente Antisistema, then they put on a tie and run in the elections. Then they leave the PP and set up Vox. There is also a sector that is even further to the right of Vox that wants direct action...

On October 9, 2017, an episode of extreme right-wing violence occurred in Valencia. Is the beast alive for when it's needed?

— That's right.

Does the fact that the Collective of Victims of Terrorism (Covite) has considered Agulló a victim of terrorism represent progress?

— Yes. It allows claiming from the State a different qualification of the assassination and a recognition of Guillem's figure. If there is a part of opportunism on Covite's part, I don't know, but in any case, I value it positively.