Yago Pico de Coaña

Yago Pico de Coaña y de Valicourt (* 15. March 1943 in Madrid ) is a Spanish diplomat in retirement .

Life

Member of an Asturian family originating from Coaña . He graduated in law from the Complutense University of Madrid and studied at the Diplomatic School in Madrid. In 1971 he joined the foreign service. From 1972 to 1976 he was the third-grade legation secretary in Guatemala City. From 1977 to 1980 he was a delegation counselor next to the UN headquarters .

January 31, 1980 Fire in the Spanish embassy in Guatemala

On January 31, 1980, farmers from Uspantán Departamento Quiché peacefully occupied the Spanish embassy to present their demands. They had spent months in Guatemala City denouncing in front of the government and other Guatemalan institutions the murder of seven fellow farmers who the army had dressed in guerrilla uniforms and then executed to make them look like a guerrilla. Since no one answered them, they went to the Spanish embassy. Máximo Cajal López, the Spanish ambassador to Guatemala, explicitly stated his refusal to carry out an invasion. Amid great tension, the police forces of the Guatemalan military regime of Fernando Romeo Lucas García broke into the Spanish law firm with a virulence that surprised everyone. The attack and subsequent fire ended with 39 defenseless people killed, including Vicente Menchu ​​the father of Rigoberta Menchu . There were two survivors, Ambassador Máximo Cajal Lópezl, who escaped seriously injured, and Yujá Xoná, a Chiché , who was subsequently kidnapped from the hospital by the judicial police and murdered. The Guatemalan executive had violated all principles of international law. The Suárez III cabinet broke off diplomatic relations with the regime of Fernando Romeo Lucas García . Venezuela became the protective power for Spanish interests in Guatemala. Until April 1980, Yago Pico de Coaña headed the Spanish Interests Division at the Venezuelan Embassy in Guatemala City. Thirty-four years later, Pico de Coaña gives his testimony of the grave events that bound him for life to Máximo Cajal, another Spanish ambassador whom he did not know before.

From April 1980 to 1984 he was deputy head of the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean Department. From 1984 to 1986 he was a replacement observer at the Organization of American States . From 1986 to November 6, 1987 he was Ambassador to Managua . From November 6, 1987 to 1996, he headed the Ibero-America department. From 1996 to November 2002 he was ambassador to Bogota . From November 2002 to October 2003 he was Assistant to the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. From October 2003 to July 2004 he was permanent representative of the Spanish government at UNESCO in Paris . From July 2004 to April 2005, he was Commissioner for Multilateral Latin American Affairs. From April 2005 to November 2010 he was managing director of facility management at the Patrimonio Nacional . As such, he opposed the closure of a basilica in the Valle de los Caídos , a decision by the Zapatero II cabinet in December 2009, after which he was appointed ambassador to Vienna. From November 16, 2010 to April 17, 2013 he was ambassador in Vienna .

predecessor	Office	successor
Máximo Cajal y López	Head of the Spanish Interest Group at the Venezuelan Embassy in Guatemala City January 31, 1980 to April 1980	José Luis Crespo de Vega
Luis Cuervo	Spanish Ambassador to Managua from 1987 to November 6, 1987	Miguel Ángel Fernández de Mazarambroz Bernabeu
Carmelo Angulo Barturen	Head of the Iberoamerica Department in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1987–1996	Juan Pablo de Laiglesia
Carmelo Angulo Barturen	Spanish Ambassador to Bogota from 1996 to November 2002	Carlos Gómez-Múgica
Francisco Villar y Ortiz de Urbina	Permanent representative of Spain to UNESCO 2003-2004	José María Ridao Dominguez
José María Pons Irazazábal	Spanish Ambassador in Vienna November 16, 2010 to April 17, 2013	Alberto Carnero

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yago Pico de Coaña returned to Madrid in April 1980 and left behind the Guatemalan nightmare. However, he did not lose interest in the events in the region. On the contrary, he continued to work in the State Department, positions directly related to the countries that had made it until four years later when he returned to the United Nations. Máximo Cajal, Saber quién puso fuego ahí !: masacre en la Embajada de España, Siddharth Mehta Ediciones, 2000 - 370 S Yago Pico de Coaña y Valicourt: Treinta y cuatro Anos después. El asalto a la Embajada en Guatemala, Burgos: Editorial Dos Soles 2014, 264 pp. [1] [2]
2. ↑ Destituyen al asturiano Yago Pico de Coaña tras un choque con De la Vega El diplomático discrepó de la Vicepresidenta sobre la decisión de cerrar la basilica del Valle de los July, Caídos 27, 2010, [3]