Vicente Uribe
| Vicente Uribe Galdeano | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of Agriculture | |
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In office 4 September 1936 – 31 March 1939 |
|
| Preceded by | Mariano Ruiz-Funes |
| Succeeded by | Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
30 December 1902 Bilbao, Spain |
| Died | 11 July 1961 (aged 58) Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Metalworker, politician |
Vicente Uribe Galdeano (30 December 1902 – 11 July 1961) was a metalworker who became a member of the executive of the Communist Party of Spain (Partido Comunista de España, PCE). He served as Minister of Agriculture during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). He went into exile in Mexico during World War II (1939–45), then lived in France and Czechoslovakia after the war. He was disgraced in 1956 during the post-Stalinist power struggle.
Vicente Uribe Galdeano was born in Bilbao in 1897. He became a metalworker, and in 1923 joined the Communist Party of Spain. He was a member of the party's executive from 1927. He married Teresa García, and they had five children. In 1932 the Spanish Communist Party made a major change in direction when it abandoned the Comintern slogan "Workers' and Peasants' Government" and adopted "Defense of the Republic". Uribe was among the new leaders of the party who succeeded José Bullejos. The others were José Díaz, Antonio Mije, Juan Astigarrabía and Jesús Hernández Tomás. Uribe represented the PCE in creating the draft electoral manifesto of the Popular Front for the elections on 16 February 1936.
After the start of the Spanish Civil War Uribe was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet of Francisco Largo Caballero on 5 September 1936. For tactical reasons the communists supported small businessmen and peasants. In September 1936 Uribe said,
The present policy of violence against the peasants has two dangers. The first is that it may estrange those who are on our side, on the antifascist side. The other is still more serious: it will endanger the future food supply of Spain. ... It cannot be tolerated that while at the front the soldiers are giving their lives and their blood for the common cause, there are persons far behind the lines who use rifles belonging to the people in order to impose by force ideas that the people do not accept.
But I tell you, peasants; I tell you, workers of the countryside, that despite the abuses some persons are committing, despite the barbarities they are perpetrating, your obligation is to work the land and extract the utmost from it, because you are protected by the government, by parties and by organizations, and because you have at your side the Communist party. ... Even though violence is being used, it is your duty as patriots, your duty as republicans, your duty as antifascists to call upon the government, to call upon the Communists, and you can be sure that, in order that you may cultivate the land peacefully, we shall be at your side armed with rifles.
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Wikipedia