The former secretary general of the Union of Farmers and Ranchers of Aragón (UAGA), Javier Sánchez, and his wife, Esther Latorre, have been found dead in their home in the town of Tauste, Zaragoza. Their bodies show signs of violence, according to sources from the Government Delegation of Aragón. The discovery took place early on Saturday night.
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The bodies were found by a relative inside the marital home, a townhouse on Ronda Val de Volvi street in Tauste, a town of just under 7,000 inhabitants in the Zaragoza region of Cinco Villas. According to Heraldo, they have several stab wounds. Agents of the Civil Guard remain at the scene to gather information and try to clarify the circumstances of both deaths. The couple leaves behind two children.
The professional organization UAGA and IU Aragón have expressed their dismay over the loss
Javier Sánchez, a farmer by profession, was secretary general of UAGA between 1999 and 2010. The current secretary general of the professional organization, José María Alcubierre, has expressed his dismay and sorrow over the loss: “It is very hard, I found out at seven in the morning, we do not know how it could have happened, both had a great involvement in UAGA,” he commented.
Alcubierre added that during the years Sánchez led UAGA, he carried out important work and gained great international recognition through La Vía Campesina, of whose organizing committee he was a member. Specifically, he highlighted his significant participation in the Water Pact and in promoting hydraulic works such as the San Salvador and Almudévar reservoirs.
Sánchez remained linked to UAGA as the regional head of Cinco Villas. In fact, last Wednesday he participated in a coordinator meeting, where several issues were addressed, Alcubierre explained. Regarding the ex-secretary’s wife, Esther, the union highlighted that she was “a firm defender in UAGA of equality between men and women.”
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For her part, the general coordinator of IU Aragón, Marta Abengochea, said that the news was “a terrible blow” for the party. At the same time, she extended her condolences and affection to family, friends, and “to all the people who had the luxury, pride, and privilege of sharing with them a part of this vital journey and a path of deep commitment to humanity, to the peasant struggle, to the fight for the rights of the working class, and the enormous work they did in UAGA.”
Between December 1999 and December 2010, Sánchez (Tauste, 1959) was secretary general of UAGA. In 1996 he joined the national leadership of COAG, which he left when he was elected secretary general of the organization in Aragón. He was a member of the Coordination Committee of La Vía Campesina and vice president of the International Steering Committee of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028.
After leaving the general secretariat of UAGA, he continued as the regional head of the agricultural organization in Cinco Villas and even ran on the list for the 2015 municipal elections for IU.
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