Javier Rupérez

[1] Already active in politics in his university years as a member of the clandestine Christian Democratic opposition to General Franco, he was one of the founders, in 1962, of the monthly magazine Cuadernos para el Diálogo, edited by Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez, where he wrote regularly about foreign policy, cinema and theatre.

After Franco's death in 1975 he joined the centrist party Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD) led by Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, of which Rupérez was Secretary for Foreign Relations and member of the executive committee.

As a diplomat he has been posted to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1967–1969), Warsaw, Poland (1969–1972), Helsinki, Finland (1972–1973) and Geneva, Switzerland (1973–1975).

His connections abroad and his early adherence to the Christian Democracy, in due time proved useful for the international recognition of those parties.

His awards include the Great Cross of Isabel la Católica, Spain; Commander of the Order of Carlos III, Spain; Officer of the Legion of Honour, France; Commander of the Order of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany; and other decorations from Italy, Belgium, Holy See, Portugal, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Colombia and Panamá.