Ignacio Rupérez Rubio (17 October 1943 – 25 December 2015) was a Spanish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and writer. Rupérez was appointed Ambassador to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on 3 June 2005, becoming the first Ambassador to Iraq since 1991, when the Spanish embassy in Baghdad was closed during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. He served as Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 until 2008. He was later appointed Ambassador to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. Rupérez was the brother of

Javier Rupérez Francisco Javier Rupérez Rubio (born April 24, 1941) is a Spanish politician, diplomat and writer, was born in Madrid on 24 April 1941. He holds degrees in law (1962) and journalism (1975) from the Complutense University of Madrid. Since 2006 h ...

, a diplomat and politician. Rupérez began his career as a newspaper

, including ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

'' and ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. He became a Spanish diplomat in 1980. His first diplomatic posting was to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He transferred to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, which had recently established

diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

with Spain, in 1986. Rupérez was next posted to the Embassy of Spain in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, from 1989 to 1992. He was then sent to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, as a deputy in 1992. Ignacio Rupérez was posted to the Spanish diplomatic mission in

by the government of José María Aznar in 1997. Spain had closed its embassy and recalled its ambassador in 1991 during the first

. Since there was no ambassador, Ruperez was posted as

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

until 2000. He became the Vice President of the Comité Hispano-Americano in 2003. On 3 June 2005 Ignacio Rupérez was appointed Ambassador to Iraq, becoming the first Spanish ambassador since 1991. He served as Ambassador from 2005 to 2008. In a 2008 interview with ''

'', Rupérez called the situation in Iraq and the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

"more complicated than Vietnam." He later published his book, "Collateral Damage," in which he criticized the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Rupérez was next appointed Ambassador to Honduras in 2009. However, then

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya is a Hondurans, Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, 2 ...

was ousted in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis shortly before Rupérez was scheduled to arrive in the country. The government of

Spanish Prime Minister The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers. In this sense, the prime minister establishes the Gove ...

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

criticized Zelaya's ouster. As a result, Rupérez was denied entry into Honduras by the new Honduran government. Instead, Rupérez spent the first fourteen months of his Ambassadorship to Honduras stationed at the Spanish Embassy in neighboring

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. He was finally allowed into Honduras when relations between the two countries improved. Most recently, Rupérez has served as Ambassador-at-large for Muslim Communities and Organizations Abroad. Ignacio Rupérez died at a hospital in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 25 December 2015 at the age of 72, following a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruperez, Ignacio 1943 births 2015 deaths Spanish journalists Ambassadors of Spain to Iraq Ambassadors to Honduras People from Madrid