He says that his life stopped on March 11, 2004, the day his son Rodolfo, 27, died when a bomb exploded at the Santa Eugenia train station in Madrid. Juan Benito Valenciano (Madrid, 69 years old), recently elected president of the Foundation for Victims of Terrorism (FVT), maintains that today everything remains the same in his memory. To avoid oblivion, he created another foundation, which he also presides over, named following his son: Rodolfo Benito Samaniego.
Ask. Is your thinking still installed on that March 11, 2004?
Answer. The metaphor that the clock of my life stopped that day is the reality in me. The constant memory causes time to inevitably move to that day at every moment. My son Rodolfo is continually in my memory. Everything before that day is what remains in me.
P. You have tried to keep your son’s memory alive through the foundation that bears his name. What things stand out from what has been done in these 20 years?
R. We have tried to transfer to society, through the foundation, what we are sure my son would have liked: education in values, solidarity, his passion for coexistence. These are values that are catching on and are making more and more people come to us. We check it every time we do an event with the figure of Rodolfo very present.
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P. You are the first president of the FVT who is a victim of 11-M and not of ETA terrorism. What reading do you make of this?
R. It is something circumstantial, it is not the fundamental thing, because all victims are equal. Any president that the Foundation has will work for the entire group of victims and it is a satisfaction that I can do it.
P. Do victims’ associations feel sufficiently supported, helped, protected by the governments of the different administrations?
R. The truth is that, specifically, at the Rodolfo Benito Samaniego Foundation we cannot complain regarding the attention, its support: both from the Ministry of the Interior, through the general directorate of care for victims, and from the Community of Madrid through through the victims commissioner. They are always aware of anything we ask of them.
P. Have the victims’ associations conveyed to you any pending issues with the administration?
R. He has only been president for a few weeks but I do know of some situations that have to be resolved: like the almost 300 cases [de asesinatos terroristas de ETA] that might not be resolved. These victims have not been able to be tried and we must try to equate them with the rest of the victims who have seen trial for the terrorist crimes they suffered.
P. Do you understand the dismantling of the main monument that was erected in Atocha to commemorate the victims of 11-M?
R. Before starting the projects and works, the victims’ associations and foundations were called to meetings with the City Council and the Community. An extension of metro line 11 is being carried out, the waste inevitably had to pass through there and the monument might not be there. It also might not be disassembled to be moved to another location due to the configuration of its materials. It seems good to us how the lobby of that metro line 11 is going to be treated, which is going to be a museum dedicated to all the victims: the 192 dead on March 11 plus the 2,000 injured. And then at the top, this is a project, a kind of boulevard is going to be made where there will be a small monument. We would like the pieces to be rescued [del antiguo monumento] serve for the new one.
P. Is Spain prepared today to combat Islamist terrorism?
R. She is better prepared than then; The experience acquired following the 11-M attacks and those on Las Ramblas has been tremendous. There have been a series of changes in the organization, there is greater coordination between the different security forces. Even our security forces advise other countries on this matter. That does not mean that we have to let our guard down, we have to provide them with all the means, the most sophisticated and advanced, to make that wall stronger.
P. Has Spanish society sufficiently supported the victims?
R. Spanish society has not forgotten that attack, and feels it deeply. Regarding the new generations, we are doing work through the foundation, with testimonies from direct victims in the classrooms, telling everything that happened and meant. The main thing I ask of society is that they remember and never forget the victims of terrorism.
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