Eduardo López Ochoa

Who was Eduardo López Ochoa?

Eduardo López Ochoa y Portoundo was a Spanish general, Africanist, and prominent Freemason. He was known for most of his life as a traditional Republican, and conspired against the government of Miguel Primo de Rivera.

At the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, López Ochoa was designated capitán general of Catalonia by Francesc Macià. He led troops to crush the insurrection in Asturias in October 1934, after which the leader of the nascent Popular Front was jailed. The left felt betrayed, and began to regard López Ochoa as a rightist. His left-wing enemies nicknamed him "el verdugo de Asturias". At the same time, those on the right distrusted him for his Freemasonry, for having entered negotiations with the Asturian miners, and for punishing soldiers guilty of violent excesses. As a deterrent to further atrocities, López Ochoa had summarily executed a number of legionnaires and Moroccan colonial troops for torturing prisoners and hacking them to death.

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, López Ochoa was in a military hospital in Carabanchel and was awaiting trial, accused of responsibility for the deaths of 20 civilians at a barracks in Oviedo.