The most surprising homage is Francisco Franco's portrayal of him in the film Raza. Return to Spain and death In February 1957 he returned to Spain, where most of his family already lived. This return was made possible through a series of negotiations which involved several Nationalist military officers in Madrid, F. José Luís Almenar Betancourt S.J., a Jesuit who was in contact with him during his stay in Bolivia, and the Bishop of Cochabamba, a former military chaplain who had served under Rojo. Although he was not bothered in the beginning by the Francoist authorities, on 16 July 1957 the Special Court for the Repression of Masonry and Communism informed him that he would be prosecuted for the crime of military rebellion, in his position as ex-commander of the Army. This was the customary charge for professional military officers who had not joined the rebels in 1936. He was sentenced to 30 years, but did not serve a single day as the sentence was suspended, and he was soon pardoned. Franco held Rojo in such high esteem that he granted him the pension due a Lt. General of the Spanish army upon his return to Spain. A number of nationalist officers have publicly said that if Rojo had been allowed to conduct operations without the interference of Soviet officers, the outcome of the war might have been different. ("Franco: The Man and his Nation"; George Hills. Macmillan Company (1967). Vicente Rojo died at his home in Madrid on 15 June 1966. Of the obituaries appearing in the Spanish press, only the one in El Alcázar, – mouthpiece of the Francoist ex-combatants – and the one by noted Falangist writer Rafael Garcia Serrano in the party press, amply eulogized his military achievements. He wrote several books detailing his military experiences in the civil war, which were published in the following order: ¡Alerta a los pueblos! (1939), ¡España heroica! (1961) and Así fue la defensa de Madrid (1967). Notes References 1894 births 1966 deaths People from Costera Spanish generals People of the Rif War Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)