José Antonio Alonso Suárez was born on March 28, 1960, in León and died on February 2, 2017, in Madrid.
He was a Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) politician.
Alonso was a judge, he was elected to the Spanish Congress in 2004, representing León Province and was reelected in 2008.
Later, Alonso served as spokesman for the PSOE Parliamentary Group.
As of 18 April 2004 to 7 April 2006, Alonso was the minister of the interior in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
He was described by his ministerial colleagues as a man “driven by his strong ideological beliefs and professionalism”, Zapatero is said to have chosen Alonso on the grounds that the latter would fight terrorism without compromising human rights.
He served as the defense minister until 11 April 2008.
Before his election, Alonso had been a critic of the People’s Party’s support for George W. Bush and their alleged politicization of judicial bodies.
He died due to lung cancer.
José Antonio Alonso passed away at 56 years old.