Valeri Mas

Valeri Mas Casas (1894-1973) was a Catalan trade unionist and politician. A textile worker by trade, he became a leader of his sector's trade union in the National Confederation of Labour (CNT). During the early months of the Spanish Civil War, he oversaw supply chain management in Revolutionary Catalonia and became general secretary of the Catalan regional branch of the CNT. He was among the anarchist leaders who called for a ceasefire during the May Days, following which he joined the Catalan government as its economy minister, among other combined portfolios. From this position, he protected collectivisation and workers' control over the Catalan economy, overseeing the legalisation of several industrial collectives. After a month, he was forced out of his post and replaced by Joan Comorera, who attempted to roll back collectivisation, although Mas continued to defend it within the Economic Council up until the end of the war. After the fall of Barcelona in 1939, he fled to France, where he formed the Spanish Libertarian Movement (MLE) and joined the orthodox faction of the CNT, which opposed collaboration with the Spanish Republican government in exile.