"He is a politician to the roots"

Alfonso Guerra is the only lawmaker who has served in Congress for nine terms without interruption - the entire period since the restoration of democracy.

And the historic Socialist leader plans on breaking his own record by running for re-election on November 20 after he was asked by the party's candidate Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba to be on the slate as number one on the list for his native Seville.

"For the Socialists in Seville, it is an honor again to offer Alfonso Guerra the lead position in the congressional list representing Seville," said José Antonio Viera, the Socialist secretary general for the city. "He is a political beacon and a value to socialism, a politician to the roots with undisputed ability that has been demonstrated throughout his political career," added Viera, who will accompany Guerra as number two on the slate.

Some considered Guerra to have been Felipe González's 'hatchet man'

"Not a chance" I'll be liable to pay new wealth tax, the lawmaker says

At 71, Guerra is no doubt one of the last original founders of the modern-day Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) to continue to hold elected office.

His political career began when he joined the clandestine Young Socialists in the 1960s but took off with the reorganization of the Socialist Party in the early 1970s, when his friend and ally Felipe González captured the leadership of the archaic organization whose leaders operated from Toulouse during their time in exile.

Many describe Guerra as becoming the ideological force of the 20th-century PSOE, which was founded in 1879, while the eloquent González became its spokesman. He began editing the newspaper El Socialista and in 1975 joined González in Madrid where the future prime minister began to consolidate his leadership with the help of Miguel Boyer, who would become his economy minister during the first Socialist administration. Guerra served as the party's press secretary.

As a member of Congress - he was first elected in 1977 - Guerra was with González on that fateful day when Civil Guard Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero entered the lower chamber with his men and began firing rounds of bullets in the attempted coup on February 23, 1981. Guerra and González, along with outgoing Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, his Cabinet, Spanish Communist Party (PSC) leader Santiago Carrillo and other parliamentary whips, were rounded up and separated from the rest of the lawmakers during the entire 18-hour ordeal.

Less than two years later, the PSOE would be swept into office in a landslide victory in October 1982, winning 202 of the 350 seats in Congress and 134 of the 208 seats in the Senate. Guerra became González's deputy prime minister.

During this time, the Socialist administration began exploring uncharted waters in trying to improve Spain's international image after nearly 30 years of dormant foreign policy during the Franco dictatorship. González pushed for the country's incorporation into the European Economic Community (EEC) - the precursor to the European Union - and membership in NATO. Guerra continued to concentrate on the Socialist Party's machinery and was considered by some to be González's 'hatchet man.' But many in the party agreed that he was responsible for strengthening its organization.

By 1990, however, a corruption scandal would devastate Guerra's political career. His brother Juan was accused of influence-peddling and working out of a government office in Seville while not holding any public office. The deputy prime minister was questioned in parliament about the allegations.

The pressure continued to mount as other allegations concerning his brother surfaced in the press. Some members of González's Cabinet began to complain that he was becoming a political liability. Guerra resigned his post the following year but kept his parliamentary seat.

Throughout the years, he has published several memoirs.

On Thursday, when the current Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced that it would resurrect the wealth tax for those with assets of 700,000 euros or more, journalists began trying to find out which lawmakers would have to pay.

"Not a chance," Guerra replied.