Pío Moa


Luis Pío Moa Rodríguez better known as simply Pío Moa, is a Spanish writer and journalist. He has authored historical essays about the origins of the Spanish Civil War, the Second Republic in Spain, Francoism and the various political movements of that era.
Following the death of Franco and the reinstatement of a democratic regime in Spain, a slow process of opening of archives and publicizing of Civil War related documents began. In the face of this process Moa started reviving the Francoist theses that the parties which formed the Popular Front were ultimately responsible for the Spanish Civil War and the rise of autocracy in Spain. Moa maintains that they have left a legacy of "moral, political and intellectual devastation", accusing the left of hypocrisy in regards to democracy and totalitarianism, as well as claims that the material aid provided by Stalin and the USSR to the Spanish Republic in the Civil War not only prolonged the war causing innumerable deaths but was also equivalent to the help provided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to General Franco.
The polemical nature of Moa's writings have gained him much public attention in Spain and a measure of controversy as a result; his best-selling book, Myths of the Civil War, with 150,000 units sold, was a best-seller for six consecutive months. As well as being praised by historians such as Stanley Payne, which condemn the "silent treatment" given to Moa by the mainstream media.

Biography

Early years as a radical

Born during 1948 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. During his youth, Moa was a radical anti-Francoist agitator. He was a militant of the Communist Party of Spain, as well as the clandestine Maoist, designated-terrorist organisation GRAPO. It was involved in violent clashes with the government's Movimiento Nacional. Moa was present at the murder of a policeman on 1 October 1975, carried out after the execution of two ETA and three FRAP members. Two other members of GRAPO, Enrique Cerdán Calixto and Abelardo Collazo Araújo, were also present; Cerdán shot the police officer. Moa was expelled from GRAPO in 1977, he later recalled this period of his life in About a time and a country, the violent Left. Following the transition of Spain to democracy, Moa dedicated himself to the study of contemporary Spanish history, evolving over time to a Francoist position.

Intellectual evolution and writing

After the Spanish transition to democracy his opinions changed towards increasingly conservative positions. He is an outspoken critic of the Spanish political left which he accuses of being the main cause of the Spanish Civil War.
He has also written essays on feminism, marxism, current Spanish politics and an autobiographical book about his experiences in the terrorist group GRAPO. In his books he criticizes strongly Franco's communist, socialist and nationalist rivals. Moa is rejected as pseudo-historian and revisionist by several historians, such as Paul Preston, Alberto Reig Tapia, Javier Tusell, Justo Serna, Mercedes Yusta, Santos Juliá or Enrique Moradiellos. While disagreeing with some of Moa's theses, historian Stanley G. Payne has praised the work of Pio Moa.
He was an adherent to the conspiracy theory about the authorship of the 11-M Madrid train bombings in 2004.
He has been accused of homophobia by civil rights groups and of being a defender of the Franco's regime. In an interview in 2008 he openly refused to condemn Franco's regime. However, he declares in his books that he does not defend the dictatorship, but rather criticizes his rivals.
He was the editor of the historical journals Tanteos and Ayeres and a librarian at the Ateneo de Madrid, a prestigious cultural and literary institute in Madrid, belonging to its board of directors for three years.
He currently writes for online newspapers such as Libertad Digital.

Publications