Franco
<div>==</div><div>actrt
</div><div><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Super PACs don’t officially exist in Europe, but he said “there are
movements to create those, and I think they are unregulated,” and
“Ignacio’s organization [CitizenGo], that’s kind of that.”</font></b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Vox has been hit by several financial scandals, including <a href="https://elpais.com/politica/2018/12/13/actualidad/1544725635_533915.html">the late 2018 Spanish supreme court condemnation</a>
of its then vice president for “accounting irregularities” in one of
his companies, disqualifying him from overseeing other accounts for
three years.</font></span></p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It also received <a href="https://www.hispantv.com/noticias/espana/408488/vox-terroristas-dinero-muyahidin-jalq-iran">€800,000 in donations</a> from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/02/iran-mek-cult-terrorist-trump-allies-john-bolton-rudy-giuliani">an extremist Iranian opposition group</a> for its 2014 European elections campaigns—and has been linked to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/23/spaniards-call-ban-franco-foundation">controversial foundation that glorifies <b>Francisco Franco</b>, Spain’s former dictator</a>.</font></span>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Arsuaga also told openDemocracy’s reporter that Vox’s General Secretary Javier Ortega Smith, who is <a href="https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-vox-rechaza-junqueras-sea-hombre-paz-calculador-frio-frente-organizacion-delictiva-20180105121328.html">also the lawyer leading Vox’s private prosecution</a>
of Catalan independence supporters, “<b>comes, I would say, from the hard
right, like Falangists, Franco’s movement—but nobody knows, it’s kind of
a private thing.”</b></font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Neither Ortega Smith nor the Vox party responded to openDemocracy’s requests for comment on Arsuaga’s claim.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Responding to openDemocracy’s request for comments before
publication, Arsuaga said: “It is self-evident that supporting
HazteOir.org or CitizenGo means indirectly supporting the parties that
defend (in some way) the principles we defend.”</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s “public knowledge that we work to influence and put pressure on
political parties,” he said, saying that this is done “by no means
‘behind the scenes.’” He also disputed the characterization of parties
that CitizenGo aligns with as “far right.”</font></p></div><div>
</div><div></div><div><a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-15-2016/">https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-15-2016/</a></div><div>
</div><div><span style="color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Adam Hochschild</span><span style="color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, author of </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Spain in Our Hearts: </em><span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, </em>about</span><span style="color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> the history of the Spanish Civil War, the rise of fascism in Spain, and infighting among the left with </span><span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: ff-super-grotesk-web-pro, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></div><div></div>