The kidnapping of Aldo Moro and the killing: a gravid crime of political consequences

Aldo Moropolitician and Italian jurist, was one of the top figures of the Christian democracy and one of the main Italian political exponents, killed by Red Brigades May 9, 1978. It was Prime Minister for several years and was characterized by the willingness to look for agreements with the left parties. In the 70s, he was one of the promoters of “Historical compromise”that is, the hypothesis of Insert exponents of the Italian Communist Party in the Government team. Moro was seized in Rome by the Red Brigades on March 16, 1978 and held prisoner for 55 daysduring which he was subjected to a “process” for his “political responsibilities”. The negotiations to obtain the liberation of some brigatists detained in exchange for Moro, on 9 May Mario Moretti are failed to obtain from the state killed the hostage. His death had profound consequences on Italian politics.

Who was Aldo Moro

Aldo Moroborn in Maglie (Lecce) on September 23, 1916, was one of the main Italian political exponents from the 1940s to death, which took place on 9 May 1978. During Fascism he was president of the Italian Catholic University Federation and one of the founders of the Christian democracy (DC), a party that dominated the political scene until the beginning of the 90s. Member of the Constituent Assembly in 1946, in the following years Moro obtained numerous government positions and was Prime Minister From 1963 to 1968 and again from 1974 to 1976.

Moro was highlighted for thereformist approachfor the ability in find compromises and for the willingness to cultivate relations with the left parties. In the 70s he was one of the proponents of the “Historical compromise”, that is, the agreement with the Italian Communist Party (PCI) To expand the majority that supported the government and the executive itself, including the communists within it. For Italian politics, the “historical compromise” it would have been a real revolutionbecause since 1947 the PCI, despite being the second party by number of consensus, was excluded from government teams. Moro developed the strategy of the compromise together with Enrico Berlinguersecretary of the PCI, but he could not complete it because It was seized and killed from the red brigades.

The kidnapping of Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades and the imprisonment

The Red Brigades (BR) were one of the main subversive formations of “Years of lead” (roughly coinciding with the 70s), during which they were active in Italy terrorist groups Both of an extreme left, orientation of the BR, and of the far right. The group was born in the early 1970s and for a few years he targeted company managers, policemen and magistrates; later he launched “the attack on the heart of the state», Hitting the exponents of the political class.

In the 1978 The red brigades decided to perform a striking gesturekidnapping one of the major Italian politicians: the hypothesis of kidnapping Giulio Andreotti are discarded, who was too protected, they decided to focus on Moro, who at that moment was President of the National Council of the DCbut had no government positions. The operation took the morning of March 16: Moro traveled on a car together with two escort agents; Three other agents followed the president on another car. When the two cars arrived in Via Mario Faniin the northern part of Rome, a car led by Mario Moretti – considered in some respects the leader of the br – blocked the passage. The action then entered the action fire groupcomposed of four brigatists disguised as Aviatori of Alitalia (Valerio Morucci, Franco Bonisoli, Prospero Gallinari and Raffaele Fiore), who approached the two cars and set fire with their machine guns, killing the five escort agents. The brigatists then picked up Moro, who was shocked but unharmed, hid him in a car and led him to a small cell prepared in an apartment in Via Camillo Montalcinipompously renamed “prison of the people”.

The 55 days of detention of Moro in the prison of the people and the murder

In the apartment in via Montalcini, Three brigatists dealt with supervising and taking care of the prisoner: Prospero Gallinari, Germano Maccari and Anna Laura Braghetti. Often Moretti also went to the house, in charge of questioning Moro: the Christian Democrat leader was in fact subjected to a «Process» from the BR, who expected admissions from him on the alleged wrongdoings of the DC and the other parties.

A few days after the kidnapping, the prisoner began to write letters to his family and numerous political exponentsasking them to treat with br to obtain his liberation. The letters, partly published by the newspapers, aroused a vast debate. The political class divided into two sides: for firmness or negotiation. Most of the DC, the PCI and other parties sided for the firmnessrefusing to deal with terrorists, a line also followed by the Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, and the Minister of the Interior, Francesco Cossiga. In favor of the negotiation Instead, the socialist party, the closer sectors closest to Moro, the far -left formations were lined up.

The “process” conducted by the BR ended with the Prisoner’s death sentencebut the terrorists communicated that they would spare Moro’s life if some imprisoned brigatists had been freed. The government, however, chose to do not treatbecause if he had done it he would have offered a form of political recognition to the BR. The brigatists did not hesitate to assassinate the hostage: the morning of the May 9th Mario Moretti killed Moro with a burst of machine gun. Subsequently, the body was hidden in the trunk a red Renault 4, which parked in Via Caetaniin the center of Rome, where it was found.

Alternative theories and consequences of the Moro case

The reconstruction of the kidnapping, made possible by the numerous processes against the brigatists celebrated over the years, leaves some issues in the shade. There is also no lack of Alternative theoriesaccording to which the BRs would have acted on impulse, or with the support, of some secret service or other hidden forces: it has been assumed that the Ciasince Moro He was not appreciated by the US ruling classThe Kgb or even deviated sectors of the Italian services. The hostage was also advanced had not been held in via Montalcini, but in another lair, perhaps near a beach. At the moment, no alternative hypothesis has been proven, although it is evident that in the reconstruction that emerged from the processes they remain dark points.

What is certain is that Moro’s death had profound consequences for Italian politics. The strategy of “historical compromise “ He was definitively abandoned in the turn of a few years, imposing an enlargement of the government area that appeared more and more necessary. The ruling class also lost one of his own main exponents. Instead, the line of firmness: after the kidnapping the BR gained popularity, but the fact that the state had not treated and avoided recognizing them as an interlocutor constituted a serious political defeat for them. A few years later the BR were definitively defeated.