OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS
Is Fascism Returning to Europe?
Jasper Rietman
By FEDERICO FINCHELSTEIN and FABIÁN BOSOER
Published: December 18, 2013
BUENOS AIRES — Authoritarian populism, long associated with Latin American regimes, is generally considered a thing of the past in Europe. But this view is misleading. While countries like Argentina and Venezuela have slowly begun to move away from the Kirchners’ brand of Peronist politics and Hugo Chávez’s cult of personality, a dangerous right-wing brand of populism is returning to Europe. Indeed, the rise of movements like Greece’s neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, and the violence and assassinations that have accompanied it, are far more worrying than the residual authoritarianism that pervades Latin American politics.
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Broadly speaking, populist movements, which tend to gain traction following the implementation of austerity measures, are an attempt to redress perceived crises of representation in government. The hallmark of Latin American populism has historically been the election by wide majorities of presidents with authoritarian tendencies, who expand social rights even as they curtail political freedoms. Euro-populism, on the other hand, generally targets immigrants and demands the disintegration of the European Union.
Following the demise of European fascist parties after World War II, Argentina’s Juan and Evita Perón made populism a staple of Latin American governance throughout the mid-1940s and 1950s. The persistence of social inequality also opened the gates for paternalistic leaders like Brazil’s Getúlio Vargas and Ecuador‘s José Velasco Ibarra. They extended mass participation in politics while at the same time placing major restrictions on the opposition.
In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez brought this tradition into the 21st century; Néstor Kirchner took up the classic Peronist mantle in Argentina in 2003. For both, the goal was concentration of power in the hands of one leader, with minimal public consultation or genuine representation of voters’ wishes.
In the wake of Mr. Chávez’s death in March, Venezuela has witnessed the rise of a new cult of personality centered on the departed leader. His successor, President Nicolás Maduro, ritually invokes Mr. Chávez’s name to legitimize his own populist policies, and has spoken of several “apparitions” of Mr. Chávez’s soul in birds, shadows and other paranormal phenomena. Government propaganda frequently depicts Mr. Chávez as a God-like figure.
However, with inflation currently at 54 percent in Venezuela, magical thinking has not been enough to generate mass public support for a government characterized by serious economic mismanagement and currency controls. Mr. Maduro’s grip on power was tenuous from the beginning: He was elected in April on razor-thin margins following an unexpectedly tight race. Mr. Maduro’s so-called “economic war” on Venezuelan business interests, which he decries as traitors to the nation, has resulted in looting, general instability, and heightened internal polarization. And recent poll results suggest that Venezuelans are starting to look for other options: Mr. Maduro’s party only narrowly defeated the main opposition coalition in mayoral elections this month, and lost in major cities.
In Argentina, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the face of Peronist populism following the death of her husband, former President Néstor Kirchner, in 2010. While continuing Mr. Kirchner’s efforts to prosecute the crimes of the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, her administration moved to restrict press freedom, intensified the military’s role in government, abruptly backed away from longstanding grievances against Iran, and strained relations with neighbors like Uruguay. Public disapproval with her leadership was reflected in congressional elections this October, when Mrs. Kirchner’s administration was defeated in Argentina’s most important districts. This so-called punishment vote essentially voided her supporters’ desire to reform the Constitution to enable her indefinite re-election.
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