Fascism in South America

Integralists in the Brazilian city of Curitiba

Although the fascist ideology originated in and is primarily associated with Europe, fascism crossed the Atlantic Ocean during the interwar period and influenced South American politics, with Italian fascism having a deep impact in the region, both directly and indirectly.^[1]

History

In 1934, at least six political parties in Latin America had their principles or ideologies built on Italy's National Fascist Party (including the Gold Shirts in Mexico, based on the Italian Blackshirts). Fascist corporatism served as a model for economic policies in the region. Several rulers, such as the first Argentine dictators of the Infamous Decade and Getúlio Vargas in the earlier part of the Vargas Era, were inspired by Benito Mussolini and his methods. The Italian fascist regime also took an active role in spreading fascist propaganda, and ideological influence, working through Italian immigrant communities in South America.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Argentina

During the 1920s, Leopoldo Lugones became a supporter of fascism, and from this seed, a coterie of pro-fascist intellectuals grew, including Juan Carulla, Ernesto Palacio, Manuel Gálvez, Carlos Ibarguren, Roberto de Laferrere, Mario Amadeo, the brothers Rodolfo and Julio Irazusta. The fascists gathered around the journal La Nueva Republica [es] and expressed ideas reminiscent of those of French author Charles Maurras.^[5] They grouped together under the name Afirmación de Una Nueva Argentina (ADUNA), although this was a loose alliance that struggled for support outside the intellectual elements of society.^[6] They did, however, work closely with the regime of José Félix Uriburu, which initially attempted to introduce corporatism inspired by Benito Mussolini, before giving way to the Infamous Decade.

Despite openly expressing their enthusiasm for fascism, the group retained links to the established conservative political elements, with organized fascism being led by Thomist writer Nimio de Anquín, whose Unión Nacional Fascista was active in various forms from the late 1920s until 1939.^[7] His fellow Thomist, Julio Meinvielle, also actively supported fascism and much of the anti-Semitism of Nazism as well.^[8] He became the theological force behind the militant Tacuara Nationalist Movement.

Argentina came under the rule of Juan Perón in 1946, who is sometimes characterised as a fascist. However, the description of Peronism as a fascist ideology has proven controversial in academic circles.^[9]

Falkland Islands

Although the Falkland Islands have never had a fascist movement, the British overseas territory housed some British Union of Fascists members detained under Defence Regulation 18B during the Second World War. The most high profile of these was Jeffrey Hamm who was interned in the hull of a ship in Port Stanley harbour.^[10]

The status of the Falklands was also an important issue for the ADUNA faction in Argentina, notably the Irazusta brothers who wrote extensively on their desire to return the islands to Argentine sovereignty.^[11]

Bolivia

The governments of David Toro and Germán Busch were vaguely committed to corporatism, ultra-nationalism, and national syndicalism, but they lacked coherence in their ideas. These concepts were later adopted by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), which openly acknowledged its ideological debt to fascism, and joined the military in a pro-Axis government under Gualberto Villarroel in 1943.^[12] However, after the war, the MNR largely distanced itself from its fascist roots. By the time Víctor Paz Estenssoro came to power as MNR leader in a 1952 coup, any remnants of fascism had been abandoned.^[12]

From an initially oppositional stance, Óscar Únzaga's Bolivian Socialist Falange was an important group in the 1930s that sought to incorporate the ideas of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in Bolivia. However, like the MNR, it gradually de-emphasized its connections to fascism over time.^[6]

Brazil

Fascism first appeared in Brazil in 1922 with the foundation of the Legião do Cruzeiro do Sul. Within ten years, several minor groups followed, including the Legião de Outubro, the Partido Nacional Sindicalista, the Partido Fascista Nacional, the Legião Cearense do Trabalho, the Partido Nacionalista of São Paulo, the Partido Nacional Regenerador, and the Partido Socialista Brasileiro all of which espoused some form fascism.^[12] However, one of the most important fascist movements on the continent was Brazilian Integralism, which drew from both Italian fascism and Integralismo Lusitano. At its peak, the Ação Integralista Brasileira, led by Plínio Salgado, claimed as many as 200,000 members. Following coup attempts, it faced a crackdown from the Estado Novo of Getúlio Vargas in 1937.^[6] Like the Portuguese Estado Novo that influenced it, Vargas' regime borrowed elements from fascism without fully endorsing it, ultimately repressing those who advocated for full fascism.^[6]

There were also Italian and German fascist organizations acting through both communities, notably in the southeastern and Southern regions where most of the population with those origins lived, between the 1920s and the end of the war. In the Italian organizations, both immigrants and their descendants were accepted, such as in the "Fascio di Sao Paolo" institution, one of the main organizations of Italian Fascism in Brazil.^[13]

The Fascio di Sao Paolo was formed in March 1923, approximately 6 months after the fascists took power in Italy, and it achieved huge success among the Italians of the city. This success was confirmed by its rapid spread to other cities and Italian communities.^[14] In November 1931, a branch of the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro, which had existed in Italy since 1925, was founded in São Paulo and placed under the control of the Fascio di Sao Paulo. The Fascio was responsible for spreading the fascist doctrine among the popular classes.^[15] Another significant institution at that time was the Circolo Italiano di Sao Paolo, established in 1910 and still active today. Its aim was to preserve and disseminate Italian culture to Italian-Brazilians and Brazilians in general. In the mid-1920s, the fascist doctrine began to infiltrate this community through the influence of 'March on Rome veteran' Serafino Mazzolini, the Italian consul to Brazil.^[15]

These three Italian institutions, along with several others and their members, were spied on, persecuted, and sometimes even closed by the Estado Novo regime. The regime alleged that they were 'conspiring against the Brazilian State' under orders from the fascist government in Italy. Some members were arrested, and one of them, Cesar Rivelli, was expelled from the country.

After Brazil declared war against the Axis powers in 1942, the traditional Dante Alighieri school in São Paulo, which was frequented by students of Italian background at the time, had to change its name to 'Colégio Visconde de São Leopoldo.' The school only reverted to its formal name after the war ended.^[16]

Chile

Under the direction of Carlos Keller and Jorge González von Marées, the National Socialist Movement of Chile following its formation in 1932 took up a position similar to that of Adolf Hitler, albeit with heavy criticism of his racial principles. They actively participated in parliamentary elections, but "the main impact was on the streets, where violence was one of its hallmarks." Many young Nacistas "were attracted less by the ideology of the party and more by its cult of violent confrontation with Socialists and Communists"^[17]

It dissociated itself from the more extreme Hitlerist movements which grew up among the German immigrants in the South of Chile during the 1930s. ^[18] By the parliamentary elections in 1937, 14,235 people voted for the National Socialist Movement of Chile^[17]

Later adopting a more domestic version of fascism, it attempted a coup in 1938 and faded after the attempt failed, adopting the name Vanguardia Popular Socialista before disbanding in 1941.^[6] Some ex-members formed the corporatist Movimiento Nacionalista de Chile in 1940, and members of this latter group were influential in the founding of the Fatherland and Liberty paramilitary group in 1970.^[19]

The regime of Augusto Pinochet that ruled from 1974 to 1990, which Fatherland and Liberty had helped to bring about, had some influences from falangismo, but it took a more conservative liberal direction during the 1980s. The government is sometimes characterised as fascist, although this has been the subject of much debate in academic circles.

Colombia

Links were alleged between Nazi Germany and Laureano Gómez's newspaper El Siglo during the 1930s and 1940s, although Colombia has generally had little fascist activity in its history outside of the German community.^[20]

In the 1980s the drug dealer Carlos Lehder would found his own neo-Nazi party, the National Latin Movement.

Ecuador

Although the Alianza Revolucionaria Nacionalista Ecuatoriana (ARNE) was founded in 1948, it still looked to fascism for its inspiration. The group failed to make a major impact, as it was kept in check by the populism of José María Velasco Ibarra.^[21] Frequently attending workers meetings and rallies in an effort to provoke violence with leftist groups, the ARNE was little more than a wing of the Conservative Party, one of the country's two leading political groups.^[22]

Paraguay

The Febrerista movement, active during the 1930s, demonstrated some support for fascism by seeking revolutionary change, endorsing strong nationalism and seeking to, at least in part, introduce corporatism. Their revolutionary, Rafael Franco-led government, however, proved decidedly non-radical during its brief tenure. The Febreristas have since regrouped as the Revolutionary Febrerista Party, a socialist party with no connection to fascism.^[6]

Peru

The Unión Revolucionaria was initially founded by Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro in 1931 as the state party of his dictatorship. After his assassination in 1933, the group came under the leadership of Raúl Ferrero Rebagliati who sought to mobilise mass support and even set up a blackshirt movement in imitation of the Italian model. A heavy defeat in the 1944 elections shook confidence in the movement, and it faded.^[12]

Following the collapse of Reblagiati's movement, the main outlet for fascism became the Peruvian Fascist Brotherhood, formed by ex-Prime Minister José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma. The group initially enjoyed some prestige, but it receded into the background after Peru entered the Second World War on the side of the Allies. Moreover, the group's credibility was damaged by its leader becoming increasingly eccentric in his personal behaviour.^[23]

The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) was originally a left-wing nationalist party founded in 1924. During the 1930s, it developed certain similarities with fascism, such as calling for a new national community and founding a small paramilitary wing, but then it very quickly changed course and emerged as a mainstream social democratic party.^[6]^[24]

Uruguay

The academic Hugo Fernández Artucio wrote the book Nazis in Uruguay in 1940 and campaigned against German fifth column activity in the country during the war. This activity included a plot to take Uruguay as a German colony. Twelve people were arrested for conspiracy and the country placed a ban on the Nazi Party within its German community.^[25]

Venezuela

Beyond some minor Falangist activity Venezuela has had little fascist activity to speak of. However, among the country's German population, Arnold Margerie formed the Groupo Regional de Venezuela del Partido Nazi before the Second World War. The group was behind a number of cultural front groups active among Venezuela's Germans.^[26]

References

^ "Stanley G. Payne. A History of Fascism, 1914–1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 1995. Pp. xiv, 613. $39.95". The American Historical Review. December 1997. doi:10.1086/ahr/102.5.1471. ISSN 1937-5239.
^ Fascism in Latin America in Italy and Latin America, Fabio Luca Cavazza
^ Behrendt, Richard Fritz; American Council on Public Affairs (1943). Fascist Penetration In Latin America. Washington, D. C.: American Council on Public Affairs. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^ Griffin, Rodger (1991). The Nature of Fascism. St. Martin's Press. p. 121.
^ Deutsch, Sandra McGee (1999). Las Derechas: The Extreme Right in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, 1890-1939. Stanford University Press. pp. 197–198. ISBN 978-0804745994.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Griffin 1991, pp. 148–152.
^ Rees, Philip (1990). Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890. Simon & Schuster. pp. 11–12. ISBN 0130893013.
^ Deutsch 1999, p. 226.
^ "James W. McGuire. Peronism without Perón: Unions, Parties, and Democracy in Argentina. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1997. Pp. xvii, 388. $55.00". The American Historical Review. December 1998. doi:10.1086/ahr/103.5.1736. ISSN 1937-5239.
^ Thurlow, Richard (1987). Fascism in Britain : A History, 1918-1985. Basil Blackwell. p. 224. ISBN 0631136185. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^ Gustafson, Lowell (1988). The Sovereignty Dispute Over the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 57.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Payne, Stanley George (1996). A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Routledge. pp. 343–344.
^ Carneiro, Maria Luiza Tucci (2010). "Fascistas à Brasileira - Encontros e Confrontos". In Carneiro, Maria Luiza Tucci; Croci, Federico (eds.). Tempos de Fascismos: Ideologia, Intolerância, Imaginário (in Brazilian Portuguese). Imprensa Oficial do Estado de São Paulo e Arquivo Público. ISBN 9788531412097.
^ Carneiro 2010, p. 434.
^ ^a ^b Carneiro 2010, pp. 446–447.
^ Carneiro 2010, pp. 453–463.
^ ^a ^b Sznajder, Mario (1993). "A Case of Non-European Fascism: Chilean National Socialism in the 1930s". Journal of Contemporary History. 28 (2): 269–296. ISSN 0022-0094.
^ Grugel, Jean (1985). "Nationalist Movements and Fascist Ideology in Chile". Bulletin of Latin American Research. 4 (2): 109–122. doi:10.2307/3338321. ISSN 0261-3050.
^ Hennessy, Alistair (1976). "Fascism and Populism in Latin America". In Laqueur, Walter (ed.). Fascism: A Reader's Guide. Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. p. 285. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^ Gunther, John (1940). Inside Latin America. Harper & Brothers. pp. 171–172. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^ Hennessy 1976, p. 286.
^ Neira, Hugo (1973). "Ecuador". In Bernard, Jean-Pierre Arthur (ed.). Tableau des partis politiques en Amérique du Sud [Guide to the political parties of South America]. Translated by Perl, Michael. Penguin Books. p. 337.
^ Rees 1990, p. 324.
^ Gunson, Phil; Thompson, Andrew; Chamberlain, Greg (1989). The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America. London: Routledge. p. 13.
^ Gunther 1940, pp. 342–347.
^ Lauderbaugh, George (2006). "VENEZUELA". In Blamires, Cyprian P. (ed.). World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 697. ISBN 1576079414.

v t e Fascism in South America
Sovereign states	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Falkland Islands French Guiana South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

v t e Fascism in the Americas
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saba Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
North America Central America Caribbean South America