Fascism in South America



Fascism in South America encompasses an assortment of political parties and movements modeled on fascism. Although the ideology originated in and is primarily associated with Europe, fascism crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the interwar period and had an influence on South American politics. Italian fascism had a deep impact in the region, both directly and indirectly.

History
In 1934, at least six political parties in Latin America were based 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. 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, working through Italian immigrants to South America.

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 and the brothers Rodolfo and Julio Irazusta, the fascists gathered around the journal La Nueva Republica and expressed ideas reminiscent of those of French author Charles Maurras. 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. 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 organised fascism being led by Thomist writer Nimio de Anquín, whose Unión Nacional Fascista was active in various forms from the late 1920s until 1939. His fellow Thomist Julio Meinvielle also actively supported fascism and much of the anti-Semitism of Nazism as well. 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.

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.

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.

Bolivia
The governments of David Toro and Germán Busch were vaguely committed to corporatism, ultra-nationalism, and national syndicalism, but they suffered from a lack of coherence in their ideas. The ideas were taken up by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), which was open about its ideological debt to fascism, and which joined the military in a pro-Axis powers government under Gualberto Villarroel in 1943. After the war, the MNR largely turned away from its fascist roots. By the time Víctor Paz Estenssoro came to power as MNR leader in a 1952 coup, any vestiges of fascism had been abandoned.

From an initially more oppositional stance, Óscar Únzaga's Bolivian Socialist Falange was an important group in the 1930s that initially sought to use the ideas of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in Bolivia but, like the MNR, de-emphasised its links to fascism over time.



Brazil
Fascism first appeared in Brazil in 1922 with the foundation of the Legião do Cruzeiro do Sul. Within 10 years, 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 followed, though these were minor groups that espoused some form of fascism. However, one of the most important fascist movements on the continent was Brazilian Integralism, which shared a heritage with 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. Like the Portuguese Estado Novo that influenced it, Vargas' regime borrowed from fascism without fully endorsing it and, in the end, repressed those who advocated full fascism.

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.

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

These three Italian institutions, and several more, along with their members, were spied on, persecuted, and sometimes even closed by the Estado Novo regime under the allegation that they were "conspiring against the Brazilian State" by orders of the fascist government in Italy. Some members were arrested; one of them, Cesar Rivelli, was expelled from the country. After the Brazilian declaration of war against the Axis powers in 1942, for example, the traditional Dante Alighieri school of São Paulo, in that time frequented by students of Italian background, had to change its name to "Colégio Visconde de São Leopoldo," returning to the formal name only after the war was over.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.