Although thefascist ideology originated in and is primarily associated withEurope, fascism crossed theAtlantic Ocean during the interwar period and influencedSouth American politics. In particular,Italian fascism had a deep impact in the region.[1]
In 1934, at least six political parties inLatin America had their principles and/or ideologies inspired by Italy'sNational Fascist Party, including theGold Shirts in Mexico, the namesake of which was based on the ItalianBlackshirts. Several rulers, such as the firstArgentine dictators of theInfamous Decade andGetúlio Vargas in the earlier part of theVargas Era, were inspired byBenito Mussolini and his methods. The Italian fascistregime also took an active role in spreading fascist propaganda, and ideological influence, by working through Italian immigrant communities in South America. Additionally,fascist corporatism served as a model for economic policies in the region.[2][3][4]
During the 1920s, Argentinian writerLeopoldo Lugones became a supporter of fascism, after which the country's coterie of pro-fascist intellectuals grew, includingJuan Carulla,Ernesto Palacio,Manuel Gálvez,Carlos Ibarguren,Roberto de Laferrere,Mario Amadeo, and the brothersRodolfo andJulio Irazusta. The fascists specifically gathered around the journalLa Nueva Republica [es] and expressed ideas reminiscent of those by French authorCharles Maurras.[5]
The fascist intellectuals grouped together under the name Afirmación de Una Nueva Argentina (ADUNA) as a loose alliance that struggled for support outside the intellectual elements of society.[6] They did, however, work closely with the regime ofJosé Félix Uriburu, which initially attempted to introducecorporatism inspired byBenito Mussolini, before giving way to theInfamous Decade.
Despite openly expressing their enthusiasm for fascism, ADUNA retained links to the establishedconservative political elements, with organized fascism being led byThomist writerNimio de Anquín whoseUnión 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 theanti-Semitism ofNazism as well.[8] Meinvielle soon became the theological force behind the militantTacuara Nationalist Movement.
Argentina came under the rule ofJuan Perón in 1946, who is sometimes characterized as a fascist. However, the description ofPeronism as a fascist ideology has proven controversial in academic circles.[9]
Although theFalkland Islands have never had a fascist movement, theBritish overseas territory housed someBritish Union of Fascists members detained underDefence Regulation 18B during the Second World War. One detainee wasJeffrey Hamm, who was interned in the hull of a ship inPort Stanley harbor.[10]
The status of the Falkland Islands was also an important issue for ADUNA, specifically the Irazusta brothers who wrote extensively on their desire toreturn the islands to Argentine sovereignty.[11]
The governments ofDavid Toro andGermán Busch were vaguely committed tocorporatism,ultra-nationalism, andnational syndicalism, but they lacked coherence in their ideas. Such concepts were later adopted by theRevolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), which openly acknowledged its ideological debt to fascism and joined the military underGualberto Villarroel's pro-Axis government in 1943.[12] After the war, however, the MNR largely distanced itself from its fascist roots; by the timeVíctor Paz Estenssoro came to power as the MNR leader in a 1952 coup, the movement's ideological investment in fascism had been abandoned.[12]
From an initially oppositional stance,Óscar Únzaga'sBolivian Socialist Falange was an important group in the 1930s that sought to incorporate the ideas ofJosé Antonio Primo de Rivera in Bolivia. However, like the MNR, it gradually de-emphasized its faith in fascism over time.[6]
Fascism first appeared in Brazil in 1922 with the foundation of theLegião do Cruzeiro do Sul. Within 10 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 ofSão Paulo, the Partido Nacional Regenerador, and the Partido Socialista Brasileiro all of which espoused some form of fascism.[12]
One of the most important fascist movements on the continent wasBrazilian integralism which drew from bothItalian fascism andIntegralismo Lusitano. At its peak, the Ação Integralista Brasileira, led byPlínio Salgado, claimed as many as 200,000 members. Following coup attempts, it faced a crackdown from theEstado Novo ofGetúlio Vargas in 1937.[6] Like thePortugueseEstado Novo that influenced it, Vargas' regime borrowed elements from fascism without fully endorsing it, ultimately repressing those who advocated for full fascism.[6]
Additionally, there were Italian and German fascist organizations acting through both communities between the 1920s and the end of the war, specifically in the Southeastern andSouthern regions where most of their members operated. In the Italian fascist organizations, both immigrants and their descendants were accepted, such as in the case of the Fascio di Sao Paolo, 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 thefascists took power in Italy; it achieved huge success among the Italians of thecity and rapidly 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 subsequently 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 institution at the time was the Circolo Italiano di Sao Paolo which was established in 1910 and still active today. Its aim has been to preserve and disseminate Italian culture to Italian-Brazilians and Brazilians in general. In the mid-1920s, the fascist doctrine began to infiltrate the community and institution through the influence of Serafino Mazzolini, the Italian consul to Brazil.[15]
Such Italian fascists organizations, 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 the Colégio Visconde de São Leopoldo. The school reverted to its formal name after the war ended.[16]
Under the direction ofCarlos Keller andJorge González von Marées, theNational Socialist Movement of Chile, following its formation in 1932, took up a position similar to that ofAdolf 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]
Eventually, the Nacistas dissociated themselves 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 theNational Socialist Movement of Chile.[17]
Later adopting a more domestic version of fascism, the Nacistasattempted a coup in 1938 and faded after the attempt failed, adopting the nameVanguardia Popular Socialista before disbanding in 1941.[6] Some ex-members formed thecorporatist Movimiento Nacionalista de Chile in 1940, and members of this latter group went on to participate in the founding of theFatherland and Liberty paramilitary group in 1970.[19]
The regime ofAugusto Pinochet that ruled from 1974 to 1990, which Fatherland and Liberty had helped to bring about, had some influences fromfalangismo, but it took a moreconservative liberal direction during the 1980s. The government is sometimes characterized as fascist, although this has been thesubject of much debate by academics.
Links were alleged betweenNazi Germany andLaureano Gómez's newspaperEl Siglo during the 1930s and 1940s, although Colombia has generally had little fascist activity in its history outside of theGerman community.[20]
In the 1980s, the drug dealerCarlos Lehder founded his own neo-Nazi party, the National Latin Movement.
Although the Alianza Revolucionaria Nacionalista Ecuatoriana (ARNE) was founded after the Second World War in 1948, it still looked to fascism for its inspiration. The group failed to make a major impact, however, as it was kept in check by thepopulism ofJosé María Velasco Ibarra.[21] With its efforts to frequently attend workers meetings and rallies in an effort to provoke violence with leftist groups, the ARNE proved little more than a wing of theConservative Party, one of the country's two leading political groups.[22]
TheFebrerista movement, active during the 1930s, demonstrated some support for fascism by seeking revolutionary change, endorsing strongnationalism, and seeking to partly introducecorporatism. Their revolutionaryRafael Franco-led government, however, proved decidedly non-radical during its brief tenure. The Febreristas have since regrouped as theRevolutionary Febrerista Party, asocialist party with no connection to fascism.[6]
In 1931, theUnión Revolucionaria was founded byLuis Miguel Sánchez Cerro as the state party of his dictatorship. After his assassination in 1933, the group came under the leadership ofRaúl Ferrero Rebagliati who sought to mobilize mass support and even set up a Blackshirt movement in imitation of theItalian movement. A heavy defeat in the 1944 elections shook confidence in the movement, however, causing it to fade.[12]
Following the collapse of Reblagiati's movement, the country's main outlet for fascism became the Peruvian Fascist Brotherhood formed by ex-Prime MinisterJosé 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 in support of theAllies. Ultimately, the group's credibility was damaged by its leader becoming increasingly eccentric in his personal behavior.[23]
TheAlianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) was originally aleft-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 it very quickly changed course and emerged as a mainstreamsocial democratic party.[6][24]
The academicHugo Fernández Artucio wrote the bookNazis in Uruguay in 1940 and campaigned against Germanfifth column activity in the country during the war. Such activity included a plot to take Uruguay as a German colony. Ultimately, twelve people were arrested for conspiracy, and the country placed a ban on theNazi Party within its German community.[25]
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Beyond someminor 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]
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