The Metastases of Fascism and Venezuela

Elio Delgado Legon

HAVANA TIMES — No honest person in the world today has any doubt that fascism is the cancer of society. Born in Europe in the early twentieth century, it tried to conquer the world – and would have accomplished this, had it not been for the heroic perseverance of the Soviet army and people, who, at the cost of 10 million lives, forced it to retreat to Berlin in utter defeat.

It looked as though this ideology, characterized by genocidal and xenophobic tenets, further to the right than what we consider the extreme right today, would never again resurface. In view of its cancerous nature, fascism had to be extirpated from society entirely and prevented from reemerging anywhere in the world through legislations that outlawed any expression of fascism or neo-fascism, criminal currents that have absolutely nothing to do with democracy.

There are plenty of well-documented incidents of the resurgence of fascism around Europe, but I will focus on the phenomenon in Latin America, where the majority of countries has endured it in one way or another.

Because of its elitist nature, fascism has found near unconditional support in domestic oligarchies, as these regard such regimes as a guarantee they will be able to maintain their privileges and continue to live as parasites that feed on the wealth of countries (wealth they must share with transnational corporations), while the vast majorities eke out a living in conditions of extreme poverty.

The most eloquent examples of fascist regimes can be found in the time of Latin American military dictatorships, which remained in power through bloodshed and resulted in the murder, torture and disappearance of millions of people – governments which, tellingly, received the unconditional support of successive administrations of the superpower that proclaims itself a champion of democracy around the world.

Today, Latin America’s political landscape has radically changed thanks to the selfless and sustained struggle of its peoples and the emergence of left-wing leaders who have been capable of interpreting their longings and needs.

Latin America’s current political map evinces numerous countries with left-wing or nationalist governments that span nearly the entire sub-continent, including the insular Caribbean.

In a previous article, published in Havana times on April 25, 2013, I stressed that:

“We have more than enough examples of this, should anyone have doubts. The bloodiest was the fascist coup that took place in Chile in 1973. More recently, I can think of the failed coup in Boliva, where there was even an attempt to divide the country in two; the coup attempted in Ecuador, which almost cost President Correa his life; the coup in Venezuela, which was reversed by the people and loyal armed forces, and the oil industry strike, which cost the country billions of dollars. All have been desperate attempts by the Right, seeking to take power at any price.

More recently, following the Venezuelan presidential elections which resulted in Nicolas Maduro’s victory, the opposition, in an openly fascist move, attacked supporters of Chávez’ revolutionary project, leaving behind eight dead and dozens of injured citizens.

How many more attempts at overthrowing the Left in power through fascist violence will we have to endure?”

In recent days, we’ve seen acts of vandalism in the streets of Venezuela which have resulted in the destruction and burning of State properties, while the United States issues warnings and threatens the Venezuelan government, accusing it of repressing the people. It is the same script used in Libya and Syria: support for fascist vandals and threats leveled at the government that was legally elected by the people.

The fascist cancer has again metastasized in the land of Bolivar and Chavez, but the people of Venezuela will not allow it to ruin what they have accomplished and will again come out victorious.