Fascism in South America
Encyclopedia
Fascism in South America was an assortment of political parties and movements modelled on fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

. Although originating in Europe and primarily associated with that continent the ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...

 did cross the Atlantic Ocean between the wars and had an influence on South American politics. Although the ideas of Falangism
Falangism
Falangism is the political ideology of the Spanish Falange as well as derivatives of it in other countries. In its original form, Falangism is widely associated as a fascist ideology, the Spanish Falange denied this, claiming it was not a copy of any foreign movement...

 had probably the deepest impact in South America
Falangism in Latin America
Falangism in Latin America has been a feature of political life since the 1930s as movements looked to the national syndicalist Catholic fascism of the Spanish State and sought to apply it to other Spanish-speaking countries...

, due in no small part to the concept of Hispanidad, more generic fascism was also an important factor in regional politics.

Argentina

During the 1920s former socialist Leopoldo Lugones
Leopoldo Lugones
Leopoldo Lugones Argüello was an Argentine writer and journalist.-Early life:Born in Villa de María del Río Seco, a city in Córdoba Province, in Argentina's Catholic heartland, Lugones belonged to a family of landed gentry...

 became a supporter of fascism and from this basis a coterie of pro-fascist intellectuals grew. Including amongst its number Juan Carulla
Juan Carulla
Juan Emiliano Carulla was an Argentine physician and nationalist politician.In his early years Carulla was a supporter of anarchism but this was to change after a trip to Europe during the First World War...

, Ernesto Palacio
Ernesto Palacio (writer)
Ernesto Palacio was an Argentine historian and part of a generation of right-wing nationalist intellectuals active from the 1920s.-Early years:...

, Manuel Gálvez
Manuel Gálvez
Manuel Gálvez was an Argentine novelist, poet, essayist, historian and biographer....

, Carlos Ibarguren
Carlos Ibarguren
Carlos Ibarguren Uriburu was an Argentine academic, historian and politician. As a writer he was noted as one of the foremost academics of the history of Argentina as well as a leading expert on constitutional law...

, Roberto de Laferrere
Roberto de Laferrère
Roberto de Laferrère was an Argentinean writer and political activist. He was one of the leading figures in the nationalist movement active amongst a group of leading intellectuals in the 1930s-Nationalism:...

, Mario Amadeo
Mario Amadeo
Mario Amadeo was an Argentine conservative nationalist politician, diplomat and writer who served as a minister in the government of Eduardo Lonardi...

 and the brothers Rodolfo
Rodolfo Irazusta
Rodolfo Irazusta was an Argentine writer and politician who was one of the leading lights of the nationalist movement of the 1920s and 1930s. He collaborated closely with his younger brother Julio Irazusta throughout his career....

 and Julio Irazusta, the gathered around the journal La Nueva Republica and expressed ideas reminiscent of those of Charles Maurras
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...

. They grouped together under the name ADUNA (Afirmación de Una Nueva Argentina) 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
José Félix Uriburu
General José Félix Benito Uriburu y Uriburu was the first de facto President of Argentina, achieved through a military coup, from September 6, 1930 to February 20, 1932.-Biography:...

, which initially attempted to introduce corporatism
Corporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...

 inspired by Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

 before giving way to the Infamous Decade
Infamous Decade
The Infamous Decade in Argentina is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen by José Félix Uriburu...

 of highly repressive and conservative military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....

.

This group however despite openly expressing their enthusiasm for fascism, retained links to the established conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 political elements with organised fascism being led by Thomist writer Nimio de Anquín
Nimio de Anquín
Nimio de Anquín was an Argentine Thomist writer and fascist politician.A native of Córdoba, Argentina, de Anquín studied law at National University of Córdoba. With his studies in Argentina completed he travelled to Germany to study philosophy under Ernst Cassirer...

, whose Union National Fascista was active in various forms from the late 1920s until 1939. His fellow Thomist Julio Meinvielle
Julio Meinvielle
Father Julio Meinvielle was an Argentine priest and prolific antisemitic writer.-Background:Meinvielle studied for his Doctorate in Philosophy and Theology in Rome and soon afterwards became a prolific writer of religious, historical and economic books within the school of Thomism...

 was also active in support of fascism and distilled much of the anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

 of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 as well. He became the theological force behind the militant Tacuara Nationalist Movement.

Argentina came under the rule of Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

 in 1946 and he is sometimes characterised as a fascist. However the description of Peronism
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...

 as fascist has proven controversial in academic circles.

Bolivia

The governments of David Toro and Germán Busch
Germán Busch
Germán Busch Becerra was a former Bolivian military officer, hero of the Chaco War , and president of Bolivia between 1937 and 1939.Germán Busch was born in San Javier, in central Bolivia's hot, fertile, coffee-growing region to a physician, a German...

 were vaguely committed to corporatism, ultra-nationalism and national syndicalism
National syndicalism
National syndicalism is a nationalist variant of syndicalism.- Founding of national syndicalism in France :National syndicalism was founded in France by the fusion of Maurrassian integral nationalism with Sorelian syndicalism. Interest in Sorelian thought arose in the French political right,...

 but they suffered from a lack of coherence in their ideas. The ideas were taken up by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is a Bolivian political party, perhaps the most important in the country during the 20th century. At the legislative elections in 2002, the party won, in an alliance with the Free Bolivia Movement, 26.9% of the popular vote and 36 out of 130 seats in the...

 (MNR), which was open about its ideological debt to fascism and which joined the military in a pro-Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 government under Gualberto Villarroel
Gualberto Villarroel
Gualberto Villarroel López was the head of state of Bolivia from December 20, 1943 to July 21, 1946. A reformist, he is nonetheless remembered for his alleged fascist sympathies, and is sometimes compared with Argentina's Juan Domingo Perón...

 in 1943. After the war the MNR largely turned away from its fascist roots and when Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

 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
Oscar Unzaga
Óscar Únzaga de la Vega was a Bolivian political figure and rebel. He, most significantly, founded the Bolivian Socialist Falange movement in 1937, and ran for President in the 1956 elections, when his party became the main opposition movement to the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario...

's Bolivian Socialist Falange
Bolivian Socialist Falange
The Bolivian Socialist Falange was a Bolivian political party established in the year 1937. A right-wing party drawing inspiration from fascism, it was the country's second-largest party between approximately 1954 and 1974...

 was an important group in the 1930s that initially sought to use the ideas of José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquis of Estella , was a Spanish lawyer, nobleman, politician, and founder of the Falange Española...

 in Bolivia but, like the MNR, over time it de-emphasised its links to fascism.

Brazil

Fascism first appeared in Brazil in 1922 with the foundation of the Legião do Cruzeiro do Sul and within ten years this had been followed by the Legião de Outubro, the Partido Nacional Sindicalista, the Partido Fascista Nacional, the Legião Cearense do Trabalho, the Partido Nacionalista of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, the Partido Nacional Regenerador, the Partido Socialista Braziliero and the Partido Socialista Braziliero, all minor groups that espoused some form of fascism However one of the most important fascist movements on the continent was Brazilian Integralism
Brazilian Integralism
Brazilian Integralism was a fascist political movement in Brazil, created on October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure who was somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week, the movement had adopted some characteristics of European mass movements of...

, which shared a heritage with Italian fascism
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...

 as well as Integralismo Lusitano
Integralismo Lusitano
Integralismo Lusitano was a Portuguese integralist political movement, founded in Coimbra in 1914, that advocated traditionalism but not conservatism. It was against parliamentarism; instead, it favored decentralization, national syndicalism, the Roman Catholic Church, and the monarchy...

. At its peak the Ação Integralista Brasileira, led by Plínio Salgado
Plínio Salgado
Plínio Salgado was a Brazilian politician, writer, journalist, and theologian. He founded and led the Brazilian Integralist Action, a far-right political party inspired on the Italian Fascist movement....

, claimed as many as 200,000 members although following coup attempts it faced a crackdown from the Estado Novo
Estado Novo (Brazil)
Vargas Era is the period in the history of Brazil that lasted from 1930 to 1945, when the country was under the leadership of Getúlio Dornelles Vargas....

 of Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...

 in 1937. Like the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 Estado Novo that influenced it, Vargas' regime borrowed from fascism without fully endorsing it and in the end repressed those who advocated full fascism.

Chile

Under the direction of Carlos Keller
Carlos Keller
Carlos Keller Rueff was a far-right Chilean writer, historian, and political figure.-Early years:Keller was born in Concepción, Chile, into a family of German origin and completed his education at universities in Germany...

 and Jorge González von Marées
Jorge González von Marées
Jorge González von Marées El Jefe was a Chilean political figure and author.Born in Santiago of a German mother. He was ideologically influenced by Oswald Spengler...

 the National Socialist Movement of Chile
National Socialist Movement of Chile
Movimiento Nacional Socialista de Chile was a political movement in Chile, during the Presidential Republic Era, which initially supported the ideas of Adolf Hitler, although it later moved towards a more indigenous form of fascism....

 took up position similar to those of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 following its formation in 1932. 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
Vanguardia Popular Socialista
The Vanguardia Popular Socialista was a Chilean political party created in 1938. It was the direct heir of the National Socialist Movement of Chile and founded as a consequence of the failed fascist coup in 1938 and its repression. It included Jorge González von Marées and Miguel Serrano, while...

 before disbanding in 1941. In 1940 some ex-emebers founded the corporatist Movimiento Nacionalista de Chile and members of this latter group were instrumental in the foundation of Fatherland and Liberty
Fatherland and Liberty
The Fatherland and Liberty Nationalist Front was a nationalist and authoritarian political and paramilitary group...

 in 1970.

The regime of Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...

 that ruled from 1974 to 1990, which Fatherland and Liberty had helped to bring about, is sometimes characterised as fascist although this has been the subject of much debate in academic circles.

Colombia

Links were alleged between Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 and Laureano Gómez
Laureano Gómez
Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro was President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953, and long time leader of the Colombian Conservative Party.-Pre-election:...

's newspaper El Siglo
El Nuevo Siglo
El Nuevo Siglo is a daily newspaper published in Bogotá, Colombia. It was founded in 1936 by the conservatives Laureano Gómez and José de la Vega en Bogotá. In July 2007, it was run by Juan Gabriel Uribe...

during the 1930s and 1940s although generally Colombia has had little fascist activity in its history outside of the German community
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

.

Ecuador

Although the Alianza Revolucionaria Nacionalista Ecuatoriana (ARNE) was founded in 1948 it still looked to fascism for its inspiration, although the populism
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

 of José María Velasco Ibarra
José María Velasco Ibarra
José María Velasco Ibarra was an Ecuadorian political figure. He served as the president of Ecuador from 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968-1972. He only served one of those terms without being ousted by the army, from 1952-1956.-Early life and career:Velasco Ibarra was born on...

 proved much too strong a check on the group's ambitions. 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
Conservative Party (Ecuador)
The Conservative Party was an Ecuadorian conservative party formed in 1869. Initially associated with the military of Ecuador the PC became one of the two great parties of state in the country, alternating in power with the Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party.-Development:The PC was formed by Gabriel...

, one of the country's two leading political groups.

Falkland Islands

Although the Falklands has never had a fascist movement its status as a British overseas territory meant that it was used to house some British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...

 members detained under Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B, often referred to as simply 18B, was the most famous of the Defence Regulations used by the British Government during World War II. The complete technical reference name for this rule was: Regulation 18B of the Defence Regulations 1939. It allowed for the internment of...

 during the Second World War. The most high profile of these was Jeffrey Hamm
Jeffrey Hamm
Edward Jeffrey Hamm was a leading British Fascist and supporter of Oswald Mosley.Born in Ebbw Vale, Wales, he came into contact with the British Union of Fascists during a family trip to London and joined in 1935 when he relocated to London although initially, due to his youth, his role in the...

 who was interned in the hull of a ship in Port Stanley harbour.

The status of the 'Malvinas
Malvinas
Islas Malvinas is the Spanish name of two groups of islands:*A group of islands in the South Atlantic, known in English as the Falkland Islands*A chain of tiny islands and rocks near Ibiza in the Mediterranean...

' 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
Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is disputed between Argentina and the United Kingdom.The British claim to de jure sovereignty dates from 1690, and the United Kingdom has exercised de facto sovereignty over the archipelago almost constantly since 1833...

.

Paraguay

The Febrerista movement, active during the 1930s, demonstrated some support for fascism by seeking revolutionary change, endorsing strong nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

 and seeking to, at least in part, introduce corporatism
Corporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...

. However their revolutionary, Rafael Franco
Rafael Franco
Rafael Franco Ojeda was President of Paraguay from February 17, 1936 to August 13, 1937. He was a member of the Febrerista Revolutionary Party....

-led government proved decidedly non-radical during its brief tenure and the Febreristas have since regrouped as the Revolutionary Febrerista Party
Revolutionary Febrerista Party
The Revolutionary Febrerista Party is a democratic socialist party of Paraguay.-History:The party was established on 11 December 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was initially banned in Paraguay, which was under a Colorado Party regime at the time. The party was legalised in 1964 as it was no...

, a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 party with no connection to fascism.

Peru

Initially espousing a form of socialism combined with ultra-nationalism, the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana showed early signs of fascism as a result. The APRA very quickly emerged as a mainstream social democratic party however and avowed fascism became the province of two other groups.

The Unión Revolucionaria
Revolutionary Union (Peru)
Revolutionary Union was a political party in Peru. It was founded in 1931 by Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro and became the governing party that same year. It took part in elections in 1931 and 1945. In 1933 the leadership was taken over by Raúl Ferrero Rebagliati who sought to mobilise mass support...

had initially been founded by Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro was a high-ranking Peruvian army officer and President of Peru from 1931 to 1933. On August 22, 1930, as a lieutenant-colonel, he overturned the eleven-year dictatorship of Augusto B...

 in 1931 as the state party of his dictatorship. However following his 1933 assassination 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
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...

. A heavy defeat in the 1936 elections shook confidence however and the movement 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
José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma
José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma was a Peruvian historian, writer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Peru...

. The group initially enjoyed some prestige although it faded into the background after Peru entered the Second World War on the side of the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 whilst the group's credibility was damaged by its leader becoming increasingly eccentric in his personal behaviour.

Uruguay

The academic Hugo Fernández Artucio
Hugo Fernández Artucio
Hugo Fernández Artucio was a Uruguayan teacher of philosophy, historian and politician.-Earlier career:He was an editor of Free World magazine in New York...

 wrote the book Nazis in Uruguay in 1940 and campaigned against German fifth column
Fifth column
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...

 activity in the country during the war. This included a plot to take Uruguay as a German colony which saw 12 people arrested for conspiracy and a ban placed on the Nazi Party within the country's German community. There was, however, little or no domestic fascist activity in Uruguay.

Venezuela

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

See also

  • Fascism in Africa
    Fascism in Africa
    Fascism in Africa refers to the phenomenon of fascist parties and movements that were active in Africa. Due to the status of Africa as an area of colonialism during the inter-war period fascist movements rarely developed...

  • Fascism in Asia
    Fascism in Asia
    Fascism in Asia refers to political ideologies in Asia which adhered to fascist policies.-Iran:Fascism in Iran was organised SUMKA , a neo-Nazi party founded by Davud Monshizadeh in 1952...

  • Fascism in Europe
  • Fascism in North America
    Fascism in North America
    Fascism in North America was composed of a set of related political movements in Canada, the United States, Mexico and elsewhere which were variants of fascism. Fascist movements in North America never realized power, unlike their counterparts in Europe...

  • Fascism in Oceania
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