President Jair Bolsonaro’s deputy and son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, celebrated on social media the first results of the election in Italy that gave victory to the ultra-conservative movement. Citing the likely new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, the parliamentarian released a video attacking the “LGBT lobby”, immigration and Islam.
The video was taken from a meeting Meloni held at an event organized by the Spanish far right, which is also allied with Bolsonarism. “Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby,” Meloni said. “Yes to sexual identity. No to gender ideology,” she adds.
In another passage, he also attacks immigration and defends Christianity. “Yes to the universality of the cross, no to Islamic violence. Yes to the security of the borders. No to mass immigration,” he said. “Yes to our civilization, no to those who want to destroy it,” he said.
Eduardo Bolsonaro also tried to minimize Meloni’s party’s relationship with fascism, warning that the “media” would say “far-right fascism” would win. Brazilian parliamentarian, “Like Brazil, Italy has now become “God, Fatherland and Family”.
Although Meloni’s party insists it has no ties to Italy’s criminal past in its history, his actions and vague statements fuel a wide-ranging debate.
Meloni, now 45, headed the youth wing of the National Alliance, a political bloc rising from the ashes of fascism. For some analysts in Italy, Meloni and his party represent what might be termed a “post-fascist movement”.
Its critics point out that the movement is full of symbols of the past. Its headquarters, for example, remains in Via della Scrofa 39, the same place occupied since 1946 by nationalist groups that inherited Benito Mussolini’s political movement.
In the last few years, the newspaper affiliated with the political group Secolo d’Italia has published columns that flirt with some of the main fascist ideas.
Presenting itself as one of the political forces in the country today, the party includes Rachele Mussolini, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini and a member of the Roman parliament of Meloni’s party.
Throughout his meteoric political career, Meloni’s statements left room for doubt. In one he said that Mussolini had a “complex personality”. In an autobiography, he does not break with the past. “We are the children of our history, of our entire history,” he said. “The path we travel is complex, much more complex than many believe,” he wrote.
Like Bolsonaro, Meloni maintains a close relationship with Hungarian Viktor Orbán and far-right extremists in France and Spain, and participates in political and religious events in the United States with former President Donald Trump.
‘Moderate’ party leader urges allies to avoid fascist salute
However, as with Marine Le Pen in France, Meloni has begun to soften her ultra-conservative stance in recent weeks. The goal was to broaden the vote base.
One decision was to send an orientation to all members of his party, instructing candidates and supporters not to use the fascist salute at events. It also called for the abandonment of extremist expressions and for groups to avoid references to fascism.
Its schedule has also been changed. Instead of the traditional themes of the far-right, the focus needs to be on family benefits, reducing bureaucracy and taxes. But the immigration problem has not gone away, and one of their slogans is clear: “Italy and Italians first.”
Unlike other far-right movements in Europe, he has refrained from giving any positive signals to Russian President Vladimir Putin and insists that Italy will side with the Ukrainians if elected. Meloni also partly abandoned criticism of the European Commission, one of the flags of ultra-nationalists. The tone change had an impact, and the support base went beyond rural areas.
But both the opposition and human rights groups warn that the tone change may just be an electoral strategy. An example for many is what happened in the small town of Ladispoli in 2017 when the far right came to power.
One of the measures announced was the renaming of the central square. Name chosen: Giorgio Almirante, one of the ministers of Mussolini’s fascist government. And the inauguration of the new plaque was consecrated by a local bishop.
source: Noticias
