Left rally as fascist ideas gain ground
ROME: The spectre of Benito Mussolini returned this month in the form of a poster at Piazza Venezia, the Roman square where more than 70 years ago he fired up the masses with fascist speeches and stirred a fatal brew of Italian nationalism.
The multistorey movie poster of Mussolini, aka Il Duce, head bald and arms akimbo, advertised I’m Back, a satirical film imagining the dictator’s return to modernday Italy.
In many ways, the poster symbolised the debate on Mussolini — or at least the violent nationalism that fuelled his rise — that has returned with force to the country as critical elections loom on March 4.
The re-emergence of extremist violence, harassment and xenophobia has gripped Italy and forced the country to reckon with the hard-right and fascist ideologies fuelled by a lingering financial crisis and migration.
But it has also spurred a countermovement. Demonstrators marched in Rome on Saturday to stand up to fascism.
“We are here to say no to fascism and racism, which are a danger today for democracy and coexistence,” Carla Nespolo, the president of the National Association of Italian Partisans, said at a demonstration that brought thousands to the streets under the hashtags #FascismNeverAgain and #RacismNeverAgain.
“It’s said that if you don’t know your history you are doomed to living it again. We don’t want to repeat the tragedies of fascism and Nazism,” Ms Nespolo said. She added that what frightened her most was the “indifference, superficiality and ignorance” that allowed fascist ideologies to take root.
As the elections approach, politically inspired violence has become an almost daily occurrence.
This month, a fascist extremist who carried a candle with an image of Mussolini opened fire on African immigrants in Macerata, wounding at least six people before he was arrested. Interior Minister Marco Minniti described the shootings as an “evident display of racial hatred”.
Forza Nuova, a far-right party that marches with the straight-armed salute of Mussolini, has repeatedly clashed with the police and anti-fascist protesters.
Members of CasaPound, a political party that proudly claims to admire Mussolini, recently invaded the emergency area of a hospital in Bolzano to protest homeless people who take refuge there overnight.
This past week, Italy’s intelligence services published an annual report that noted increased activity by left-wing anarchist groups, as well as the growing dynamism and appeal of radical right groups, especially among young people.
Presenting the report, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that Italy’s spies were working to ensure that the “risk of internal radicalization” and “political extremism” could never again spawn the “germs of subversion” in the country.
But several organisations have been tracking the growing number of episodes of neo-fascist violence for some time; one group has mapped aggressions throughout Italy since 2005.
As the violence worsens, some critics have blamed Matteo Salvini, the bombastic secretary of the League party and, to a lesser extent, Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy, the modern heirs of the party that rose from the ashes of Mussolini’s Fascists.
For the coming elections, Mr Salvini and Mr Meloni have joined former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and their coalition is leading in the polls. Mr Berlusconi is not new to such alliances.
When he first came to power, in 1994, he governed in a coalition that included the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, or MSI, which was founded by Mussolini’s supporters some 50 years earlier.
Mr Berlusconi’s current allies promote nationalism and conservatism, seeking to defend against the Islamisation of Italy and banning migration from underdeveloped countries.
“There is nothing moderate about the Brothers of Italy or the League,” said Andrea Mammone, a historian at Royal Holloway at the University of London. “If those aren’t extreme-right themes perpetuated by neofascist parties, what are?”
Mr Salvini has said on the campaign trail that fascism had done positive things for the country, and the centre-right candidate running the Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana, has said that Italy had to protect “the white race.” He later apologised.
These parties, critics say, are sowing the seed of subversion through their populist courtship of voters and fomenting xenophobia by spreading an anti-migrant message.
“I never thought we’d get to this point again,” said Patrizia Manfroni, a retired office worker. “This intolerance is frightening; it’s as though we’ve forgotten that Italians were among the millions who migrated to other countries with a cardboard suitcase in hand.”