Masistas fascists | Masistas fascistas

By Juan Jose Toro Montoya, Vision 360:

If Evo and his followers didn’t have their evident tendency toward violence, they would have let a period pass so that their leader could run again, but as it seems, they don’t want to relinquish power even for an instant.

Juan Evo Morales Ayma could have gone down in history as Bolivia’s Mandela, but he lost that opportunity forever.

He came to power by winning elections with an absolute majority and managed to convene a Constituent Assembly, which brought a new Political Constitution of the State into effect. He could have been a conciliator, like Mandela, but he chose the path of confrontation, and that’s his style—a tendency that has only worsened over the years.

Mandela was a communist, and the main objective of his struggle was to eliminate apartheid, which divided South Africa by supposed races. His activism earned him a life sentence, but international pressure secured his release after 27 years. He participated in elections and also won with an absolute majority, allowing him to change his country’s constitution. The big difference with Morales is that the South African leader was so conciliatory that he even included his predecessor in his government.

Due to the enormous support he had, Mandela could have been re-elected, but he chose to govern for just one term, from 1994 to 1999. After completing his term, he retired to private life, though he returned to politics—not to govern again, but through a foundation that outlives him.

Evo Morales didn’t just govern for one term but several, consecutively, and when he wanted to amend the constitution to run again, the Bolivian majority told him “no.” Instead of respecting the popular will, he overrode it, which cost him a popular uprising that eventually forced him out of power.

If Evo and his followers didn’t have their evident tendency toward violence, they would have let a period pass so that their leader could run again. But as it turns out, they don’t want to relinquish power even for an instant. That is no longer politics, but something deeper that deserves to be analyzed—perhaps even psychiatrically.

From its name, MAS calls itself socialist, but its methods, characterized by clear authoritarianism, are something else and more closely resemble the fascism of Benito Mussolini. As my colleague and fellow countryman Andrés Gómez recalled in his latest article, Mussolini organized the March on Rome in 1922, aimed at forcing the resignation of Italy’s then-Prime Minister, Luigi Facta. The march succeeded in its goal, and Mussolini rose to power, which he held onto until he, too, was forcibly removed.

The march to La Paz that ended on Monday was quite similar to the Italian fascist march of 1922. Beyond the disputes between the “Evistas” and the “Arcistas,” the main victims were journalists who suffered the wrath of the marchers. Their hatred and cowardice reached such extremes that they even brutally assaulted a woman.

Fascism promotes nationalism and the mobilization of the masses—methods the MAS employs, using indigenism as its ideological base. With that background, it’s clear that this political organization, regardless of its internal “factions,” is not socialist but fascist.

Now, the fascist MAS is divided. One of its leaders, Evo Morales, seeks to topple the other, Luis Arce, in his desperation to return to power. The pathetically ironic thing is that the fascist march to La Paz was labeled “to save Bolivia” when the facts show that, in reality, that party is sinking the country.

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