Spitfire Editorial Comment: In numerous programs, we have presented discussion of what brilliant researchers Kevin Coogan and Henrik Kruger have termed the Fascist International or (as Kruger puts it) The International Fascista.
The name is precisely what it indicates: a powerful ideological and operational consortium of fascists from around the world.
Incorporating veterans of the fascist powers of World War II and CIA “black ops” elements with death squad and special operations veterans (primarily from Europe and Latin America), this milieu has existed for generations.
There are powerful Islamist elements from what is known as the Earth Island or World Island and even an Israeli contingent.
A fascinating manifestation of the fascist international has cropped up in Brazil, incorporating descendants of World War II Nazi ministers, overlapping both European and Brazilian aristocracies.
With Donald Trump out of office (for the time being), his spear carriers–led by Steve Bannon–are anointing Jair Bolsanaro of Brazil as the point element of a contemporary fascist international.
Key Points of Discussion and Analysis:
- ” . . . . German MP Beatrix von Storch, from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was in Brazil last week to hold several meetings with members of the Brazilian government. . . .”
- ” . . . . The photo surprised Brazilians, especially since von Storch is the granddaughter of Lutz Graf von Krosigk, finance minister in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi government. The congresswoman’s party, the AfD, is now the subject of an investigation by the German secret services for its connections to extremist acts in the country. . . .”
- ” . . . . after the end of Donald Trump’s term in the United States, the ultra-conservative offensive has bet all its chips on Bolsonaro’s Brazil. In January 2021, senior Trump officials sent messages to other countries informing that the projects that had been led by the White House would be taken over by Bolsonaro from that moment on. . . .”
- ” . . . . The Bolsonaro government is not alone in this movement to keep alive the agenda of the extreme right in the world. However, it has become a key element in strengthening that group in America. . . .”
- ” . . . . Now, the objective is its internationalization. ‘There is a script and it’s scary,’ says a European Union negotiator under anonymity. The model is based on the governments of Hungary and Poland that, over a decade, managed to dismantle a liberal democracy and install a new ultra-conservative base. . . .”
- ” . . . . Brazil sent at least six missions to Hungary in 2019 . . . . A meeting was held between the then Brazilian Culture Secretary, Roberto Alvim, and a team from the Hungarian Ministry of Culture. Alvim ended up leaving office after a controversial video was released using Nazi references. . . .”
Another very important, largely eclipsed, element of the fascist international through the years is the role of the networked aristocracies of Europe and Latin America.
These aristocracies have comprised a critical element of fascist nations and political movements.
(An important presentation of this relationship is available in the book Falange–The Secret Axis Army in The Americas by Allan Chase.)
Twitter feed excerpts reveal the contemporary nature of this dynamic, trans-Atlantic fascist/aristocrat relationship:
Aristocrats see fascism as a route to retaking power lost to the bourgeoisie. While in Brazil planning her “Conservative International”, AfD Parliamentarian Beatrix von Storch, granddaughter of Hitler’s finance minister, met with Bolsonaro-backers in the Brazilian Monarchy. pic.twitter.com/y51aLIF2VE— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 27, 2021
AfD Parliamentarian Von Storch’s birth name/title was, Her Highness Duchess Beatrix Amelie Ehrengard Eilika von Oldenburg. She is a distant relative of both Prince Charles and Bertrand de Orléans e Bragança, the head of the Brazilian royal family, who she met with last month. pic.twitter.com/XKpXlzdVAR— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
In 2018, Congressman/Prince Luiz Philippe Maria José Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Orleans e Bragança became the first member of the Brazilian Royal Family to take political office since the fall of the Monarchy. Jair Bolsonaro later said, “I should have chosen you as my VP. pic.twitter.com/VbsWptVkKE— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
Little known fact: Although the Brazilian monarchy was deposed in 1889, the royal family still receives a 2.5% tax, called a Laudêmio, levied on every real estate transaction in the former Imperial Summer headquarters of Petropolis, RJ, which has a GDP of R$12 billion/year. pic.twitter.com/469xpHteCt— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
Von Storch’s maternal grandfather, Count Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (second from right) was one of the few members of the Third Reich’s cabinet to serve continuously from Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor until his death. pic.twitter.com/qz3kl0KyM0— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
As Hitler’s Finance Minister, von Krosigk and his ministry persecuted Jews, stole their property, and laundered their money. In 1949, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but his sentence was commuted in 1951. Those Aristocrats have the best lawyers pic.twitter.com/PQu8NVOsbx— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
(In AFA#1, we noted that von Krosigk minted the term “Iron Curtain” during the closing days of Hitler’s reign, with Winston Churchill resurrecting and publicizing it in his famous speech in Springfield, Missouri.)
The Brazilian Monarchy tried to retake power in a referendum in 1993. I was living in São Luís at the time and remember thinking, “what the hell?”. 13% of Brazilians – mostly conservative Catholics – voted for a return to Monarchy. Obviously, many of them supported Bolsonaro too. pic.twitter.com/Kj7AH4U6FK— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
During the lead up to the 1964 coup, the CIA funded anti-communist marches by a conservative Catholic group called “Tradition, Family and Property”. The meeting between the Brazilian royals and Von Storch took place in its current headquarters, Instituto Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira pic.twitter.com/eWCBPDJ437— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
Here is a Portuguese language source on libertation theology priest Frei Betto talking about the CIA relationship with TFP during the lead up to the 1964 coup: https://t.co/7QgKgUquhp— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
So, recalling the relationship between deposed royal families, Hitler, Mussolini, and the Brazilian military dictatorship, it’s noteworthy that a German duchess/AfD Deputy Director, just met with Bolsonaro and the Monarchy, and announced formation of a Conservative International. pic.twitter.com/IuLdlvxFvH— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) August 28, 2021
German MP Beatrix von Storch, from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was in Brazil last week to hold several meetings with members of the Brazilian government. On July 26, a photo of her was circulated next to President Jair Bolsonaro and her husband, Sven von Storch. The image was published on the deputy’s Instagram account, in which she thanked the Brazilian president for “the friendly welcome.” “Impressed by her clear understanding of the problems of Europe and the challenges of the politicians of our time,” she wrote of Bolsonaro. “At a time when the left is promoting its ideology through its international networks and organizations globally, conservatives must also establish a closer and international network for our values,” he added.
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The photo surprised Brazilians, especially since von Storch is the granddaughter of Lutz Graf von Krosigk, finance minister in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi government. The congresswoman’s party, the AfD, is now the subject of an investigation by the German secret services for its connections to extremist acts in the country.
It is not the first demonstration of closeness of Bolsonaro’s bases with international radical groups. At the end of last year, the son of the president and deputy, Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP), made a live broadcast with the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal. A year earlier, the deputy was in Hungary with the prime minister of the Fidesz party, Viktor Orbán. AfD, Vox and Fidesz have demonstrated their affinities on issues such as the search for radical conservative programs, xenophobia and hostility towards the left and the press.
Brazil has become fertile ground to expand those ideas, with a government that still contributes an extra element: after the end of Donald Trump’s term in the United States, the ultra-conservative offensive has bet all its chips on Bolsonaro’s Brazil. In January 2021, senior Trump officials sent messages to other countries informing that the projects that had been led by the White House would be taken over by Bolsonaro from that moment on. The information is part of an email sent to collaborators by Valerie Huber, the person chosen by the White House during the Trump administration to address women’s health issues. In a message on January 20, 2021, Huber announces that Brazil has kindly offered to coordinate this “historic coalition”. Under this provision, the Brazilian president is responsible for leading the ultra-conservative international alliance created to influence the decisions of the United Nations, the World Health Organization and other organizations.
The coalition, made up of some 30 countries, was called the Geneva Declaration and became a reference for the most radical wings of religious movements. “Countries that wish to adhere to the Declaration can do so by contacting the Brazilian embassy in the United States for more details,” Huber explained. The woman was the architect of the coalition and, in recent months, has worked closely with Damares Alves, the Brazilian Minister for Women, Family and Human Rights, an ultra-conservative evangelical pastor.
The Bolsonaro government is not alone in this movement to keep alive the agenda of the extreme right in the world. However, it has become a key element in strengthening that group in America. In fact, Trump’s absence did not weaken international coordination. In recent months and in the midst of the pandemic, members of the Brazilian Executive have been prominent guests in closed-door meetings with representatives of American Christian NGOs, with anti-LGBT and anti-abortion pressure groups, as well as in meetings with political parties and groups.
For foreign diplomats, what you see in Brazil’s actions is nothing more than a script already designed and applied in smaller countries that have had ultra-conservative governments for years. Now, the objective is its internationalization. “There is a script and it’s scary,” says a European Union negotiator under anonymity. The model is based on the governments of Hungary and Poland that, over a decade, managed to dismantle a liberal democracy and install a new ultra-conservative base.
This alliance began to take shape in the early days of the Bolsonaro government. In an unprecedented way, Brazil sent at least six missions to Hungary in 2019 with agendas that included the promise of coordination in the fight against the persecution suffered by Christians, the defense of the family and the need to protect “sovereignty”. A meeting was held between the then Brazilian Culture Secretary, Roberto Alvim, and a team from the Hungarian Ministry of Culture. Alvim ended up leaving office after a controversial video was released using Nazi references.
In addition to the ministerial meetings, there were also informal meetings, closed-door conferences and an intense exchange between the members of the second echelon of the Brazilian and Hungarian administrations. There was even a visit from Eduardo Bolsonaro to Viktor Orbán. The frequency of the encounters is all the more striking given the fact that Brazil had not sent a mission to Hungary since the 19th century.
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