“The enemy forces of liberal democracy are already here”

Publish ‘M. The hour of destiny’ (Alfaguara), the fourth volume of his saga on the life of Benito Mussolini

The Italian writer and thinker Antonio Scurati (Naples, 1969) has assured that we must stop waiting for “the return of fascism” with symbols like “the black shirts” because the “enemy forces” of liberal democracies “are already in the governments.” “, referring to Italy.

“We do not have to wait for the return of the black shirts, because the enemy forces of liberal democracy are already here, in the (Italian) government. This political-cultural climate, this censorship, these personal attacks on intellectuals makes us very far from freedom of expression,” added Scurati during the presentation of the novel this Friday in Madrid.

In this sense, he has reiterated that, currently, the real danger is the phenomenon of sovereign populism, a term with which he has described the Italian Government of Giorgia Meloni, which inherits “some characteristics” of historical fascism.

“Expecting the threat to democracy from a return of fascism in its historical form pushes us to evaluate the danger already at the moment, which comes from the sovereignist populists and who are within the democratic house and in some cases govern it. These inherit some characteristics of historical fascism, but not all. We have to stop waiting for the return of the black shirts or, in Spain, the blue shirts because they will not return in that form, but to some extent they already have. has reflected.

“TRUMP HAS CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSSOLINISM”

Although Scurati has refused to call the elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, a “fascist”, he has explained that he is a politician who has “many characteristics of Mussolinism.”

“Donald Trump does not come from a fascist political culture, he does not come from any political culture. The real threat to democracy is his foreignness to any 19th century political culture. As he (Trump) had promised, he begins to break all the rules and principles that governed American political life until yesterday. His personal figure perfectly combines many of the characteristics that populism has, in particular, of Mussolinism. Because Mussolini returns to Trump and other leaders not as the founder of fascism, but as the first populist leader of. history,” he highlighted.

Thus, he explained that he is “opposed” to the use of the word ‘fascist’ to define a political adversary with “authoritarian characteristics.”

“I have always been against the use of the word fascist to define a political adversary who has authoritarian characteristics. Because I think it diverts our attention from the real danger,” he explained.

After ‘M. The son of the century’, ‘M. The man of providence’ and ‘M. The last days of Europe’, Scurati signs ‘M. The Hour of Destiny’, the fourth volume of his acclaimed saga on the life of Benito Mussolini. On this occasion, Scurati portrays the crucial years of the Second World War under the command of a dictator blinded by “his obsessions”, increasingly alone, and who will send hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths.

Precisely, the writer has assured, this saga has allowed him to portray the history of fascism in Italy, where politicians like Meloni “attack” any “anti-fascist narrative” because they want to rewrite history by “reevaluating fascism.”

“They are their number one enemy. Because I have publicly taken a position, which makes me, in their eyes, an enemy. And they attack me in any way for the fact that I renewed a powerful, influential anti-fascist narrative when they were preparing , as an integral part of his political program, to rewrite history by reevaluating fascism,” he acknowledged.

In that sense, referring to the lack of education of young Italians about the history of their own country, Scurati added that they are willing to “listen” and that is why he uses the novel, because it is the “most democratic literary genre.” “.