Far-Right Rising in Spain; Far Left Falling in Bolivia

'Catalan independence push & weakness of old parties propelled rightwing Vox to its best ever result in Spanish election'

FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press / Juan Carlos Rojas

The Spanish voters are so tired of the traditional parties being unable to solve the Catalan and migrant issues, that they gave their voices to Vox, despite its rightwing agenda and lack of any actual policy, the experts told RT.

Vox unexpectedly came third in the Spanish general election on Sunday, claiming 52 seats in the country’s 350-seat parliament and more than doubling their results from previous elections.

The reason for that is the “weakening” of the traditional parties, said Vladimir Shveitser of the Moscow-based Institute for Europe.

The ruling Socialists (PSOE) “remain deadlocked between the interests of the working class and the domestic capital. And they aren’t very successful in promoting their policies in such a tight space,” he said. Another major player, the People’s Party (PP), is still unable to recover from the corruption scandal, which led to the downfall of Mariano Rajoy's government last summer.

The Spanish voters are now in a dubious state when they understand that supporting the old parties is pointless, but see no new parties, capable of providing an alternative.

And that’s where Vox comes in – with its hash rhetoric on such pressing issues as Catalonia’s push for independence from Madrid and the rising migration to the country. Its leader, Santiago Abascal promised to build a “patriotic alternative,” although he didn’t give any details of how this would work. 

When PSOE and PP are talking about giving Spanish autonomies more rights to avoid their succession, “Vox expresses belief that any and all home rule should be annulled, especially the one in Catalonia, so that there would be one unitary Spanish state… without any separation into historic regions,” Shveitser said.

Alejandro Quiroga, Spanish history scholar from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, also said that “the situation in Catalonia has had a nuclear effect in terms of the rise of the far-right in Spain.”

Another reason for the success of Vox is “the refugees and migrants, especially, from North Africa that started to actively make their way into Spain in recent years,” upsetting the locals, Shveitser pointed out. “Historic Spanish nationalism keeps working even in the 21st century.” 

But Quiroga had a different view, arguing that “the level of sociability in Spain – with migrants and foreigners in general – is quite high so that’s not really a problem.” Vox did especially well in the richest parts of the country where there aren’t too many migrants altogether.

Quigora believes that now Vox would make “a political issue,” despite it not being a real social problem in Spain. 

However, both experts agreed that party led by Abascal has little to offer to the Spanish people besides empty declarations.

“They don’t have much of a policy. They have a rhetoric, which is basically xenophobic and anti-women and anti-equality, but in terms of policies, really not much there,” Quiroga explained.

The arrival of Vox will also “provoke turmoil and chaos during the formation of the Spanish government,” Shveitser warned, saying that they’ve snatch a lot seat, but no other party will be willing to engage in a coalition with them.

Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns

amid election protests

Bolivian President Evo Morales has resigned after nearly 14 years in power, amid turmoil following his disputed re-election last month.

The head of the army had called on him to go after protests over his election win.

Auditors found irregularities with the poll but Mr Morales said he had been the victim of a coup.

He said he was leaving to help protect families of political allies, after their homes were burned down.

In a televised address, Mr Morales urged protesters to "stop attacking the brothers and sisters, stop burning and attacking".

Power vacuum

The biggest criticism of Evo Morales was his lack of respect for Bolivia's democracy - accused of overstaying his welcome and refusing to step down.

But the fact that the military has called the shots on the president standing down does not do much for Bolivia's democracy either.

Now Evo Morales has gone, there is a power vacuum. Increasing numbers of his Mas party are resigning, and it feels like there is a need for retribution - for Evo Morales and his people to pay the price for the mistakes they made while in power.

His supporters have called this a coup - his detractors the end of tyranny. The priority now is to choose an interim leader, call new elections and bring a polarised Bolivia together or face yet more unrest and violence in the coming weeks.

Vice-President Alvaro García and Senate President Adriana Salvatierra also resigned.

Protesters took to the streets to celebrate, chanting "yes we could" and setting off fire crackers.

How did we get here?

Bolivia has been rattled by weeks of anti-government protests, following the reports of election fraud.

Tensions first flared on the night of the presidential election after the results count was inexplicably stopped for 24 hours. The final result gave Mr Morales slightly more than the 10-percentage-point lead he needed to win outright in the first round of the race.

At least three people died during clashes that followed. Some uniformed police officers also joined the protesters.

On Sunday, the Organization of American States, which monitored the elections, said it had found evidence of wide-scale data manipulation, and could not certify the result of the previous polls.

Pressure continued to build on Mr Morales during the day, as several of his political allies resigned, some citing fears for the safety of their families.

The army chief, Gen Williams Kaliman, urged Mr Morales to resign "to allow for pacification and the maintaining of stability".

The military also said it would conduct operations to "neutralise" any armed groups that attacked the protesters.

What reaction has there been?

Opposition leader Carlos Mesa - who came second in last month's poll - thanked protesters for "the heroism of peaceful resistance".

In a tweet, he described the development as "the end of tyranny" and a "historical lesson", saying, "Long live Bolivia!"

However, the Cuban and Venezuelan leaders - who had previously voiced their support for Mr Morales - condemned the events as a "coup".

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described it as a "violent and cowardly" attempt against democracy, while Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said tweeted: "We categorically condemn the coup realised against our brother president."

Mexico says it is considering granting asylum to Mr Morales.

Who is Evo Morales?

Bolivia's first indigenous president, he had served as leader since 2006.

He ran for a fourth consecutive term in the October elections after a controversial decision by the constitutional court to scrap presidential term limits.

In a 2016 referendum, a majority had voted "no" to dropping the limit of term numbers that Bolivians could serve.

However, Mr Morales' party took the issue to the constitutional court, which abolished the term limits altogether.