Former Leftist Minister for Equality of Spain Advocates "Sweeping" the Country of "Fascists"
Mainstream media, such as BBC, New York Times, CNN, Irish Times, and national television channels across much of Europe, will call out the slightest whiff of “incitment to hatred” on the right - even when it is just an argument that some find “offensive” - and turn a blind eye to the use of insulting and dehumanising rhetoric on the left. It is for this reason that it is worth reproducing the exact words of a sitting leftist MEP and former Spanish Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, at a political rally in Zaragoza the other day. Fortunately, she was caught on video, so she cannot wriggle out of it:
I want to ask migrant and racialized people (ethnic and racial minorities) not to leave us alone surrounded by so many fascists. And yes, of course we want them to vote — absolutely. We’ve secured residency papers; now we need full regularisation. And next we’re going for citizenship, or for changing the law so they can vote, obviously. I wish — so much for the so-called “replacement theory” — that we could sweep the fascists and racists out of this country with migrant communities and working people. Of course I want replacement: replacement of fascists, replacement of racists, replacement of freeloaders…. (translated from Spanish, italics added)
Montero, though no longer part of the Spanish government, is a sitting member of the European Parliament and thus has a privileged position to influence public opinion on the left. The best defence that could be made of her ostensibly dehumanising rhetoric is that she was being ironic and attempting to employ the sort of “replacement theory” of right-wing anti-immigrant movements in an unexpected and provocative way.
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The problem is, it doesn’t particularly matter whether or not she is being ironic, because she is part of a political party - Podemos - that has consistently villified the Spanish right as “fascists” or as lovers of Franco. It is obvious that “fascists,” from the perspective of a Spanish leftist, are not reasonable people and are not the sort of people you can just work a problem out with. So when Montero says we need to “sweep” Spain of its “fascists,” she is basically saying, we need to render these unreasonable “right-win nuts” completely irrelevant to Spanish society.
Now, if Montero was referring to people who want to abolish democratic processes, strip women of the right to vote, and introduce internment for a section of the population, then the idea of isolating them and neutralising their political voice might actually make sense, or at least be somewhat defensible.
But in Spain’s current political climate, the term “fascist” is essentially a codeword for anyone on the right that a leftist wants to attack or dismiss. In Spain, if you question abortion rights, “gender-affirming” treatment, or existing welfare or immigration policies, you can easily be dubbed a “fascist” by people on the left.
So it is concerning, to say the least, to hear a sitting MEP and former government minister suggest that a large part of Spanish society - essentially, those who hold right-wing opinions - should be “swept” away or “replaced” by immigrants.
Whether spoken with irony or not, the public use of such language as “sweeping” - which connotes removing unwanted debris or trash - and population “replacement” - which is disturbingly close to the idea of ethnic cleansing - cannot be considered as just a bit “insensitive.” We are dealing her with a worrying coursening of the tone of political rhetoric, in this case rhetoric on the left - that could open a path to even more dangerous and extreme forms of political polarisation than those we are seeing already.
A wise philosopher once observed that we are the only animals armed with the use of language, and that with this gift, we can either reach the heights of our humanity or sink to the very depths of bestiality.
Irene Montero, who has somehow made herself a name as a “respectable” politician, appears to have foresaken any sense of responsibility for her own words. She is prepared to push out the limits of acceptable political rhetoric, in a way that endangers the future of a nation that depends on the peaceful coexistence and mutual toleration of groups of people with dramatically different visions of their collective identity and values.
When you suggest that your political adversaries should be “swept” aside or “replaced,” you are playing a very dangerous game indeed. For once the fire of tribal hatred and violence has been ignited, anyone can get caught up in it. It is in few people’s interest to live in a society torn apart by factions that consider each other as enemies unworthy of citizenship.
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