SPAIN, June 24—A small fascist party called Vox is taking hold here. The Vox party panders to the domestic-oriented bosses, along with the disaffected racist and sexist working-class people who make Vox’s base. These little fascists are secondary to the main danger—liberal fascism.
The current division we see worldwide is between the main finance capital wing of the ruling class who are committed to imperialist interests and more domestically focused capitalists who don’t want to pay the bill in higher taxes that it will take for a global war to maintain that control. Immigration is one of the fault lines of these divisions.
Gutter fascists grow out of crisis and splits
The crisis of capitalism has fostered the rise of fascist parties across the globe, as we’re seeing from Spain to India. In Europe, many fascist parties have been gaining ground, playing on the disappointments and suffering of workers who have been subjected to unemployment and government cutbacks in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis that continues to widen. From Italy to Hungary to the UK and beyond, parties have used anti-immigrant racism, “anti-corruption” promises and anti-communist rhetoric. Their Klan-type racism fueled violence against immigrants fleeing inter-imperialist war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and Yemen. The use of nationalism and racism against immigrants and Muslims, and antigay and antisexist ideas are consistent features of fascism across the globe.
In Spain, the fascist virus has reared its ugly head in the form of  Vox (Latin for “voice”). Emerging in 2013 as a split from the traditional right-wing Partitdo Popular (People’s Party). Vox openly supports Israeli fascism and advocates war against Iran. Vox’s current boss, Santiago Abascal, launched the 2019 campaign in Covadonga, the site of the first victory of Christian Spain against Muslims who governed the Spanish peninsula for over 780 years. He is calling  for “making Spain great again” via mass deportation of Muslim workers. Abascal also wants to build a long wall on Spain’s southern border to stop migrants from Morocco and other parts of Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa who are fleeing war and environmental catastrophe. Vox unabashedly evokes the legacy of Franco, the Spanish dictator who ruled for over 40 years, and longs for a return to authoritarian rule under the banner of Spanish ultra-nationalism.
Vox is part of a broader fascist movement that has been building in Europe and worldwide. Steve Bannon, ex-strategist of the Donald Trump administration, founded an organization called “The Movement” to promote nationalist groups in Europe. Parties under this banner include the Belgian People’s Party, Italy’s Northern League, France’s National Front, Alternative for Germany, the Danish People’s Party and The Freedom Party of Austria.
What goes unmentioned in liberal analyses of Vox is that it’s the conditions caused by capitalism that provide the fertile ground upon which fascist parties can grow. These groups are a political response of one section of the capitalist class to the circumstances and obstacles of capitalism in crisis. This section of the ruling class is unwilling to make sacrifices for global imperialism. They are in conflict with the finance wing, which has been on the defensive from Europe to Asia to Latin America. The volatility of the capitalist world order is rapidly increasing.
Who will lead the fight?
We would be misleading ourselves if we think a movement absent of communist politics can steer a fight against fascism. Since December of 2018, the southern region of Andalucía has seen militant protests opposing attacks on immigrants and Vox. In cities like Granada, Sevilla, and Málaga, these groups have shut down streets and occupied central areas of the city with shouts of “We are not afraid” and “It’s fascism, not democracy,” and “Refugees welcome.” The main liberal wings of the bosses seek to control and steer this movement. What we need to keep in mind is that all liberal politicians are loyal servants of the main wing of their ruling class. Their job is to mislead and pacify angry workers, and to keep them on the dead-end road of capitalist electoral politics.
Just as it was in the period before World War II, the answer to a fascist international is a communist international, which makes the struggle against anti-immigrant racism, nationalism, and other oppressive and divisive ideas the key to building the unity necessary to defeat rising fascism. However, the old movement made a grave mistake in forming a united front against fascism—essentially failing to separate itself from the liberal bosses. PLP is trying to build a communist international movement that is independent from all bosses’ camps.
The capitalist bosses will always demonstrate significant tactical and strategic differences. However, they are united in the fundamental principle of attacking the working class at all costs and will achieve that through increased exploitation as well as racist and sexist attacks. However, it is our duty to continue to expose the liberals as the main threat to the international working class for their role in ensuring the survival of the profit system.