Fascism has been historically present in Uruguay, both in its classical form and in local variants.
Since Benito Mussolini's rise to power, the Italian fascist government strove to influence foreign politics, particularly among the Italian migrant population in the Americas. Through various propaganda campaigns and the foundation of different institutions, the Italian government tried to sway Italian Uruguayans to the fascist ideology, eventually fostering the development of autochthonous fascist movements.
Italian community Italian immigrants formed the majority of the Uruguayan migrant population, and therefore Italy–Uruguay relations, both diplomatic and cultural, and had been historically strong. Furthermore, the Italian national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi had served in the Uruguayan Civil War in the 1840s and was perceived as a key figure of Uruguayan national identity. Italian fascist diplomacy sought to "wake up" a perceived lost national pride among the migrant community to propagate fascism in Latin America. This intent, however, was not as successful as expected considering the prevalence of left-wing ideas among the working-class immigrants.
In 1924, prince Umberto of Savoy, the heir apparent to the Italian throne, visited Uruguay and expressed his interest in fostering diplomatic ties between Uruguay and Italy, a proposal that was received favorably by both locals and immigrants. The Italian legation, with Giovanni Giuriati as the Italian ambassador-extraordinary for South American relations,https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1999/12/09/la-nave-italia-volo-in-sudamerica.html worked extensively to influence local politics and to promote fascism among Italian descendants in the country.
Institutional activity The Italian legation attempted to imitate the fascist totalitarian organization in Uruguay by fostering various social institutions. In 1923, a local was founded in Montevideo under the sponsorship of Italian diplomats. The movement did not claim political objectives and presented itself as an essentially cultural and social association. The fascio was led by colonel Ioanello Matteucci, count Alberto Compagnucci and captain Mario Longhini. A fascist youth organization, the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio al Estero, also operated among the Italian community.
The fascio was directly connected to the local institution. A fascist leisure and cultural organization, founded in 1925 for adults in Italy, the opened a subsidiary in Uruguay to serve Italian immigrants and to propagate fascist ideology. The society had started its ventures with a newspaper in 1934 and opened its official local headquarters in 1938. Uruguayan President Gabriel Terra attended the inauguration ceremony. The opened a new and larger branch in 1939, inaugurated with a football match between the Italian high school and the German Sports League.
Italian diplomats would regularly visit places and institutions associated with the community both in Montevideo and in the countryside. Fascist movements were also involved in charity and cultural activities among immigrants, using them for covert propaganda. The legation frequently invited important cultural figures to give speeches at Montevideo and celebrated Italian holidays at local theatres. Some of the famous banquets held by fascist organizations linked to the Italian government were attended by relevant local politicians.
Fascists also tried to influence the Uruguayan educational system through the celebration of meetings in the Italian School of Montevideo. The school experienced a full transformation during the fascist era, being forced to adopt the Italian educational program and discipline. A document of the Council of Primary Education of the Gabriel Terra dictatorship of the 1930s stated that fascism "promotes the sentiment of family, nationality and tradition, all of which are favourable to the cohesion and the continuation of the social organization that is characteristic of the Western civilization".
Italian fascists also directed a wide number of press outlets in the country, such as Fiamma Italica and Fascismo in Salto, SPQR in Melo, and L'Italiano, Marcia su Roma, Il Piave, La Verità, L'Era Nuova, Italia Nova, Il Piccolo, La Voce d'Italia, Il Messagero d'Italia and Il Dopolavorista in Montevideo.
Fascist activism greatly reduced after the outbreak of World War II. Most movements related to the Italian government were dissolved in 1940 by the Law of Illicit Associations ().
First movements Many Uruguayan politicians showed favourable views of the fascist regime. Pedro Manini Ríos visited Italy in 1928 and highlighted the economic progress of the nation.
The first local fascist movement was the Uruguayan Patriotic Organization, founded in 1929 and influential among the National army. The organization would later evolve into the Patriotic Front of National Defense in 1935. There were some attempts to create a national fascist party such as the Reformist Party or the National Action. The Chamber of Representatives later started an investigation on those movements, accusing them of being financed by the German government.
Most early Uruguayan fascists admired the Brazilian Integralist Action and followed it as a model. The rejection of Jewish immigration was a common issue of the first groups.
The popularization of corporatism as a reaction to Batllist reformism among Uruguayan intellectual circles led to the creation of two agrarianist corporatist parties, the Agrarian Party and the Ruralist Party, that despite not being explicitly fascist saw Italy as a role model. The parties pressed for the development of a dirigist system that would give priority to the countryside.
Uruguayan revisionism
One of the main intellectual figures of Uruguayan fascism was the writer Adolfo Agorio. Agorio had founded the Acción Revisionista del Uruguay, originally an explicitly fascist organization that later joined the Colorado Party. The Acción edited a magazine called "Corporaciones" (lit. "corporations") about corporatist economics.
The Acción had close ties with the Brazilian Integralist Action, holding it as its main model of inspiration, and also incorporated Nazi elements. The Corporaciones magazine included texts from Gustavo Barroso, Plínio Salgado and other Brazilian Integralist figures. The prologue of Barroso's book O integralismo e o mundo was written by Agorio. The former had written about Uruguayan revisionism, placing it inside a global fascist wave along with Integralism. Many revisionist leaders such as Ernesto Bauzá or Agorio himself had communicated through letters with Barroso, whom they saw as a political role model. The movement was seen by Brazilians as an easy way to legitimate Salgado's thesis of the fitting nature of fascism for South America, and was in line with the Chefe's desire to unify Latin America under an Integralist confederation.
Many renowned intellectuals were part of the movement. Revisionists wanted to develop an alternative nationalist political current outside the traditional Blanco and Colorado parties. The movement was deeply antisemitic and drew inspiration from Simón Bolívar.
In 1934, Agorio wrote his book "Roma y el espíritu de Occidente" (lit: "Rome and the spirit of the West") in defense of Italian fascism. Agorio viewed fascism from an idealist perspective, considering it a successor to a millenarian tradition of western politics. Fascism and corporatism, according to Agorio, represented the western spirit truthfully and followed the historical trend of such civilization. The work also stresses the importance of fascism for the defeat of both communism and capitalism, and criticizes the professionalization of politics.
Agorio would later become a prominent figure of National Socialist propaganda in Uruguay. He was invited by German diplomats to travel on the Hindenburg and took part in many political meetings sponsored by the Nazi legation.
Another important Uruguayan fascist was Teodomiro Varela de Andrade. A member of the Acción Revisionista, Varela had been a Batllist on his youth and, after some years of conservative activism, adhered publicly to fascism in the 1930s.
Varela was a staunch corporatist and presented many failed constitutional reform projects both to the government and the Colorado Party. He admired Getúlio Vargas' abolishment of political parties, despite not wanting a similar system for Uruguay. Varela supported a bicameral system, consisting of a corporative assembly and a partisan elected chamber. His project also included the creation of 3 new ministries for Labour, Credit and Corporations, as well as the strengthening of presidential powers.
Marzism March on Montevideo and coup d'état After the crisis of 1929, the Uruguayan diarchic executive model was greatly criticised for its mishandling of the economic situation. Perceiving the government as ineffective, the Uruguayan economic elite founded the Committee for Economic Vigilance as a pressure group to promote a change in economic policies and the return to presidentialism.
Elected president Gabriel Terra led a coup d'état and dissolved the Parliament and the National Council of Administration in 1933. Terra had already expressed pro-fascist views.
As a public display of support for the coup, important Uruguayan political figures such as Luis Alberto de Herrera called for a "March on Montevideo" (similar to the March on Rome led by Mussolini) in April 1933 with the support of conservative media and intellectuals. Supported by agrarianists who had been opposed to the previous Batllist reforms, the March was seen by its advocates as a "ruralist crusade" against a perceived morally corrupt city. The demonstration was compared to a similar display organized by Getúlio Vargas. Amid increased tensions between the countryside and the urban areas, local newspapers had presented the March as a national regeneration revolution that would defeat the "corrupted city" and destroy its "moral misery".March on Montevideo! That's the voice that, like a wildfire, spreads through the countryside, from Colonia to Cerro Largo, from Artigas to Rocha, around the four corners of the fatherland!
Yes, march on Montevideo, armed or not! End the Colegiado, before the Colegiado ends the country! Such is the motto of this tragic and deeply decisive hour.
Fascist era (1933–1942)
Gabriel Terra's followers became known as Marzists (lit. March-ists) because of their support of the "Revolution of March" (Spanish: Revolución de Marzo), the official name of the coup.
The March regime called for elections of the constitutional assembly that wrote the 1934 Uruguayan Constitution, despite accusations of fraud. The new constitution established a 50–50 parliamentary representation for the two most voted parties and abolished the National Council of Administration. The government persecuted or banished political opposers.
The constitution, inspired on corporatist principles, formally recognized the human rights to education, healthcare and work, as well as the freedom of assembly and association. The government also created the Electoral Court to improve the transparency of elections. The constitutional referendum was boycotted by Batllist Colorados.
Terra broke diplomatic relationships with the USSR and the Second Spanish Republic, making Uruguay one of the first countries to recognize Francoist Spain. The March regime also developed anti-immigration policies, such as controlling Jewish immigration and setting a minimum of 80% of Uruguayan manpower on public works.
Economic policies