Falangism in Latin America
Encyclopedia
Falangism
in Latin America
has been a feature of political life since the 1930s as movements looked to the national syndicalist
Catholic
fascism
of the Spanish State
and sought to apply it to other Spanish
-speaking countries. The term Falangism should not be applied to the military dictatorship
s of such figures as Alfredo Stroessner
, Augusto Pinochet
and Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
, because while these individuals often enjoyed close relations to Franco
's Spain
, their military nature and frequent lack of commitment to national syndicalism and the corporate state mean that they should not be classed as Falangist (although individuals within each regime may have been predisposed towards the ideology). The phenomenon can be seen in a number of movements both past and present.
Argentina
Juan Perón
built his power base on his alliance with trade union
s in Argentina, many of whom supported syndicalism
whilst his government would go on to maintain links with Francisco Franco
. However Falangism in the country was largely ill at ease with Peronism
until the emergence of the Tacuara Nationalist Movement in the 1960s. This violent movement, who looked to José Antonio Primo de Rivera
for their inspiration, linked itself to Perón although they went into decline following a government crackdown on their activity. This group, inspired by the works of Julio Meinvielle
.
Elsewhere both Manuel Gálvez
and Juan Carulla
endorsed Hispanidad and in doing so expressed strong admiration for Falangism, especially Carulla.
A group called the Falange Auténtica is currently active although it identifies more with the left wing of Peronism
.
Bolivia
Formed in 1937, the Bolivian Socialist Falange
(Falange Socialista Boliviana or FSB) of Óscar Únzaga
gained a strong following amongst former landowners by offering a platform strongly influenced by Franco and Benito Mussolini
. The FSB became effective opposition to the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
government although their fortunes would later decline and they were ultimately absorbed into the Nationalist Democratic Action
.
A breakaway group known as the Movimiento al Socialismo - Unzaguista emerged in 1987 under David Añez Pedraza. Representing a more left wing take on Bolivian Falangism it became moribund before the title, rather than ideology, was effectively appropriated by Evo Morales
in 1999 to form the basis of his leftist Movement for Socialism
.
A revivalist group, Frente Socialista de Naciones Bolivianas, was formed by Horacio Poppe in 2000 and they have since emerged as the Falange Neounzaguista, otherwise known as the 'Whiteshirts'. Taking their name from Óscar Únzaga, they have led a recruitment drive in Bolivian universities, although they remain a minor force.
Chile
In 1935 a group of social-Christians split from the Conservative Party
to form the Falange Nacional, which for a time brought Falangism to Chile. However the movement would later support the leftist administration of Juan Antonio Ríos
and in 1957 was one of the founding groups of the Christian Democrat Party of Chile
. Despite its name this group was largely made up of liberal
Catholics and bore little resemblance to Spanish Falangism.
A more avowedly Falangist group, Movimiento Revolucionario Nacional Sindicalista (Revolutionay National Syndicalist Movement), would appear in 1952, although it did not achieve the influence of the Falange Nacional. The name has proven durable however as it still organises to this day, albeit on a very minor level. They also organise a youth movement, Guardia Revolucionaria Nacionalsindicalista.
Colombia
During the 1930s future President of Colombia
Laureano Gómez
became an enthusiastic supporter of Falangism, although this fervour had died down somewhat by the time he took power in 1950. Nevertheless a Falangist group was active in the country during the 1940s.
A current group exists, the Falange Nacional Patriótica de Colombia, which claims to be active in the National University of Colombia
. Recently they changed their name to Frente Obrero Social Patriota
Cuba
A minor Cuban Falangist movement existed from 1936 to 1940 under Antonio Avendaño and Alfonso Serrano Vilariño. This group was effectively ended by a law which barred political groups from making specific reference to the policies of foreign groups.
Although the government of Fulgencio Batista
maintained good relations with Franco it was not Falangist and the only real manifestation of Falangism since 1940 was with the minuscule (and probably defunct) La Falange Cubana.
Ecuador
A group known as the Alianza Revolucionaria Nacionalista Ecuatoriana appeared in 1948, drawing its influences directly from Falangism and synarchism
. Under Jorge Luna they recruited followers from the young upper middle classes and adopted a platform of Christianity
, nationalism
and anti-communism
. Ultimately, however, the group became more of a street fighting army in support of José María Velasco Ibarra
than a serious political movement.
A fringe tendency towards Falangism continues in the Falange Nacional Garciana Ecuatoriana, said to be a newly formed group.
Mexico
Mexican synarchism, which combined Catholicism with Anti-communism
, bore some of the hallmarks of Falangism and looked to Franco (amongst others) for inspiration. Its political representatives, the National Synarchist Union
, became influential during the late 1930s.
Alongside this indigenous variation a wholly mimetic group, the Falange Española Tradicionalista was formed in the country by Spanish merchants based there who opposed the consistent support given to the Republican
side in the Spanish Civil War
by Lázaro Cárdenas
. The group neither sought nor had influence outside this immigrant population, however.
Mexican far right
groups often emphasise Orgullo Criollo
(Creole Pride), which underlines the celebration of their links to Spain and the Hispanidad culture.
Nicaragua
Falangist influence was felt in the country during the later 1930s, particularly in the Colegio Centro América
in Managua
where the ideology was widespread. Such activity was suppressed after 1941 however as Nicaragua took a decidedly pro-USA line after the attack on Pearl Harbor
.
Puerto Rico
Around the time of the Spanish Civil War
the Falange was heavily active amongst the 8000 or so Spanish citizens on the island, with an official branch of the Falange organised in San Juan
. This group officially disavowed any involvement in local politics, although it was scrutinised closely by the FBI during the Second World War.
Two very minor Falangist groups have been active in the drive for Puerto Rican independence. The first of these was the Falange Boricua who have claimed that they were banned on 7th May 2000 after leader Walter Lozano was arrested attempting to blockade US military bases on the island. They have since been refounded as the Movimento Nacional Sindicalista de Puerto Rico.
Venezuela
Enrique Parra Bozo, who was noted for his admiration of Franco as well as his Catholicism and anti-communism, led the Partido Auténtico Nacionalista along Falangist lines. The group lent its support to the military regime of Marcos Pérez Jiménez
and even attempted, unsuccessfully, to nominate him as their candidate for the 1963 Presidential election
.
A minor group, the Falange Venezolana, are currently active and look to Primo de Rivera, Ramiro Ledesma Ramos
, Léon Degrelle
and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
for their inspiration.
Falange
The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive , known simply as the Falange, is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original fascist movement in Spain. The word means phalanx formation in Spanish....
in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
has been a feature of political life since the 1930s as movements looked to the national syndicalist
National syndicalism
National syndicalism is a nationalist variant of syndicalism.- Founding of national syndicalism in France :National syndicalism was founded in France by the fusion of Maurrassian integral nationalism with Sorelian syndicalism. Interest in Sorelian thought arose in the French political right,...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
of the Spanish State
Spanish State
Francoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....
and sought to apply it to other Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-speaking countries. The term Falangism should not be applied to the military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
s of such figures as Alfredo Stroessner
Alfredo Stroessner
Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, whose name is also spelled Strössner or Strößner , was a Paraguayan military officer and dictator from 1954 to 1989...
, Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
and Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina , nicknamed El Jefe , ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. He officially served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, otherwise ruling as an unelected military strongman...
, because while these individuals often enjoyed close relations to Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, their military nature and frequent lack of commitment to national syndicalism and the corporate state mean that they should not be classed as Falangist (although individuals within each regime may have been predisposed towards the ideology). The phenomenon can be seen in a number of movements both past and present.
ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
Juan PerónJuan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
built his power base on his alliance with trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s in Argentina, many of whom supported syndicalism
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
whilst his government would go on to maintain links with Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. However Falangism in the country was largely ill at ease with Peronism
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
until the emergence of the Tacuara Nationalist Movement in the 1960s. This violent movement, who looked to José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquis of Estella , was a Spanish lawyer, nobleman, politician, and founder of the Falange Española...
for their inspiration, linked itself to Perón although they went into decline following a government crackdown on their activity. This group, inspired by the works of Julio Meinvielle
Julio Meinvielle
Father Julio Meinvielle was an Argentine priest and prolific antisemitic writer.-Background:Meinvielle studied for his Doctorate in Philosophy and Theology in Rome and soon afterwards became a prolific writer of religious, historical and economic books within the school of Thomism...
.
Elsewhere both Manuel Gálvez
Manuel Gálvez
Manuel Gálvez was an Argentine novelist, poet, essayist, historian and biographer....
and Juan Carulla
Juan Carulla
Juan Emiliano Carulla was an Argentine physician and nationalist politician.In his early years Carulla was a supporter of anarchism but this was to change after a trip to Europe during the First World War...
endorsed Hispanidad and in doing so expressed strong admiration for Falangism, especially Carulla.
A group called the Falange Auténtica is currently active although it identifies more with the left wing of Peronism
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
.
BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
Formed in 1937, the Bolivian Socialist FalangeBolivian Socialist Falange
The Bolivian Socialist Falange was a Bolivian political party established in the year 1937. A right-wing party drawing inspiration from fascism, it was the country's second-largest party between approximately 1954 and 1974...
(Falange Socialista Boliviana or FSB) of Óscar Únzaga
Oscar Unzaga
Óscar Únzaga de la Vega was a Bolivian political figure and rebel. He, most significantly, founded the Bolivian Socialist Falange movement in 1937, and ran for President in the 1956 elections, when his party became the main opposition movement to the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario...
gained a strong following amongst former landowners by offering a platform strongly influenced by Franco and Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. The FSB became effective opposition to the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is a Bolivian political party, perhaps the most important in the country during the 20th century. At the legislative elections in 2002, the party won, in an alliance with the Free Bolivia Movement, 26.9% of the popular vote and 36 out of 130 seats in the...
government although their fortunes would later decline and they were ultimately absorbed into the Nationalist Democratic Action
Nationalist Democratic Action
Nationalist Democratic Action is a right-wing political party in Bolivia led by Jorge Quiroga. ADN was founded on March 23, 1979 by the military dictator Hugo Banzer after he stepped down from power. It later expanded to include the Revolutionary Left Party and a faction of the Bolivian Socialist...
.
A breakaway group known as the Movimiento al Socialismo - Unzaguista emerged in 1987 under David Añez Pedraza. Representing a more left wing take on Bolivian Falangism it became moribund before the title, rather than ideology, was effectively appropriated by Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
in 1999 to form the basis of his leftist Movement for Socialism
Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)
The Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples , alternately referred to as "Movement Toward Socialism" or "Movement to Socialism", is a left-wing, socialist, Bolivian political organization led by Evo Morales, founded in 1995...
.
A revivalist group, Frente Socialista de Naciones Bolivianas, was formed by Horacio Poppe in 2000 and they have since emerged as the Falange Neounzaguista, otherwise known as the 'Whiteshirts'. Taking their name from Óscar Únzaga, they have led a recruitment drive in Bolivian universities, although they remain a minor force.
ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
In 1935 a group of social-Christians split from the Conservative PartyConservative Party (Chile)
The Conservative Party of Chile was one of the principal Chilean political parties since its foundation in 1836 until 1949, when it broke apart. In 1953 it reformed as the United Conservative Party and in 1966 joined with the Liberal Party to form the National Party...
to form the Falange Nacional, which for a time brought Falangism to Chile. However the movement would later support the leftist administration of Juan Antonio Ríos
Juan Antonio Ríos
Juan Antonio Ríos Morales was a Chilean political figure, and President of Chile from 1942 to 1946, during the height of World War II. He died in office.-Early life:...
and in 1957 was one of the founding groups of the Christian Democrat Party of Chile
Christian Democrat Party of Chile
The Christian Democratic Party is a political party in Chile and governs as part of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. In the 2009 election it won 19 congress seats and 9 senate seats....
. Despite its name this group was largely made up of liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
Catholics and bore little resemblance to Spanish Falangism.
A more avowedly Falangist group, Movimiento Revolucionario Nacional Sindicalista (Revolutionay National Syndicalist Movement), would appear in 1952, although it did not achieve the influence of the Falange Nacional. The name has proven durable however as it still organises to this day, albeit on a very minor level. They also organise a youth movement, Guardia Revolucionaria Nacionalsindicalista.
ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
During the 1930s future President of ColombiaPresident of Colombia
The President of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was part of "la Gran Colombia"...
Laureano Gómez
Laureano Gómez
Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro was President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953, and long time leader of the Colombian Conservative Party.-Pre-election:...
became an enthusiastic supporter of Falangism, although this fervour had died down somewhat by the time he took power in 1950. Nevertheless a Falangist group was active in the country during the 1940s.
A current group exists, the Falange Nacional Patriótica de Colombia, which claims to be active in the National University of Colombia
National University of Colombia
The Universidad Nacional de Colombia , also called UNAL or just UN, is a public, national, coeducational, research university, located primarily in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, Colombia...
. Recently they changed their name to Frente Obrero Social Patriota
CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
A minor Cuban Falangist movement existed from 1936 to 1940 under Antonio Avendaño and Alfonso Serrano Vilariño. This group was effectively ended by a law which barred political groups from making specific reference to the policies of foreign groups.Although the government of Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
maintained good relations with Franco it was not Falangist and the only real manifestation of Falangism since 1940 was with the minuscule (and probably defunct) La Falange Cubana.
EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
A group known as the Alianza Revolucionaria Nacionalista Ecuatoriana appeared in 1948, drawing its influences directly from Falangism and synarchismSynarchism
Synarchism is a term which generally refers to "joint rule" or "harmonious rule".Beyond this general definition, however, both "synarchism" and "synarchy" have been used to describe several different political processes in various contexts...
. Under Jorge Luna they recruited followers from the young upper middle classes and adopted a platform of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and anti-communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
. Ultimately, however, the group became more of a street fighting army in support of José María Velasco Ibarra
José María Velasco Ibarra
José María Velasco Ibarra was an Ecuadorian political figure. He served as the president of Ecuador from 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968-1972. He only served one of those terms without being ousted by the army, from 1952-1956.-Early life and career:Velasco Ibarra was born on...
than a serious political movement.
A fringe tendency towards Falangism continues in the Falange Nacional Garciana Ecuatoriana, said to be a newly formed group.
MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Mexican synarchism, which combined Catholicism with Anti-communismAnti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
, bore some of the hallmarks of Falangism and looked to Franco (amongst others) for inspiration. Its political representatives, the National Synarchist Union
National Synarchist Union
The National Synarchist Union is a Mexican political organization. It was historically a movement of the Roman Catholic extreme right, in some ways akin to clerical fascism and falangism, violently opposed to the leftist and secularist policies of the revolutionary governments that ruled Mexico...
, became influential during the late 1930s.
Alongside this indigenous variation a wholly mimetic group, the Falange Española Tradicionalista was formed in the country by Spanish merchants based there who opposed the consistent support given to the Republican
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
side in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
by Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
. The group neither sought nor had influence outside this immigrant population, however.
Mexican far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
groups often emphasise Orgullo Criollo
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
(Creole Pride), which underlines the celebration of their links to Spain and the Hispanidad culture.
NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
Falangist influence was felt in the country during the later 1930s, particularly in the Colegio Centro AméricaColegio Centro América
The Colegio Centro América is a school located in Managua, Nicaragua. It was established in 1916 and serves as an Elementary, Middle, and High school. The school was created by the Jesuits in the city of Granada and quickly became the preferred boarding school for children of elite families...
in Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
where the ideology was widespread. Such activity was suppressed after 1941 however as Nicaragua took a decidedly pro-USA line after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
.
Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
Around the time of the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
the Falange was heavily active amongst the 8000 or so Spanish citizens on the island, with an official branch of the Falange organised in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. This group officially disavowed any involvement in local politics, although it was scrutinised closely by the FBI during the Second World War.
Two very minor Falangist groups have been active in the drive for Puerto Rican independence. The first of these was the Falange Boricua who have claimed that they were banned on 7th May 2000 after leader Walter Lozano was arrested attempting to blockade US military bases on the island. They have since been refounded as the Movimento Nacional Sindicalista de Puerto Rico.
VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
Enrique Parra Bozo, who was noted for his admiration of Franco as well as his Catholicism and anti-communism, led the Partido Auténtico Nacionalista along Falangist lines. The group lent its support to the military regime of Marcos Pérez JiménezMarcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was a soldier and Presidents of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958.-Career:Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was born in Michelena, Táchira State. His father, Juan Pérez Bustamante, was a farmer; his mother, Adela Jiménez, a schoolteacher...
and even attempted, unsuccessfully, to nominate him as their candidate for the 1963 Presidential election
Venezuelan presidential election, 1963
General elections were held in Venezuela on 1 December 1963. The presidential elections were won by Raúl Leoni of Democratic Action, who received 32.8% of the vote, whilst his party won 66 of the 179 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 of the 47 seats in the Senate...
.
A minor group, the Falange Venezolana, are currently active and look to Primo de Rivera, Ramiro Ledesma Ramos
Ramiro Ledesma Ramos
Ramiro Ledesma Ramos was a Spanish national syndicalist politician, essayist, and journalist.-Early life:...
, Léon Degrelle
Léon Degrelle
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union...
and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or The Legion of the Archangel Michael , an ultra-nationalist and violently antisemitic organization active throughout most of the interwar period...
for their inspiration.