Liberalism and anti-fascism. Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear and international politics

Abstract

The article analyses the positions that Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, president of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) in the 1930s (the most important political party in Argentina at that time) expressed about the international scene at the time of the consolidation of Nazi-fascism and the Spanish Civil War. The article will show that Alvear´s condemnation of fascism was enduringly accompanied by an equally emphatic adherence to the Atlantic countries (United States, England, France), as well as a repudiation of the Soviet Union. This last aspect attenuated his anti-fascism, as it was a cause promoted internationally (and also locally) by the Communist Party. Likewise, their positions opened a conflict within the UCR, since a condemnation of fascism combined with neutralism in international politics prevailed there. Taking all this into account, the Alvear case shows how a liberal position in Argentina in the 1930s could be seen as split from the anti-fascist camp, even though it included a condemnation of fascism.