In recent years, the most lurid conspiracy theories have been used by all sorts of despots in various countries.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, I explained here that Vladimir Putin's dictatorship used conspiracy theories to defend its crimes<\/a>, particularly Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and to delegitimize the West. Basically, the Kremlin's tactic is to demonize its enemies by lying about them in order to whitewash itself<\/b>. This is not a new strategy: it has been used by numerous dictatorships, including the totalitarian regimes established by Nazis and Communists in the 20th century.<\/p>\n Yesterday, former socialist ministers and artists and intellectuals close to the left published a delirious manifesto of support for Pedro S\u00e1nchez's government<\/a>, which is cornered by corruption scandals<\/a>. Significantly, the text signed yesterday by these famous supporters of the government omits any reference to the corruption cases affecting S\u00e1nchez's personal circle, his government, and his party<\/b>, as if they didn't exist. It's yet another example of the peculiar political bubble in which many Spanish leftists live.<\/p>\n At the same time, the manifesto attacks \"judges and magistrates\"<\/b> who, according to the signatories, \"open lengthy investigations with weak evidentiary bases\"<\/em>, and it also attacks \"a very important part of the media and social networks<\/b>\"<\/em> because, according to the text, \"they have unleashed an orgy of fake news or half-truths in order to create an unbreathable political climate\"<\/em>. Not a single mention of the government's repeated lies or the evidence of corruption discovered so far.<\/b> That should not have reached the leftist bubble either.<\/p>\n At the same time, the manifesto attacks \"judges and magistrates\"<\/b> who, according to the signatories, \"open lengthy investigations with weak evidentiary bases\"<\/em>, and it also attacks \"a very important part of the media and social networks<\/b>\"<\/em> because, according to the text, \"they have unleashed an orgy of fake news or half-truths in order to create an unbreathable political climate\"<\/em>. Not a single mention of the government's repeated lies or the evidence of corruption discovered so far.<\/b> That should not have reached the leftist bubble either.<\/p>\n But the most surreal part of the manifesto appears at the beginning.<\/b> This is what it says:<\/p>\n \"The attack, from all conservative and reactionary fronts, on the progressive coalition government and its president is more like a conspiracy to overthrow a legitimate government<\/b> than the political criticism proper in a democratic system.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is very reminiscent of the \"Judeo-Masonic conspiracy\" that Franco's dictatorship spoke of, but in a woke version<\/strong>. This statement in the manifesto is yet another example of how the Spanish left doesn't accept political criticism and oversight of power as inherent to a democracy. With a government mired in corruption scandals, they want the opposition, judges, journalists, and even the Church to look the other way and shut up<\/strong>, as if this were a dictatorship in which legitimate criticism of the government makes you an enemy of the state. In the end, this manifesto becomes one more reason to oppose the government<\/strong>, whose situation is so unsustainable that it resorts to an openly authoritarian and conspiratorial text to defend itself, as Putin's regime does.<\/p>\n ---<\/p>\n
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