There are two very different ways of understanding the attitude that a democratic country should have towards those who want to destroy democracy.<\/p>\n
Should a democracy accommodate those who seek to destroy it?<\/big><\/p>\n On one side are those who believe that a democracy must accommodate even those who seek to destroy it from within<\/strong>, in a very broad sense of freedom of expression and political and ideological pluralism. On the other side are those who believe that a democracy has the right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it<\/strong>, by placing limits on freedom of expression and political pluralism.<\/p>\n Furthermore, there are some who believe that only certain totalitarian discourses should be prohibited while others are permitted<\/strong>, simply drawing the line wherever it suits them. This is the case with the Spanish left, which seeks to outlaw fascism but not communism<\/a>, as I explained here a few days ago.<\/p>\n Personally, I understand those who believe that a democracy should have room even for totalitarians<\/strong>, in the belief that everyone should be able to defend their ideas as long as they don't do so through violence. What I don't understand are those who believe that some totalitarian regimes should be accepted (communism) and others shouldn't<\/strong>, simply because they get along well with communists.<\/p>\n The risk of not stopping totalitarians in time<\/big><\/p>\n From a democratic point of view, nazism is just as repulsive as communism, and the crimes of both are equally condemnable<\/strong>. In Spain, there are people who believe otherwise: let us remember that in 2021, the entire Spanish left refused to condemn the crimes of communism<\/a>, openly whitewashing its perpetrators and tacitly conveying the idea that the victims of those crimes were less innocent than the victims of nazis and fascists<\/strong>, simply because the criminals who murdered them were far-left.<\/p>\n I am very clear on this: a democracy has the right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it.<\/strong> We have already had several examples of what happened to democracies that gave free rein to totalitarians: the Bolshevik coup of 1917<\/a>, which liquidated the fledgling democracy in Russia after the overthrow of Tsarism; the rise of the Nazi Party to power in Germany in 1933<\/strong>, immediately proceeding to ban all other political parties; and more recently, the establishment of a socialist dictatorship in Venezuela<\/strong> by the same left-wing extremist, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, who had led a coup in 1992 against a democratic government.<\/p>\n Poland's Constitutional Court declares the Communist Party illegal<\/big><\/p>\n Poland is a country that suffered under the two great totalitarian regimes of the 20th century: nazism and communism. Yesterday, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal unanimously declared the Communist Party illegal<\/a>, stating that the party's aims and activities are incompatible with Article 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland:<\/strong><\/p>\n \"Political parties and other organizations whose programmes are based upon totalitarian methods and the modes of activity of nazism, fascism and communism<\/strong>, as well as those whose programmes or activities sanction racial or national hatred, the application of violence for the purpose of obtaining power or to influence the State policy, or provide for the secrecy of their own structure or membership, shall be prohibited<\/strong>.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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