Macri's Undersecretary for Youth includes neo-Nazis in interparty conference.
The Undersecretary for Youth for Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Pedro "Piter" Robledo, is coming under fire for including two representatives of the country's main neo-Nazi party, Bandera Vecinal (Neighborly Flag), in a conference of political party youth chapters.
The conference, held on July 14 at the Casa Rosada presidential offices, included youth chapters from 18 parties and was presided by Chief of Staff Marcos Peña, Social Development Minister Carolina Stanley, and Robledo.
Attendees were surprised, however, to see two representatives from Bandera Vecinal, the country's only openly neo-Nazi party. The two men, Gastón Gama y Gabriel Kloster, reportedly contributed little to the discussion except for repeated demands that compulsory military training be reinstated. The colimba, as the year-long training was known in Argentina, was mandatory for all 18-year-old able bodied men; but in practice was usually avoided by the wealthy by way of influence or bribes. Plagued by abuses, the colimba was rescinded by former President Carlos Menem in 1995 after the death of a conscript the year before.
Robledo denied knowing that the neo-Nazi party was among those invited to the conference, and later claimed on Twitter that he believed they were merely "neighborly;" but Alejandro Biondini, jr - whose father founded the party - confirmed that Robledo had personally phoned Gastón Gama to invite him to the conference and to apologize to him for excluding Bandera Vecinal from a prior such meeting.
The senior Biondini founded the party as Nuevo Triunfo (New Triumph) in 1990 on a “family values,” anti-immigrant platform. The Argentine Supreme Court banned the party in 2009 for “advocating hatred” and using “symbols in the same manner as the Nazis” — a reference to their flag, which featured a number 7 stylized to look like a swastika. Biondini was also known for starting party meetings with the Nazi salute, as well as for exalting Hitler and for his espousal of Holocaust denial.
Following the ban, however, Biondini discontinued the salute and use of the swastika, thus paving the way for party's recognition by a Buenos Aires judge in 2014 under its current name.
Biondini's party contributes to a wider fascist movement in Argentina known as Alerta Nacional (National Alert), whose ideology is based on white supremacy and hatred of immigrants from neighboring countries (most of whom are indigenous or mestizo). Alerta Nacional helped organize numerous right-wing cacerolazo (pot-banging) protests in 2012 and 2013 against populist former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, whose social programs are resented by many right-wingers.
Bandera Vecinal endorsed Macri last year, and one of Biondini's closest associates, Leonardo Bariani, was appointed by Macri as Coordinator of Architectural Maintenance while he was mayor of Buenos Aires. They have since broken with Macri, however, over his refusal to broach the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute, as well as his continuation of most of Mrs. Kirchner's social programs.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laizquierdadiario.com%2FPiter-Robledo-junto-a-jovenes-nazis-en-Casa-Rosada
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They're not Nazis; just “neighborly.”[/center]
= new reply since forum marked as read
These young men look as if they have FAR too much idle time on their hands.
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Gastón Gama
Pedro "Piter" Robledo, who invited them.
What a gruesome crew. Little Nazis.[/center]
Thanks for sharing this information with us. It's certainly nothing our own corporate "news" media would want us to know!
Very grateful.
