“Long live Christ the King!” “Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!” “For the homeland, the family, life!” is the rallying cry of a reinvigorated far-right that is demanding space in decision-making to establish its agenda “for freedom.” Dozens of far-right leaders and activists met this Saturday in Mexico City, in a new edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The leader of the organization in Mexico, former soap opera actor and now politician Eduardo Verástegui, has announced the creation of a new political party starting in 2025 with a program focused on the family and Catholic morality. This is Verástegui’s return to the political arena, after failing in his attempt to run as an independent presidential candidate in the last elections.
This Saturday was a marathon day of speeches full of praise to God and castigation of the usual enemies of the far right: socialism, or communism, or Marxism, or progressivism (they are indistinguishable); feminism; trans people; the media; abortion; George Soros; the International Monetary Fund; the UN; doctors and vaccines; Google; Meta; climate change; the Sao Paulo Forum; political correctness; the agenda woke. Videos generated with artificial intelligence of the conquistador Hernán Cortés and the former US president Ronald Reagan, founder of the CPAC, were projected on the soundboard. Verástegui crowned the event, to whom the attendees cheered: “President! President!” “He is a great leader, a man touched by God,” defined one of the speakers.
This year’s conference has been more than a forum for reaffirming ideas and conspiracy theories. Spokesmen for the Mexican far right have openly proclaimed their interest in acting from the government with new leadership, outside of the existing parties, including the National Action Party (PAN), the traditional and most democratic right-wing party. “We need to build a proposal that connects with the most popular bases; that in a few years these people vote for people who take this type of platform as a political springboard and that in a few years they can go for elected positions,” said political advisor Alberto Rosas. The famous far-right ideologue Agustín Laje has pointed out that creating a new party is the only alternative to defeat Morena, the party of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in light of the experience of the last elections, where the opposition was reduced to historic lows. “Where can Mexico’s future freedom lie? “Maybe by looking at experiences that have been successful in other countries, which have involved creating a new right, a new political party,” he said, while projecting on screen the photos of the Spaniard Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right party Vox; of the former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. The audience began to chant: “Yes we can, yes we can!”
“A conservative government in Mexico is possible. If we are not able to see it here, it would be a waste of time,” said lawyer and cleric Ferdinand Recio. The speaker lashed out at party leaders and called politicians “rats.” “Opposition parties do not exist in Mexico. We have to get into the system with the rules of the system. It is the only way that many of you will be able to be candidates in 2027,” he said. Activist René Bolio seconded: “The scum that has taken over our politics today does not deserve our vote. We need new, educated, honest and normal leaders.” Former deputy Carlos Leal said that the political class and existing parties despise citizens and seek to enrich themselves with public money. “The PAN is supposed to defend life, family, traditional values, but it is doing the opposite,” he accused.
This is the second time that CPAC has met in Mexico. This year’s line-up of the great far-right event featured Antonio Kast, former presidential candidate of Chile; Brazilian deputy Eduardo Bolsonario and ideologue Agustín Laje. Donald Trump, Republican candidate for the US presidency, sent a video message. The same did the Prime Minister of Italy, the far-right Giorgia Meloni; the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and the leader of Vox, Abascal. The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, was expected to attend, but he finally cancelled his visit.
Several of the exhibitors spoke in favor of Trump’s candidacy (some young attendees wore the classic red cap that reads Make America Great Again). The couple Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, leaders of the CPAC in the US, have warned that “the virus of Marxism” is in the blood of their country and have pointed out that the organization seeks to convince the Latin diaspora in their country to vote for Trump. They also launched criticism of the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris (they made a pun in Spanish and called her Qué-Mala). In his video message, Trump greeted Verástegui and called for the union of conservatives. “It is an honor to address the patriots gathered in Mexico to celebrate the principles of conservatives united throughout the world, together fighting to preserve our culture and defend our way of life in the values of freedom, family and faith in almighty God,” he said. Trump has indicated that, if he wins the election, he will work for the security of the border with Mexico and for “the rule of law in both countries.”
The crisis in Venezuela also took center stage at the conference. In his video message, Abascal urged the world’s governments to recognize the victory of the opposition leader Edmundo González over Nicolás Maduro, the president running for reelection. “The criminal Maduro is murdering, torturing and kidnapping the Venezuelan people in revenge for having been defeated and humiliated at the polls,” he said. The leader of Vox asked governments to reject the mediation proposals of “the dictator’s accomplices,” and directly mentioned the Mexican López Obrador, the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and “the guerrilla” Gustavo Petro, from Colombia. Another speaker, Daniel Quirós, from Costa Rica, made a joke about the death of the Venezuelan president. “We have an illusion, a desire to see Maduro in a plastic bag,” he declared. Abascal has also extended his support to Israel in its war against Palestine, which has killed more than 40,000 people in the Gaza Strip. “They are fighting for their existence, questioned by Islamism and the most repugnant and extremist left. We share mortal enemies with Israel,” he said.. The audience burst into applause.
The CPAC summit lasted almost 12 uninterrupted hours. The speakers, some from Latin American and European countries, went from one topic to another within the spectrum that characterizes the far-right discourse. The Argentine academic Pablo Muñoz attacked the president-elect of Mexico, the leftist Claudia Sheinbaum, and criticized her government program, which, he said, “is not very different from Nazism,” in reference to the decriminalization of abortion, which is “killing unborn children.” “Morena’s platform is criminal,” he said to cheers from the audience. The Colombian senator María Fernanda Cabal criticized that in the “gender class” children are taught to “hate God” and said that hers is a crusade of good against the “axis of evil.” “Leftism has become common and what is right is pursued as if it were a crime,” she said.
Mexican Rodrigo Cortés, leader of the National Front for the Family, has attacked “the lie” of “wanting to be a man or a woman or both at will.” Peruvian deputy Pablo Muñante has called for preventing “universities from being propaganda media” woke”. Georges Simion, leader of the far-right Romanian party AUR, told the audience: “We have an obligation to fight for normality in a world that wants to impose abnormality.” Activist Brenda del Río denied climate change and alluded to the conspiracy theory of chemtrails (chemtrails), which supposedly explains how military aircraft spray crops with chemicals. influencer Brazilian activist Sara Huff has accused feminists of forcing her to have an abortion and that today she is happy with a husband who “treats her like a queen.” “The feminist movement made me a vulnerable woman. Today I am free. Today I feel truly empowered,” she said. Activist Lianna Rebolledo shared with the audience the story of how she became pregnant after being raped; despite this, she said, she decided to give birth. “Abortion has to be unthinkable even in stories like mine due to rape,” she said.
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