You do not have to be a conspiracy theorist to understand that the recent events in Ceuta were driven by a deliberate strategy and very specific political objectives. Nor is this the first time that migration flows have been used as a political weapon. The underlying reasons for migration are, of course, well known: they lie in the increasingly intolerable living conditions in countries that have long been subjected to capitalist oppression and exploitation. In this sense, mass migration towards Europe\u2014as, in different ways, migration towards the United States\u2014can be seen as a genuine nemesis of centuries of colonial and imperial domination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The potentially devastating, even fatal, consequences of this historical nemesis are becoming apparent in the context of the West\u2019s seemingly unstoppable historical decline. Increasingly old, paranoid and incapable of generating genuine economic development\u2014development that is also, and above all, responsive to social and environmental needs\u2014Europe\u2019s decrepit political establishments are retreating into the racist delusion of those dreaming of an impossible return to the golden age of colonial and neocolonial supremacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This helps explain the extraordinary success enjoyed by figures like Vannacci across Europe, as well as the race among governing and opposition right-wing parties to outdo one another in increasingly outrageous rhetoric. Many of these forces are ultimately destined to enter government themselves, only to make room, in turn, for new right-wing movements that are even more openly fascist and racist\u2014movements capable of mobilising the support of the frustrated, humiliated and battered people who inhabit what were once Europe\u2019s proud nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At its core, this is the result of a double failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first is the failure of Europe\u2019s ruling classes, increasingly subordinate to the most pernicious lobbies. They are abandoning fragile but necessary projects of ecological transition in favour of massive investment in arms and fossil fuels, under the aegis of a financial system that is becoming ever more difficult to control, particularly as a consequence of doctrines that have systematically dismantled public oversight of financial flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second is the failure of what was once the European left. It abandoned any meaningful class identity long ago, leaving working people at the mercy of charlatans who turn their frustrations into political capital, use that support to reach government and then pursue their own interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Italy is an especially revealing example, including when it comes to the emergence of new forms of fascism that are, in some respects, even more authoritarian and racist than their predecessors. The older far-right movements have been partially worn down by the experience of governing, despite the extensive deployment of repressive and propaganda apparatuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is against this deteriorated, disturbing and unhealthy backdrop that the events in Ceuta must be understood, together with the subsequent centrifugal forces that are placing increasing pressure on the European Union. Its political leadership appears deeply subordinate to centres of economic power and increasingly forced to chase after right-wing forces that are becoming ever more fascist and extremist\u2014creatures spawned, like voracious and foul-smelling worms, by Europe\u2019s own impotent decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is entirely plausible that, as several commentators and political actors have alleged, Moroccan and Israeli agencies involved in hybrid warfare played a role in the events in Ceuta. The two have, after all, maintained close ties for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apparent target of the operation was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez and, more broadly, his position as the only significant government-level obstacle to Europe\u2019s submission to Zionist and Trumpist designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Italy\u2019s position was both shameful and opportunistic. It manifested itself in the suspension of the Schengen arrangements in relation to Spain, triggering a series of retaliatory measures and political repercussions that could ultimately engulf Giorgia Meloni herself, however desperately she may attempt to cling to her Danish counterpart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These events have once again demonstrated how the various European right-wing forces, regardless of their particular ideological pedigree, shamelessly compete with one another by exploiting the fears, anxieties and frustrations of European citizens\u2014frustrations that in fact have very different roots and causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the silence of what was once the left remains deafening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it wants to play a constructive role, the left must return to the roots of these problems. It could begin, for instance, with Marcinelle: the massacre of migrant workers, one among countless tragedies of its kind that continue to occur today. Capitalism, as we know, is based on the exploitation of labour, sometimes literally to the point of death\u2014and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable precisely because their precariousness makes them easier to exploit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Marcinelle, the victims were predominantly Italian. In more recent tragedies, they have been Moroccan, Asian, African or of other nationalities. The class dimension of the problem remains unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is therefore encouraging that someone chose to underline this reality by turning their back, during the anniversary commemoration, on La Russa, a leading figure in a government that acts against the rights of workers, in ideological continuity with some of the darkest precedents in Italy\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Migrants are an important and rapidly growing part of the Italian and European working class. This elementary truth is still not adequately recognised by those who, if they genuinely want to defeat the right, should be advancing a truly left-wing political agenda\u2014one opposed to war, racism and fascism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, they are once again tragically squandering the support gained in the March referendum, chasing imaginary broad coalitions and embracing the disastrous political legacy of the Draghi era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n