Anti-Left 'Fear Campaign' Led to Spain Election Result: Analyst
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The 71 seats that the left coalition Unidos Podemos won in Sunday's general election in Spain is the result of a fear campaign from the conservative right, according to prominent analyst Francisco Sierra Sunday.
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"It is clear that given the illusion of change and building a left alternative in the country, fear has prevailed as well as the speeches from the government and the parties of the neoliberal system," Sierra, who is Director of the International Center for Advanced Communication Studies for Latin America, told Andes.
According to Sierra, the fear campaign focused mainly on the need for stability in the country and was influenced by the results and fears surrounding the "Brexit" vote.
"The discourse of fear has focused on the British-European context, but also on fear of change, as... any alternative translates into concern," argued Sierra. The analyst added that a climate of ultra-conservative attitudes still prevails in Spain, emphasizing that the conservative vote is still strong in the country.
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Ecuadorean legislator Maria Augusta Calle has also backed up Sierra's claims, saying the Spanish right-wing created a campaign of fear in order to link the Spanish left to the political situation in Venezuela, with the complicity of the mainstream media.
"The media and political campaign of the great Spanish media is against the growth of Podemos, it was the fundamental tone of the second round of elections," said Calle to Andes.
Javier Moreno, a member of Unidos Podemos in Ecuador, said the ruling People's Party and the Socialist Party created a campaign of fear in order to prevent progressive forces from gaining power.
Another factor that influenced the results, according to Sierra, were the more than two million Spaniards living abroad unable to exercise their vote
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