The International “Anti-Fascist” Conference that wasn’t: Porto Alegre, March 2026
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2026 11:43 am
The crisis in the radical left
Today we not only face a growing threat from the far right, but a continuing crisis of disorientation in the radical left. One aspect of this is the failure of much of the radical left to fight the tacit red-brown alliance between Russian imperialism and the far right. One result of this was a recent world conference, held in the name of anti-fascism, that closed its eyes to much of the fascist offensive. Instead it sought to be a bridge between anti-fascists and those who are sympathetic to Russian, Chinese or Iranian reaction. This meant silence, and tacit contemptuous opposition, to many struggles of working people around the world. - Joseph Green
Below is an important article by John Reimann about that conference.
The International “Anti-Fascist” Conference
that wasn’t
By oaklandsocialist on April 25, 2026
(excerpts - full article at
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2026/04/25 ... at-wasnt/ )
From March 26-29 an international “anti fascist” conference was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It turned out, though, that it was not about anti-fascism at all, as I point out below. The main organizers of the conference were Putin apologists or outright supporters. Despite that, some supporters of Ukraine attended in order to engage with these people who I call the “Putinized left”.
Following the conference, most of the non-Putinized left who attended issued reports that were critical of the conference in some respects, but overall they congratulated themselves for having attended. Christian Zeller of Europe United without Borders issued one report. (https://leftrenewal.org/articles-en/zel ... t-whom-en/) Here is my reply, slightly edited for clarity and also expanded upon in a few ways:
I was not at the conference and have not spoken directly with anybody who attended, so I cannot have clear opinion on what could be accomplished by the genuine pro-working class internationalists who attended. I did hold reservations because in my experience almost all who attend this sort of conference do so with their minds already made up as far as issues like Ukraine. Therefore, I would like to know if there is evidence that any significant number of the attendees were actually swayed and if they will actually raise any questions in the groups in which they participate.
Title of conference a misnomer; silence means assent
My more fundamental issue is this: The title of the conference was a misnomer. It was not an anti-fascist conference. In reality, it was a conference called to oppose US/Western European imperialism. How can one have a serious discussion about the dangers of fascism and underlying issues – ethno-nationalism, homophobia, male supremacy, and white supremacy – without discussing Putin’s Russia? As they say “silence means assent”, or in reality silence means complicity when it comes to fascism. That is harsh, but how else can we phrase it? If in discussing the situation of the Palestinians one were to leave out Israel’s policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing, they would justifiably be accused of being complicit with that policy. It is the same with Putin’s Russia. …
The international pro-fascist role played by Putin can be seen very clearly here in the US and it starts at the top, with one of two of Trump’s closest allies being Putin. The white nationalist/Christian nationalist Nazi friendly US leader Tucker Carlson [The article has a graphic captioned “White nationalist/Christian Nationalist and Nazi friendly tucker Carlson kissing up to Putin.] is also a Putin supporter as are groups like the fascist America First (led by the white supremacist pro-Nazi Nick Fuentes). Other racists and fascists were supporters of Putin’s ally Assad when he was in power. The one who comes immediately to mind is the former KKK leader David Duke.
This role of Putin is not confined to the United States. For example, Britain’s foremost fascist friendly white nationalist party – Reform UK – has now been revealed to be connected with Putin. Something similar is the case around the world.
Putin also plays a really disastrous role in drawing a whole layer of the “left” into his far right and even fascist network. The most clear example of that was the Anti Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR) conference of a few years ago. Attendees at that conference were several well known fascists and racists including the racist League of the South, the Texas Nationalist Movement (from the U.S.), and Italy’s neo fascist Millenium party. Also important representatives of the “left” here in the United States attended!
Excerpted from an important article by John Reimann, The full text is at full text at
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2026/04/25 ... hat-wasnt/
Today we not only face a growing threat from the far right, but a continuing crisis of disorientation in the radical left. One aspect of this is the failure of much of the radical left to fight the tacit red-brown alliance between Russian imperialism and the far right. One result of this was a recent world conference, held in the name of anti-fascism, that closed its eyes to much of the fascist offensive. Instead it sought to be a bridge between anti-fascists and those who are sympathetic to Russian, Chinese or Iranian reaction. This meant silence, and tacit contemptuous opposition, to many struggles of working people around the world. - Joseph Green
Below is an important article by John Reimann about that conference.
The International “Anti-Fascist” Conference
that wasn’t
By oaklandsocialist on April 25, 2026
(excerpts - full article at
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2026/04/25 ... at-wasnt/ )
From March 26-29 an international “anti fascist” conference was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It turned out, though, that it was not about anti-fascism at all, as I point out below. The main organizers of the conference were Putin apologists or outright supporters. Despite that, some supporters of Ukraine attended in order to engage with these people who I call the “Putinized left”.
Following the conference, most of the non-Putinized left who attended issued reports that were critical of the conference in some respects, but overall they congratulated themselves for having attended. Christian Zeller of Europe United without Borders issued one report. (https://leftrenewal.org/articles-en/zel ... t-whom-en/) Here is my reply, slightly edited for clarity and also expanded upon in a few ways:
I was not at the conference and have not spoken directly with anybody who attended, so I cannot have clear opinion on what could be accomplished by the genuine pro-working class internationalists who attended. I did hold reservations because in my experience almost all who attend this sort of conference do so with their minds already made up as far as issues like Ukraine. Therefore, I would like to know if there is evidence that any significant number of the attendees were actually swayed and if they will actually raise any questions in the groups in which they participate.
Title of conference a misnomer; silence means assent
My more fundamental issue is this: The title of the conference was a misnomer. It was not an anti-fascist conference. In reality, it was a conference called to oppose US/Western European imperialism. How can one have a serious discussion about the dangers of fascism and underlying issues – ethno-nationalism, homophobia, male supremacy, and white supremacy – without discussing Putin’s Russia? As they say “silence means assent”, or in reality silence means complicity when it comes to fascism. That is harsh, but how else can we phrase it? If in discussing the situation of the Palestinians one were to leave out Israel’s policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing, they would justifiably be accused of being complicit with that policy. It is the same with Putin’s Russia. …
The international pro-fascist role played by Putin can be seen very clearly here in the US and it starts at the top, with one of two of Trump’s closest allies being Putin. The white nationalist/Christian nationalist Nazi friendly US leader Tucker Carlson [The article has a graphic captioned “White nationalist/Christian Nationalist and Nazi friendly tucker Carlson kissing up to Putin.] is also a Putin supporter as are groups like the fascist America First (led by the white supremacist pro-Nazi Nick Fuentes). Other racists and fascists were supporters of Putin’s ally Assad when he was in power. The one who comes immediately to mind is the former KKK leader David Duke.
This role of Putin is not confined to the United States. For example, Britain’s foremost fascist friendly white nationalist party – Reform UK – has now been revealed to be connected with Putin. Something similar is the case around the world.
Putin also plays a really disastrous role in drawing a whole layer of the “left” into his far right and even fascist network. The most clear example of that was the Anti Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR) conference of a few years ago. Attendees at that conference were several well known fascists and racists including the racist League of the South, the Texas Nationalist Movement (from the U.S.), and Italy’s neo fascist Millenium party. Also important representatives of the “left” here in the United States attended!
Excerpted from an important article by John Reimann, The full text is at full text at
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2026/04/25 ... hat-wasnt/