Dear friends,
Welcome to the 15th newsletter on and against global authoritarianism, March 2026. While feminists demonstrated around the world on March 8 and, for the first time in Germany, a politician of Turkish origin was elected Minister-President in Baden-Württemberg, Minister of State for Culture Weimer is taking restrictive measures against debates at the Berlinale and against award ceremonies at left-wing bookstores.
In our ReGA newsletter, you’ll find
→ as always, a look at the AfD’s foreign policy, particularly Christine Anderson’s trips to Canada and the ASN conference in Washington,
→ under Europe’s Far Right, we report this time on the local elections in the Netherlands and France, as well as the Academics’ Ball in Vienna. We also cover, among other things, the new right-wing party Futuro Nazionale in Italy,
→ a country report on the Republic of Moldova,
→ with our Linea B project, you can read from Latin America about, among other things, the verdict against the masterminds behind the murder of Marielle Franco, the Black activist and left-wing city councilor from Rio de Janeiro; Javier Milei’s new labor law reform in Argentina; his supporters in Germany; and the inauguration of José Antonio Kast in Chile,
→ and finally, information on upcoming and past events—by and against the far right!
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No fewer than seven demonstrations or rallies took place in Berlin on March 8, International Women’s Day. The largest of these, with some 30,000 participants of all genders, had a strong labor union focus. The divide in Germany runs primarily along the lines of the Middle East conflict, though not all of the separate demonstrations would necessarily be incompatible with one another.
In many Latin American countries, where there are certainly different currents as well, the focus is more on unity than on differences. In Santiago, Chile, where the ultra-conservative Catholic and Pinochet supporter José Antonio Kast will take office as president on March 11, more than 100,000 women gathered for a powerful demonstration. “We didn’t vote for him,” they chanted in front of the government palace. Our Argentine partners from the human rights organization CELS also report from Buenos Aires on a powerful demonstration—this time on March 9. Under the banner “Enough” – “Genug” – “Basta,” a variety of actions linked to a global feminist strike took place on March 9: striking or taking the day off, dancing or demonstrating. A tender little plant growing between continents with the goal of becoming a stronger force in the current political debate.
In the election in Baden-Württemberg—the first of five state and minister-president elections this year—a video with sexist undertones did indeed backfire on Manuel Hagel, the CDU’s top candidate. As a result, Hagel finished just behind the moderate Green and future Minister-President Cem Özdemir. AfD lead candidate Markus Frohnmaier, who traveled to the U.S. shortly before the election, came in third. Among young voters, it was primarily men who voted for the far-right party. Young women voted for Die Linke at an above-average rate. Following the next election in Rhineland-Palatinate on March 22, the elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in September will be particularly explosive, and those in Berlin will be exciting.
Following his role at the Ludwig Erhard Economic Summit, which blurred the lines between government policy and the economy, Minister of State for Culture Weimer once again caused a stir with his attacks on open discussions at the Berlinale and its director Trizia Tuttle, as well as on awards given to left-wing bookstores. This evokes memories of the oppressive order of the 1960s—or of chilling examples of pressure to conform on academia, culture, and the media under the MAGA doctrine in the U.S. There, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is molding the Washington Post, which he also owns, into an uncritical mouthpiece. In addition, the entertainment giant Paramount, dominated by tech billionaire Larry Ellison, is acquiring the Hollywood production company Warner Brothers. Ellison is considered a Trump supporter. Paramount will thus become a dominant political player, as Warner Brothers also owns the news network CNN.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is plunging into its next war. Following the targeted—yet unlawful under international law—abduction of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, it is now—together with Israel—turning its sights on Iran, a country outside the region that the National Security Strategy has once again declared to be the U.S. “backyard.”
Undoubtedly, the regime of the Iranian mullahs is deeply inhumane; the scale of the most recent massacre in January 2026 is often underestimated, and a political analysis, stance, and response to it are urgently needed, even on the left. Yet the bellicose messages from U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who promises Iran “death and destruction from the sky, all day long,” betray a raw desire for subjugation and, regardless of any questions of international law, give rise to fears of the worst. It is to be hoped for the Iranians that, following the military intervention dubbed “Epic Fury,” a rejuvenated variant of the regime—one relying even more heavily on the military might of the militia apparatus—will not take hold.
Despite legitimate criticisms of international law, it remains the only binding framework that unites the international community. The dismantling or selective suspension of international law is part of an authoritarian restructuring of social order. Chancellor Merz is also contributing to this trend when he suggests that now is not the right time to “criticize partners and allies.” His stance during his visit to the U.S. also demonstrates a lack of solidarity with democratic processes in Spain. Anyone who wants to stand up to Trump should not allow him to divide us.
In our last newsletter, we reported on the connections between Jeffrey Epstein and his network to the far right in Europe. The international media continues to shed light on further details from the data released by the U.S. Department of Justice in early February. Theverge.com examines how Epstein specifically sought to support men accused by the #MeToo movement, particularly those in the academic sphere. Epstein also apparently attempted to revitalize the far-right’s historical ties to eugenics at universities. A detailed article on The Lead explores this.