CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Francisco Franco: The Fascist Ego

Cover art for the book El Generalísimo: A Biography of Francisco Franco by Giles Tremlett

In 2026, the United States is being ruled by an administration led by a wannabe dictator named Trump. His ego seems to dominate his decisions, while his paranoia encourages him to surround himself with authoritarian individuals eager to prove a strength they have always doubted existed in their persona. Not an intellectual by any measure, Trump’s position in the world of finance and politics is a testimony to the power of ego, cruelty and bombast in the sectors of society he has existed in his entire life. Often compared to Hitler, Mussolini, and other authoritarians familiar to the western media, a recent book titled El Generalísimo: A Biography of Francisco Franco and authored by Giles Tremlett on the life of the Spanish fascist Francisco Franco convinced me that Trump’s closest historical model could well be the man who liked to be called El Generalísimo. A professor of economics, a journalist and historian, Tremlett has provided the public with a comprehensive exploration of El Generalísimo’s life and politics well situated in the history of the historical moments Franco lived, ruled and died.

It’s a story of a man who believed he represented the one true Spain—a Spain that was Catholic and extremely conservative, with anyone not of that makeup fair game........

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