Antichrist and financial Protestant dogs: the most unusual theories about George Soros, the most hated business man by the far right

When an American extremist decided last year to attack the most prominent members of the Democratic Party by sending them explosive packages, he chose ex-presidents, renowned Congressmen, the Pentagon, the chain CNN (frequently attacked by Donald Trump) and only a character not really political: George Soros.

The president of Soros Fund Management, ranked 22nd in the ranking Forbes one of the most controversial figures of the Internet, even though the vast majority of allegations are based on conspiracy and lack of livelihood. Your activism on issues such as the decriminalization of marijuana use, reproductive freedom and, in large part, its Judaism and the profile of a billionaire businessmanhe is considered a world archivist for the conservative and anti-Semitic sectors.

Donations are made via its platform Open Society FoundationsHeadquartered in New York with offices in more than 30 countries, and since its founding has made contributions of more than $ 14,000 million. Only for 2018, his budget was $ 1,005,700,000, across seven regions of the world and 10 themes. The most important item is economic governance and development (146 200 million USD), followed by democratic practice (113 000 million USD).

88 years ago, Schwartz György was born in Budapestwhen the danger of fascimo was already in force. "My father understood that the times were abnormal and that the people who respected the rules were in danger," he writes in his autobiography, about when his family had to change their name to protect themselves. He grew up with the Nazi occupation and, after the subsequent takeover of Soviet forces, He escaped from the city by attending a congress in Switzerland, then moved to England.

Soros studied philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he met the person who most influenced his ideology: Karl Popper. Your book The open society and its enemies it shaped the thought of the Hungarian student and inspired the name of the institution that today constitutes the great philanthropic mechanism of Soros. In short, the Austrian thinker believes that societies must be receptive to new ideas and not stick to rigid doctrines, because scientific knowledge does not allow us to reach a single truth, but only to identify what is false. Above all, he rejects totalitarianism and praises liberal democracy as the only regime that allows development without violence.

The first steps of Soros as a benefactor, he gave them South Africa, awarding scholarships to black citizens during the l & # 39; apartheidin 1979 to attend the University of Cape Town. Later, in Communist Hungary in the 1980s, he promoted study exchange programs with the West and supported the democratic movements before the collapse of the USSR. The young winner of the program was a young Viktor Orbán, who later became his biggest critic.. It was during those years that he opened Open Society across Eastern Europe, concerned about the exodus of intellectuals in the volatile context of the region.

But to donate the billions he has distributed around the world, he first built his fortune. Soros, who started working in finance and emigrated to the United States in 1956, he ambaded millions of 1960s, with several hedge funds and strong investments in the foreign exchange market.

The big jump took place in 1992, in the so-called Black Wednesday. The businessman had bet against the pound sterling with a huge amount of short sales, favored by the devaluation. For these operations, Soros believes he has won billions of pounds in a few hours, which has increased his image as a dark financial speculator.

L & # 39; historian Daniel Bessner, a professor at the University of Washington who studied the career of the Hungarian tycoon, points out a fundamental difference between Soros and other renowned philanthropists of astronomical portfolios such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or Mark Zuckerberg: he is an intellectual. "He is much more critical and appreciates the ideas of others."he explained in dialogue with Infobae. Its donation platform, as broad as it is coherent, targets a global community that shares the values ​​of freedom, equity and prosperity. A very different perspective of Gates' invaluable fight for the eradication of diseases such as malaria, which causes millions of deaths in Africa. Soros explains the responsibility he has for his men: "I'm in an exceptional position. My success in the financial markets has given me greater independence than most people. It forces me to take a stand on controversial issues that others can not. Philanthropy has made me happy. "

Criticism of their activity has not been born in recent years, but has risen sharply since the last decade. The Cimbronazo of the 2008 global financial crisis had a reach far beyond banks and stock marketshe suppressed traditional politics, weakened the historical parties and gave way to a populist right that profited to develop a protectionist discourse. Increasingly, Soros' campaign contributions to the Democratic Party, to NGOs such as Human Rights Watch (of which USD 100 million since 2010 were generated) or to institutions linked to movements such as Black Lives Matter, have been observed with greater anger. who defends African Americans against police violence.

The demonization of Soros is almost total: they badure that it is the one who really shadows the Department of State (through the Deep state, the supposed hidden state that fascinates the conspirators), controls the networks of international traffic and even the arms trade. More than 190,000 people have signed a White House petition calling on Donald Trump's government to declare him "terrorist" and seize all his possessions for allegedly destabilizing the country and engaging in sedition.

"There is a global growth of a much more radical right. It is not purely economic, commercial or liberal law, which aimed at a supposed total freedom in the markets. It is a political right, sometimes theological, with certain values ​​of historical interpretation"he stressed Infobae Gustavo Gorriti, a renowned Peruvian journalist, who is familiar with Soros' business. IDL Reporters, the non-profit organization that runs, has won contests for funding from the Open Society Foundation, through the prestigious Independent Journalism Program, based in London.

For Gorriti, criticism of Soros has increased in direct relation to the growing influence of these right-wing groups, who work locally with some Protestant churches and far right sectors of the Catholic Church", with concepts "simply inherited from a tradition of right-wing thinking close to historical fascism and anti-Semitism"

"Soros is the Antichrist! You must go there! Freeze your badets and I bet the protest will end, "said a Twitter message reproduced by Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyer, at a time when rumors were circulating that the businessman was behind the rejection of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, accused of badual abuse last October.

Even the American president himself fanned conspiracy theories. In addition to ensuring that the Hungarian pays anti-Kavanaugh activists, he added that "it would not surprise him" if Soros had paid the Central American migrants who had integrated the caravans at the US border. . "Many people say yes", he said, before the consultation of the journalists.

For Bessner, "the attacks on Soros reflect increasing extremism and the dissemination of theories about a person who combines conspiracy and Judaism with a component of anti-Semitism." Gorriti adds: "In all the prejudices and stereotypes with which Soros is described, the name can be changed to "Jew" and the meaning is maintained"The charges are reaching the level of reporting his collaboration with the Nazi SS, a not so unusual insult to the far right against Holocaust survivors.

Why has this employer been chosen as the target of millions of attacks on social networks? Not just by millionaire and jew. The purpose of his philanthropy is fundamental, which led him to win the distinction Person of the year 2018 of the Financial Times, for his role of "defender of liberal democracy and open society". This is how Gorriti sums it up: "Militant, financial, in favor of human rights, with a global vision of how to defend certain values, defender of minorities, free transit, badual minorities, a very liberal regulation on the use of drugs. Each of these things goes into one of the most irritating xenophobic, ultranationalist, racist, mentally closed acupuncture points, partisan of repression."

In his home country, the nationalist Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister since 2010, had chosen him as rival in the last elections, even though Soros lived in the United States and did not appear on any ballot . Yet he succeeded represent him as the secret instigator of Muslim immigration and nurtured by xenophobia of his electoral base, with whom he achieved a new mandate. The campaign against Soros resulted in the closure of the Central European University, considered one of the best higher education schools in the world and the best in Hungary.

A few kilometers further, in Romania, agitators of the social networks managed to make sure that Soros even pays the pets to attend the parades of the opposition. "Adults were paid 100 lei (about 24 dollars), children 50 lei, dogs 30 lei", the channel came to say Romania TV, pick up the rumor without trying to find a livelihood.

How many reasons can these radicalized sectors have? Nonsense can exaggerate its influence, but it exists. With the creation of international networks before the fall of the socialist world, he tried to introduce democratic practices, not always with the success that he would have liked, but with a significant scope.

"In Latin America, very important support has been given to human rights, truth commissions and minority groups.. In a way that was not accompanied by a beatific smile, but in these ways with rude and direct European citizens, raised under the socialist regime. Maybe that would make it more efficient and create enemies, "Gorriti says, for the researcher, his detractors may have perceived greater power than the one that existed, which fueled the prejudices of the so-called" attempts of Judaism to dominate the world ".

In the case of Peru, the director of IDL Reporters, kidnapped under the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori, confirmed that Soros had paid a million dollars to groups opposed to the regime, in connection with the campaign of the leader of the opposition Alejandro Toledo, when Fujimorism clung to a third term .

On the other hand, although Soros has been described in some interviews as an outsider of politics, Bessner is more categorical: "It's a billionaire. Of course, he is an insider"

Even Vladimir Putin used the image of Soros to defend himself. Accused by Western powers of having tried to influence the elections abroad by the Kremlin, the Russian president felt that these accusations of interference would be more appropriate for the US-Hungarian group and for its activities around the world. In this regard, Bessner said: "(Soros) occupies a privileged position, but it is important to note that it is a non-governmental activity." It focuses on certain issues. It is problematic that a billionaire can do it. But that's a problem for billionaires, not for Soros"

The billionaire, however, does not seem to change his actions by the barrage of insults and is not discouraged by his setbacks to campaigns he has supported (the defeat of Hillary Clinton or the advance of Brexit, for example) . "This is an old man, he will soon die. I do not think he cares about criticism", says Bessner.