ROME -- A grassroots movement protesting the populism of far-right Italian leader Matteo Salvini demonstrated its surging strength Saturday, drawing tens of thousands of people to a vast square in Rome in its first national rally.
The Sardines movement, named for its ability to pack piazzas, reflects a general disgust among many liberal Italians over Salvini's anti-migrant and anti-European language.
"Something has already changed in the Italian political panorama," said Mattia Santori, 32, one of the movement's founders. He said its chief purpose was to combat apathy and to offer equality, respect for the constitution and stronger Italian institutions as a way to counter hate and Salvini's essential themes: opposition to immigration, antagonism toward Europe and heightened security.
The Sardines were inspired to organize by Salvini's campaign vow to "liberate" the liberal stronghold of Emilia Romagna in regional elections next month. They fear that if Salvini can win there, he can win anywhere.
Italians packed St. John at the Lateran Square on Saturday, holding signs reading "Humanity and Respect" and "Indifference, the Dark Side of Humanity." Some carried European Union flags.
Italian political analysts have asked whether the movement's energy in the piazzas will translate to elections.
Salvini, who was politically sidelined this past summer in an overreach for power, leads Italy's oldest political party. He has solid support and a sophisticated political operation as he tries for a comeback by picking off traditionally left-leaning regions.
In mid-November, Salvini was set to kick off his party's campaign in Bologna, the region's capital, in an arena that held 5,700 people. Santori sent a message to a few friends to meet the next day.
Over lunch in Bologna, they decided to spread a Facebook invite to a "flash mob" rally at a Bologna square, though without political or party banners. They hoped for 6,000 people. Instead 15,000 showed up.
Subsequent rallies packed squares around the region and then the country. In Florence, Turin and elsewhere, Sardines sang an anti-Fascist resistance song, "Bella Ciao," which has been closely associated with the Italian left for decades.
At the rally in Rome on Saturday, young and old alike sang the song repeatedly as Ismail Sylla, a 23-year-old from Mali, marched by with other migrants in a group called "the Black Sardines."
Sylla said the group hoped for the repeal of Salvini's tough Security Decree, a measure approved by Parliament late last year that cracked down on illegal migrants. Asked what he would do if Salvini returned to power, he said: "I don't want to hear the question. He is a big problem for us. We suffered so much under him."
The peaceful, respectful tone of the demonstrations has made it hard for Salvini to deride them with his usual characterizations: as hard-left or elitist elements far removed from the Italian mainstream.
And as the Sardines movement has grown, it has built a metric of support that Salvini's operation pays attention to: Santori's Facebook page support has ballooned to more than 200,000 followers.
Santori said the left's communication style was outdated because no one wants to listen to hourlong speeches anymore, especially when Salvini's social media operation -- called The Beast -- pumps out tweets, Facebook Live posts and videos for the TikTok app.
"There are people who think you can beat Salvini's Beast with political rallies from the 1990s; unfortunately, it doesn't work that way," he said, adding, "We have to propose an alternative that in some way is cool."
Salvini, who first mocked the group, writing on Twitter that he liked kittens more because "they eat sardines when hungry," then shifted to criticizing its lack of proposals. He later expressed appreciation for its democratic impulse, saying, "The more people participate, the better."
A Section on 12/15/2019