Francesco Carcaterra

The Honourable Francesco Carcaterra SF
Francesco Carcaterra in 2018
President of the United Etrurian Federation
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 August 2016
Preceded by	Emiliano Reali
Federal Leader of the Tribune Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 August 2012
Deputy	Gianfranco Galizia
Preceded by	Office established
Leader of National Action
In office 4 April 2009 – 30 August 2012
Preceded by	Umberto Fafani
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Represenative for San Pietro della Abbadia Lariana
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 May 2013
Preceded by	Margareta Gennaro
Majority	22,694
Personal details
Born	Francesco Aurelio Carcaterra (1964-06-06) 6 June 1964 Tyrrenhus, Etruria
Political party	National Action (2006-2012) Tribune Movement (2012-present)
Spouse	Augustina Carcaterra (1989-Present)
Children	1
Alma mater	University of San Michele

Francesco Aurelio Carcaterra (born 6 June 1963), is an Etrurian university professor and politician, who is serving as President of Etruria since August 2016.

Carcaterra spent the majority of his career as a history professor and was also a leading figure in the Academic Association for Etrurian History, a notable right-wing society comprised of academics. He would enter politics in the mid-2000s following his controversial sacking from the prestigious University of San Michele, over his published best-seller book, A Solarian Etruria. In 2009, he was elected the leader of the national conservative National Action, where he then successfully established an electoral bloc with two other hard-right parties.

In 2012, the Coalition of the Right united to form the Tribune Movement, with Carcaterra elected Federal Leader of the party. In 2013, the Tribune Movement became the fourth largest party in that year’s general election and Carcaterra was elected to the Chamber of Representatives. In 2016, Carcaterra and the Tribune Movement would lead the No-campaign in the year’s EC membership referendum. Utilising the widespread corruption in Etrurian government to tar the EC, coupled with energetic championing of national sovereignty, economic independence and anti-immigrant sentiment, the No-vote won by a landslide, ending thirty-years of pro-EC policy and efforts toward obtaining membership of the bloc for Etruria. The defeat of the Yes-campaign as well as the Miraviglia Scandal brought about the collapse of the centre-right coalition government and in August 2016, the Tribune Movement won a landslide victory and entered into coalition with the Farmers and Workers Union, Francesco Carcaterra became President of Etruria on 11 August 2016.

Since becoming President, Carcaterra’s government initially focused on instituting a wide-range reform programme aimed at supporting lower- and middle-income workers. This included a series of worker’s rights amendments, an increase to the federal minimum wage and passing delayed health insurance reforms. Between 2016 and 2018, the Carcaterra government abolished, or shuttered numerous government bodies and agencies dedicated to Etruria meeting EC standards for membership, several of which focused on civil liberties, press freedoms and anti-racial discrimination. Utilising popular referendums to by-pass the two-thirds majority requirement to amend the constitution, the Carcaterra government re-introduced capital punishment, secured electoral reform and federalised law enforcement.

In 2018, a series of laws aimed at censoring debate or reference to Solarian War-era war crimes in academia was condemned by the Euclean Community, this led to the banning and blocking of Le Monde, a Gaullican newspaper, sparking the 2018 EC-Etruria Crisis and the Pietromontecorvino Incident. Riding a wave of patriotism and popular support against what was conceived as EC infringement of Etrurian sovereignty, Carcaterra led the Tribune Movement to a second landslide victory in a snap election, winning a supermajority in the Chamber of Representatives and a two-thirds majority in the State Council, establishing the first single-party government since 1984.

Since the 2018 election, the Carcaterra government has enacted further reforms that have led to significant democratic backsliding in Etruria. Judicial reforms under the guise of combatting corruption in the justice system has led to serious declines in judicial independence, Operation Gladio, which led to the detention of 5,800 suspected organised criminals, also led to the seizure and sale of hundreds of published, digital, radio and television outlets to pro-Tribune companies or consortiums, undermining freedom of the press. This was followed by the sacking and institutional capture of ARE, the nation’s public broadcaster by the Carcaterra government. In 2020, the Carcaterra government passed a law and constitutional amendment, effectively banning abortion nationally. The same year it was reported that the National Audit Office was being used to persecute critics and NGOs with invasive and disruptive tax audits. In late 2020, a second electoral reform law was passed that is widely condemned for its gerrymandering and unfair benefits to the Tribune Movement.

Carcaterra’s social conservatism, right-wing populism and advocacy of what he describes as an "traditional and virtuous state" have attracted significant international. He is viewed by some in Etruria as overseeing a drift toward authoritarianism.

Early life and career

Carcaterra was born on the 6 June 1964 in Tyrrenhus, to Giorgio, a foreman at the Gianelli-Scalto Steel Mill and Aurelia, an office secretary. They lived in the working-class district of Castel Madaglia, which according to Carcaterra, “was as much an influencer on my life as my parents, in Castel Madaglia, you had a loving close community anchored with tradition and religion.” In 1969, Carcaterra attended the Santa Cecilia Catholic School, before graduating to the Classical Lyceum “Ricardo Dandarini.” Carcaterra then secured a Church-funded scholarship to study History at the University of San Michele, the most prestigious in Etruria. In 1979, Carcaterra secured his doctora in Etrurian History, his lecturers during his PhD studies remarked later, his “intense ability and skill to discerning details from historical events in relation to the modern day.”

Between 1980 and 1989, Carcaterra worked as a senior research consultant for the National Museum of Etrurian History, playing a key role in the development of exhibitions on the Etrurian First Republic, Etrurian Revolution and the Greater Solarian Republic. During this period, he also joined the Academic Association for Etrurian History, a controversial group of right-wing academics, who regularly produced books and thesis countering what they perceived to be a “left-wing and politically motivated presentation of historical fact.” Between 1985 and 1989, Carcaterra wrote several best-selling books on Etrurian history, his series on Renaissance Etruria were critically acclaimed.

In 1989, Carcaterra secured a lecturing position at San Michele, teaching masters and doctorate level students Etrurian history. He would hold this position until 2009. His teaching style was described as “personal and energetic”, while some students throughout his academic career did note an emotional bias toward the Etrurian First Republic, the Revolution and a “stunted” approach toward the controversial atrocities of the Solarian War, despite this, he was popular with his students.

In 1994, he caused controversy nationally with his book, the ”The Republic of Heaven: Esoteric Extremism or Catholicism’s Salvation?”, in which he called the Etrurian First Republic, the “greatest expression of Catholicism’s political potential, in manner that is universal as it is inherently and intrinsically Etrurian.” According to his biographer, Luigi Marco Manin, the 1994 controversy was both a precursor to the 2006 controversy over ”A Solarian Etruria”, as well as an “influential point, when Carcaterra, the right-wing academic rejected the adulation of the Greater Solarian Republic, like so many before him, for a veneration of the revolutionary Etrurian First Republic.”

In 2002 and 2004, Carcaterra took to writing his ambitious book yet, a full analysis of the Greater Solarian Republic. The book, though becoming a national best-seller and earning him an estimated ₣4.5 million (€2.8 million) in royalties and being critically acclaimed, sparked a serious academic debate. The book, ”A Solarian Etrurian” contained what many academics saw as an advocacy for several GRS-era policies, such as Etrurianitas and strong central government, and a denial of any war crimes or atrocities. It was the latter that resulted in Carcaterra being removed from San Michele as a senior lecturer, his sacking sparked a backlash among Etrurian society and despite being offered compensation and a return to his post, Carcaterra rejected it, telling interviewers on ARE in late 2004, “I have no wish to debase myself and my beliefs constructed through analysis and study of our nation’s history, by returning to an institution that is hell-bent on peddling theories and agendas that mar or blur historical reality.”

His sacking and public retaliation propelled him into a popular figure among the Etrurian hard-right and far-right, who saw him as a victim of the “pro-EC, anti-Etrurian Proteri Oscuri.” Supported by the financial income made the post-sacking media focus, Carcaterra took up membership of the hard-right National Action party.

Presidency (2016-present)

Main article: Presidency of Francesco Carcaterra

Controversies and leadership style

Attacks on the media

Throughout his rise to power, Carcaterra has been a frequent critic of the Etrurian press, often describing them as "vicious dilettantes " and "purveyors of Etruria hating falsehoods". During the EC referendum when he led the No-campaign, he often came under fire and scrutiny by pro-EC papers, particularly Il Popolo. A week into the campaign, the paper published a two-page spread cover of his comments and works, arguing that Carcaterra was a "wolf in sheep's clothing holding a meek academics mask, when in reality, he is the greatest threat to Etruria's future since the military dictatorship." In response to the article, he denounced Il Popolo as a "paper for the brain dead and deluded. I am threat to the foul and dark future they would enforce on all Etrurians, and I intend to be a bigger threat than they can possibly imagine."

Following the No victory in the referendum, he further attacked the pro-EC papers saying in June 2016, "they lost and now they scramble to further insult the millions of patriotic Etrurians who said no their dystopian plans. These papers are the enemies of the people, they are as much a fifth column as Marolevs and as criminal as the Mafia."

In 2017, in response to a highly critical article against the Tribune Movement and its base, Carcaterra reportedly threatened the remove the personal detail from Ronaldo Garlini, a prominent investigative journalist with the Quotidiano San Alessandro newspaper. Garlini has personal protection in response to death threats by mafia groups following his groundbreaking work against the Altadonna Syndicate in the early 1990s. In March the same year he said, "Is it not right that these supposed journalists pay for their own protection? Why is the tax payer covering it when all these people do is throw muck at this country?"

Views and ideology

Carcaterra is a self-described populist-nationalist and throughout his academic and political careers advocated policies or positions befitting these accolades. His ideology according to commentators is rooted around six key tenets, popular participation, a strong federal government, nationalism, historical revisionism, enhanced state capitalism and militarism.

With domestic focus, Carcaterra has advocated a powerful federal government in certain areas, he's described the weak federalism of the Third Republic (1983-present) as "recipe for collapse and anarchy", legislating for increased federal powers over the national economy, development and law enforcement. In line with his position on a strong federal government, he has openly criticised the "government being the altar to civil liberties trumping common sense and security" and regularly claims that the state has the right to violate laws and rights in pursuit of national prosperity and security. Carcaterra has also expressed views that have been described as welfare chauvinism, where he has claimed Marolevs and Zingari undermine services, such as healthcare and education due to their cultural traditions.

The welfare chauvinism ties into Carcaterra's advocacy for nationalism and patriotism in society and business. He has regularly argued that "nationalism is not bad, but a key means of uniting society harmoniously", he has also denounced liberal leaning media outlets in Etruria as "advocates for self-loathing, national guilt and shame". He has advocated a return of Solarianitas, a veneration of Ancient Solarian history, civics and culture, while simultaneously dismissing historical war crimes during the Solarian War. He has also criticised attempts at re-evaluating the historiography of the Etrurian Revolutionary Republic and its functionalist regime as "further attempts at self-demonisation for accommodation". These nationalistic views are integral aspects of the Tribune Movement and Carcaterra's presidency.

Carcaterra is widely considered to be a Catholic Nationalist, by regularly criticising the secular status of the Etrurian government. In 2013 he said, "the Church is a fountain of wisdom and guidance, that can flow into governance for the betterment of all." He is pro-life, describing abortion as "an assault upon humanity's greatest gift from God", his government since 2017 has introduced stricter regulations on its use in Etruria. He has repeatedly called for its criminalisation. As a practicing Solarian Catholic, he has throughout his career argued for an increased role for the Church in all areas of public life. In 2016, his government re-introduced the ban on non-Catholics teaching in state schools, forcing them into minority-religious schools exclusively. He has made dismissive comments about Etruria's religious minorities, in an interview with Nuovo Percorso he said, "we are a Catholic nation since the very beginning and those who are not, should change to reflect this reality if possible."

Carcaterra has described people who advocate the demolition of the ERR era war monument near Vicalvi as "criminals of mind and soul" and "utter scum."

Views of the Revolutionary Republic

Throughout his academic and political career, Carcaterra has made a number of admiring comments of the Etrurian Revolutionary Republic and the functionalist regime under Ettore Caviglia and Aldo Tassinari, which ruled the country from 1938 until 1946. In 2012 he said, "the Revolutionary Republic had great ideas and plans, just execution was poor" and that victory in the Solarian War would have "given Euclea a golden age worthy of the Solaria of Emperors and Consuls."

In 2013 he described attempts at "de-functionalisation" as "historic vandalism and short-sighted idiocy", he and his party have regularly argued that those who seek to present the regime negatively, do so through their desire to turn Etruria into a "soulless landscape like the rest of Euclea". During his academic career he regularly analysed and debated reasons for the ERR's failure in the Solarian War, he sparked controversy in 1994 by arguing that the regime failed because it "failed to kill off enough of the deadwood and wastage", ostensibly blaming its defeat on internal opposition.

Throughout his career, Carcaterra has advocated the Great Betrayal ("Grande Tradimento") theory that was used by Caviglia and Tassinari to build their regime. In 2010 he said, "the Great Betrayal was real, we entered the Great War as allies with good intentions, only to see our colonial dominions and gains stripped from us by the perfidious northern powers." In 2002 he published two books on the subject, that used sources direct from the peace negotiations, while becoming bestsellers, critics in academia raised questions over his sourcing. In 2009 he defended his position saying, "we were stabbed in the back, we had our war dead violated by the betrayal, the Revolutionary Republic was necessary to restore Etruria's dignity."

Views on Solarian War atrocities

In keeping with his views on the Revolutionary Republic, Carcaterra has been a vocal denier of war crimes perpetrated by the ERR during the Solarian War. In 2001 he said, "they say history is written by the victors, so its fair to say that the history of the Solarian War is wrong." In 2014 during a parliamentary debate on exhuming Floren war dead in eastern Etruria he said, "for national politicians to buy into this garbage of Etrurian war crimes is testament to the failure of patriotic conviction."

In 2015 he told Orrizonte News, "Etruria never has nor never will degrade itself to dirt by committing atrocities against innocents. Its not in our culture or nature as a good and noble people." However, in 2018 he accepted that significant number of civilians died in occupied countries during the war, telling Amadeo Venti from Posta e Globo di Vespasiano, "we do need to accept that a large number of civilians died in the war, a needless amount. Whether Etruria is solely to blame is still debatable."

In 2018, his government passed the National Dignity Act, which prohibited academics at universities from raising the war crimes issue with students either in printed work, theses or lectures. He defended the act saying, "we can't have educators pollute our young peoples' minds with nonsense that will lead only to them hating their own country."

Views on Etruria's minorities

As an academic, Carcaterra's views on minorities was rooted in an opposition to open-door migration, which was instigated in the late 1990s. In 2001 he wrote, "as a developing nation and economy, allowing the mass entry of foreign nations will undermine the ratio of job creation for native born Etrurians... thus instigating social tensions." His writings on migration policy as an academic were firmly in keeping with other conservative analysis of policy, though this would change with his political career. Following his sacking from the University of San Michele after the publishing of "A Solarian Etruria", his attitudes toward migration dramatically shifted.

In 2007 he described the continue open-door policy as "the self immolation of Etrurian culture and identity" and in 2009 told a debate panel, "this policy of open-door, ensures that our government is the architect of our own destruction." In 2010, Carcaterra and National Action led the "Marcia per la Conservazione Nazionale" (March of National Conservation) in response to a report that showed that between 2000 and 2010 over 986,000 Bahians had migrated to Etruria. Over 75,000 people marched and at the rally he said, "by inviting in mass migration into our developing country, they condemn our people to low wages, limited job opportunities and the slow destruction of our cultural identity. This is a plot against all of us." As president, his government dramatically curtailed migration from Bahia and Coius with the introduction of a points-based migration system in 2017.

However, throughout his political career, Carcaterra has held significantly negative views toward Etruria's Marolev minority. He and many Tribune Movement politicians regularly claim the minority overuses federal and state level welfare programs, are predominately to blame for the country's crime rates and represent national security threats. Many analysts describe Carcaterra's views toward the Marolevs as outright racist and culturally chauvinistic. In 2014 he told the Telegrafo Solariano, "I do not believe for one second that we have ever successfully assimilated one Marolev, they are incapable of accepting Etrurian culture, it is beyond their capacity."

In 2015, he claimed the entire Marolev population represent a fifth column, writing in a blog, "we must accept that the entire Marolev population of Etruria seeks to undermine our country. Even as far back as Ancient Solaria, it has been the Marolev that has brought destruction and grief down upon us and our land. Be it through excessive use of social welfare, refusal to work, refusal to abide by our laws or treat our people with respect."