Leader of Spain's Podemos: stop austerity to halt far-right's rise

[WorldNews]

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By Julien Toyer, Inmaculada Sanz and Carlos Ruano MADRID (Reuters) - Europe must stop its austerity policies or watch far-right movements continue to grow and pose a real danger to democracy, said Pablo Iglesias, leader of Spain's Podemos party that like Greece's Syriza aims to offer a leftist alternative. In an interview with Reuters, the 36-year-old whose Podemos ('We Can') party is leading some election polls, also said any coalition between Spain's centre-right and centre-left would only prolong what he called the country's economic disaster. Spain is emerging from a seven-year economic slump as one of the euro zone's fastest growing nations. A weariness with austerity has made voters across Europe susceptible to the rhetoric of anti-immigrant right-wing parties that are playing to their discontent with suggestions that the European Union has let them down.

 

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