About the author Carlos Meléndez is a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon and Research Affiliate at CEU Democracy Insti­tute. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame(Indiana, United States). He was Associate Professor at Univer­sidad Diego Portales(Chile) and postdoctoral researcher at the Central European University’s Democracy Institute(Hungary) and at the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies(Chile). His research explores public opinion, political identities, support for the far right, and populist demand, using survey data and experimental survey methods, with a cross-regional perspective on Latin America and Europe. His work has been published in academic journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Democratization, Party Politics, Comparative Polit­ical Studies, Comparative Politics, Political Studies, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Politics in Latin America, and Revista de Ciencia Política(Chile), Colombia Internacional, among others. About Democratic Expeditions This essay is based on the paper presented by the author at the workshop Contesting the Far Right, Safeguarding Democracy: Comparative Insights from Europe and Latin America. Convened by Daphne Halikiopoulou(University of York, UK) and Carlos Meléndez (CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest), the workshop took place at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest on 22 and 23 September 2025. It was the second edition of Democratic Expeditions, a series of openly sourced, carefully crafted international research workshops that shed light on underexplored issues of democratic crises and democratizing struggles. The initiative is a joint venture of the Frie­drich Ebert Stiftung’s Regional Office on Democracy of the Future in Vienna, the CEU Democracy Institute, and the CEU Department of Political Science. Imprint Published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Godesberger Allee 149 53175 Bonn, Germany info@fes.de Issuing Department FES Regional Office for International Cooperation Democracy of the Future Reichsratsstr. 13/5 A-1010 Vienna Contact Filip Milačić filip.milacic@fes.de Design pertext| www.pertext.de The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) or of the organization for which the author works. Commercial use of media published by the FES is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. Publications by the FES may not be used for electioneering purposes. November 2025 © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Further publications of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung can be found here: ↗ www.fes.de/publikationen FES Regional Office for International Cooperation The scarecrow of communism 6