By Carlos Aznárez on November 10, 2016
The blunt primitivism of the Republicans won out against the cunning hypocrisy of the Democrats. The Trump bulldozer that seems to run over everything that stands in its way was more effective than the deceiving and calculated moderation of Hillary Clinton. Undoubtedly, the system knows how to reinvent itself; sometimes it is in a progressive disguise, others, like now, with a discourse loaded with provocations that seem disruptive, but is also actually perfectly calculated.
This incendiary discourse proclaims that the time for “politically correct” talk is over, and this is almost a relief, because there’s nothing worse than a killing machine that hides its barbarism under calls for “tolerance”, “democracy” and false pacifism. That was Clinton’s strategy to divert attention from her husband’s dumping of uranium in several continents, for having celebrated the murder of Gaddafi, and for having caused the destruction of the entire country of Libya.
Trump represents two concurrent types of weariness; on one hand, the white, racist, patriarchal, homophobic, xenophobic electorate. And on the other hand those who are disenchanted with the siren calls of those who promised stability, education, healthcare and the end of wars, and didn’t fulfill any of those categories. Instead things just kept getting worse with the increasing amount of evictions, homelessness and people who eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner out of trash cans.
All of them would rather go back to the “American dream” they were told about so many times and enjoy the protection of somebody that doesn’t hesitate to fend off all threats with a firm hand rather than keep drowning in sentimentalities that are just as devastating for those who live outside the rich, privileged areas.
Despite his appalling lack of culture and mediocrity, Trump has charmed many of his voters. Undoubtedly, he knows how to sell the idea of a promised land. After all, that’s what he has been doing his entire life, and it is what made him a millionaire. Charisma usually yields results (in Latin America there are many examples of this) and this led even some of the poorer African-Americans and Latinos to turn a blind eye to Trump’s dehumanizing insults and vote against their own interest.
Evidently nothing will be the same from now on, not only in Washington and the surrounding areas but in the world, because a change of paradigm has begun that will cause dramatic effects at multiple levels. This sea change will include foreign policy, where it is hard to predict what will happen, for example, with the peace agreements in Colombia and the so-called rapprochement with Cuba. Regarding Colombia Trump is a lot like Uribe Vélez and his paramilitaries, which is dangerous. Regarding Cuba, the picture of the new President-elect posing with the “gusano” survivors of Bay of Pigs says a lot while he triumphantly paraded through Florida while going on to defeat Clinton there.
As for the other two world powers, China (which is regarded by Trump as the “main enemy”) has already given signs that they’d rather have relations with him than with Hillary, while Russia’s Putin knows that Trump regards him as a rival he wants to make deals with. The US tycoon intends to negotiate with China and compete with its investors worldwide. And a friendly relationship with Russia will allow him to neutralize their influence in regions that the US regards as their backyards.
Trump has another adversary and he is in the Vatican, and it’s likely that, in contrast with Trump´s incendiary speeches, the anti-capitalist undertones of the pope will gain adherents. Another issue is the concern that Pope Francis has expressed about the proliferation of churches of other creeds that compete for “customers”.
Regarding the Middle East, Trump has declared his willingness to have a closer relationship with Israel. The recent words of the Zionist Minister of Education announcing that “Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state” might indicate what sort of cooperation they are discussing. This, added to the millions of dollars invested by the Jewish-American lobby in both candidates and the outspoken hatred to Muslims (within and outside the US borders), whom Trump regards all as members of ISIS, creates a lot of uncertainty and worry. Furthermore, Trump wants to annul the agreement that Obama signed with Iran.
If what Trump said in his campaign becomes real, Latin America can expect new hostilities against Venezuela, since Trump promised to provide even more support to the opposition. It’s also to be expected that he will maintain excellent relationships with the neoliberal trio of Macri-Temer-Cartes, and a difficult one with the few progressive governments that are left. It will be particularly interesting to watch the relationship with Mexico unfold. He not only insulted the Mexican people and threatened to expel all of those who live in the US without papers, but he also said he would make them pay a wall to keep them from coming in.
That said, Trump at least gives out enough signals to allow us to prepare. Of course, there might be unexpected turns and surprises, but we’ll see how things unfold. The one thing we know won’t change is the voracious nature of transnational companies, or the lobbies that embodies what’s known as Imperialism. What also won’t change is the people’s resistance against whoever it might be; Trump, Clinton or Obama.
http://www.thedawn-news.org/2016/11/10/the-trump-era-or-the-rise-of-a-new-paradigm/
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano