By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on July 14, 2024
Former President Donald Trump was shot and slightly wounded during a rally yesterday in Pennsylvania. The images of those seconds of chaos have circled the globe, with photos of the bloodied face of the former president, who was wounded in his right ear; two inches to the left and this would be a different article.
The shooter, 20 years old Thomas Crooks, was killed after using an AR-15 automatic rifle from 160 yards away, which he managed to bring into the area of the outdoor rally thanks to an apparent security breach by the Secret Service.
He fired eight shots, one person was killed, and two seriously wounded in the audience near Trump. Political violence has gone from rhetoric to facts, but this time, the target was one of the main advocates of the free use of guns, in a country where, according to Gun Violence Archive, 300 mass shootings have occurred so far in 2024. And the figures for previous years are just as alarming. The Pew Research Center revealed that around 50,000 individuals lose their lives yearly from gun-related injuries in the United States.
the shooter, 20 year old Thomas Crooks
The former president’s injuries were not substantial. He is “well and safe, with new strength.” And everything points to the fact that this violent event will have positive consequences in his attempts to return to the White House. But the event got the world’s attention, four months before the elections in which Trump will face incumbent President Joe Biden. Today, the focus of analysis is on one thing, the gun violence in which American society is immersed in.
Violence has been no stranger to American politics: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy were four sitting presidents who suffered lethal attacks, not counting other presidents wounded or unharmed in the aftermath of an attack. No president has seriously challenged the multi-billion dollar gun industry but few leaders have supported and boosted it like Trump, even amid the epidemic of mass shootings in the country, especially in schools.
There are over 400 million guns in the US today, many of them automatic rifles, and they are owned by just about anyone who wants one or many. The problem is real. In the United States, almost every purchase of firearms requires minimal background check and no proof of ability to handle them. One can simply walk into a store with proper documents and buy as many firearms as they like.
It is so pervasive and accepted that vending machines selling ammunition for various firearm calibers, including rifles, shotguns and handguns will now be in grocery stores in Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma, right next to the ATM’s and soft drink machines.
Response from Latin American Leaders on the Attack on Trump
Cuban President, Miguel Diaz Canel, photo: Bill Hackwell
In the case of the attack against Trump, many political figures in our region have raised their voice against this violent event, but one of them stands out. While many sent messages of solidarity in support of the businessman, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel put his finger in the wound. Through his official account on X, soon after the event, he said, “As victims of attacks and terrorism for 65 years, Cuba ratifies its historic position of condemning all forms of violence. The arms business and the escalation of political violence in the U.S. lead to incidents such as the one that took place this Saturday in that country”.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro stated that “violence generates more violence. I regret what is happening in the electoral process in the United States. My solidarity with Donald Trump”.
Nicaragua, which suffered in the flesh the wounds of US state terrorism, made clear through its president, Daniel Ortega: “… we express, as always, our most energetic rejection and condemnation of all forms of terror. The peoples of the world deserve to live in peace, security and tranquility, with our rights to congregate, to express ourselves, and to be part of a democracy that we should all be able to exercise. Our Prayers and Hopes for Harmony and Peace for the People and Authorities of the United States of America”.
Guatemala, President Bernardo Arevalo stated that “the path of violence is not the path of democracy. I regret and condemn the attack suffered by candidate Trump in the U.S., and I hope for his speedy recovery. Violence is a threat to democracies and weakens our common life. We must all reject it.
Chile, President Gabriel Boric said, “I express our unequivocal condemnation of what happened today in the United States. We hope for the speedy recovery of former President Donald Trump, that the facts are clarified and that justice is done”.
Paraguayan president, Santiago Peña, also stated: “We strongly condemn all acts of violence. We express our solidarity with former President Donald Trump and deeply regret the recent events. We wish peace and strength to the people of the United States of America.”
Mexican head of state Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also raised the similar theme, “In any case, we condemn what happened to former President Donald Trump. Violence is irrational and inhuman,”. His message was echoed by President elect Claudia Sheinbaum.
Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said that “the attack against former President Donald Trump must be vehemently repudiated by all defenders of democracy and dialogue in politics. What we have seen today is unacceptable”.
During an electoral campaign rally in Guacara, Carabobo state, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros repudiated the attack. “On behalf of Venezuela as a whole, of all our people, we reject and repudiate the attack against former President Donald Trump, we wish him a speedy recovery and may God bless the people of the United States and give them peace and tranquility. We have been adversaries, but I wish former President Donald Trump health and long life. I repudiate this attack”.
Response to the Attempted Assassination of Trump in the US
The Democratic response of President Biden and former President Barack Obama to the shooting in Pennsylvania were similar and something we have heard from them many times before; “There is no place in America for this kind of violence”. Really? They both know this is not true. It is not like they are trying to prevent violence from happening; it is already here in the US in full force and has been from the beginning.
As Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown) so perfectly said in 1967; “Violence is as American as Cherry Pie.”
The US was built on violence from its beginning with the genocide perpetrated against indigenous people and their nations, from coast to coast and every place in between. The country was solidified with over 400 years of slavery that was imposed by daily violence. It is in its fiber.
And the only response we get after every mass shooting or high profile shooting from the standing president, democrat or republican, is his condolences and lament that it has to stop and then it is back to business as usual after they leave the podium.
For a Cuban, it is almost impossible to understand the true repercussions of such an event. The island, despite the shortages and economic crisis, is at peace. Gun control is extreme. Coincidentally, Cuban authorities recently dismantled an operation against an individual trying to smuggle weapons into the country from the United States. The Cuban policy is Zero Tolerance against firearms; it is common sense that Donald Trump, victim and victimizer of the recent events, should take into account.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English