Monday, January 30, 2017

South America and the Trump-Bannon Administration

"Hoy los Estados Unidos son una amenaza real, no una posibilidad de amenaza." ("Today the United States is a actual threat, not a possible threat.") - UNASUR Secretary Ernesto Samper

Martin Granovsky, one of Argentina's leading journalists interviews Ernesto Samper, the outgoing Secretary of UNASUR [Union of South American Nations], “Los Estados Unidos son una amenaza real” Página/12 29.01.2017:

–¿Por qué dijo que Trump podía ser una amenaza?

–No precisamente porque lo mío sea una expresión de chauvinismo antinorteamericano. Está todo a la vista. El cambio en los Estados Unidos fue radical. Antes fuimos relativamente complacientes con algunas políticas de Washington porque en parte ellos perseguían objetivos que compartíamos, como la lucha contra el narco. Pero si ahora Trump dice que se propone sacar diez millones de inmigrantes está hablando básicamente de latinoamericanos, no de húngaros. El muro no es una amenaza, es una realidad. Quedó claro que no era un chiste de campaña que México debía pagar el muro. La cancelación de la visita del presidente de México Enrique Peña Nieto a los Estados Unidos es una realidad.

My translation:

Whay did you say that Trump could be a threat?

Not precisely because it was an expression of anti-North American chauvinism on my part. It's there in plain sight. The change in the United States was radical. Before, we were relatively complacent about some policies of Washington, in part because it [the US] were pursuing objective that we shared, like the fight against drug trafficking. But if Trump now says that he proposes to expel 12 million immigrants [i.e., a common estimate of the number of undocumented immigrants in the US], we're basically talking about Latin Americans, not Hungarians. The wall is not a threat, it is a reality. It is clear that that it wasn't a campaign joke that Mexico should pay for the wall. The cancellation of Mexican President's Enrique Peña Nieto's visit to the United States is a reality.

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