One year after the attempted coup in Washington – Prensa Libre

Years ago a poisonous question roamed Latin America: Why are there no coups in the United States? Because there is no American embassy, ​​was the answer. It reflected a reality that has already disappeared. But on January 6, 2021, the unthinkable happened: an attempted coup in that country, the only way to describe the violent assault on the Senate by hordes of supporters of Donald Trump. With the passage of time and legal investigations, his indirect participation is increasingly evident that day, when his unequivocal calls for such an insurrection came true, through his presence on social networks. He announced a press conference from his Florida mansion, but suddenly canceled it, and in his speech yesterday, Joe Biden made direct, hard, and pointed nods.

In politics, as in everything, apparently insignificant actions are not. In this case, the cancellation of that speech, scheduled for the same time as the presidential words. The direct mention of Biden with the midterm election only a few months away shows concern about losing Congress, a very high possibility at this time. If that happens, the Democrats will have serious problems to govern, and even lose the next presidential election, whose worst possibility is the repetition of the candidates Biden and Trump, the first blind of power by his pride, and the second with an advanced age, with the possibility of suffering some impediment to finish a possible second term. The panorama then is, again, to choose between the bad and the worst.

The American political polarization proved its existence yesterday. The attack on the Senate was not marked with the institutional and historical gravity involved, but in terms of partisan electoral benefit. No Republican senator attended, in a useless and unnecessary maneuver. Biden pointed out to Trump and his followers to “put a dagger to the throat of America” ​​- he is not referring to the continent but to the United States of America, wrongly described as he did. Trump, for his part, in a written statement said: “The Democrats want to appropriate this day in order to feed fear and divide America (…) through their lies and polarizations.” Thus he strengthened his indefensible criteria because now he must already be thinking about a legal punishment, which he could only avoid if he becomes president again.

The division over this ego-inspired battle has crossed boundaries. Several friends of mine from Guatemala have surprised me by the virulence of their defenses and attacks, fringed by insults and disqualifications regarding a politician with long experience, already in the twilight of his career, and an apprentice willing to do anything to keep his position and now fighting to recover it without taking into account the consequences for his country and the democratic system of the world. The decline in the global political importance of the United States is one of the most obvious effects. The subject, of course, is long and complicated, so these are just a few lines of the need to analyze it, because never as now will the result have so much influence in Central America, and that is why we should be interested.

The political changes in Central America are already alarming for the United States. In theory, they only have Guatemala as an ally; often embarrassing, but ally in the end. It is no exaggeration to anticipate a further decline in American relevance, which does not mean it will happen anytime soon. To this reality must be added the resurgence of countries like Russia and China, declared enemies, although for a long time hidden. Ironically, the laws of corporate freedom have fostered this situation, allowing free trade with traditionally enemy countries, such as Mainland China. It is a complex panorama and if the voters are not convinced, it could even lead to a coup, similar to the ones that have occurred in Latin America so many times.

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