Important Voters
Published in El Pais
(Colombia ) on 5 December 2011
by Ramiro Andrade Teran (link to original)
In spite of being viewed as multitudes hoping to find any job possible and looked upon with suspicion by Americans, Latino immigrants have become a key electoral factor in campaign success. They are particularly important in determining whether Obama, who aspires to re-election, obtains another term in the White House.
It is unclear whether the current president will have the support of the Latino vote. In order to make it happen, Obama has swiftly moved his entire political apparatus and his money to pour millions into an election that is, comparatively, the most expensive in the world.
Seen as “undesirable,” Latino immigrants have become a powerful organized sector, with skilled negotiators who have taken advantage of the new situation and managed to decrease the pressure of American authorities against thousands of people who came to America looking to redeem the precarious existence they led in their former countries.
Obama is a Democrat with liberal tendencies and has gained acceptance in Democratic Party circles. That sector voted for him in the past presidential election. It is not unreasonable to think that, in the next election, he would again get a significant contribution from his party.
Obama’s re-election, after the era of white presidents, faces no major obstacles. We must assume that Obama will continue to lead the world's largest democracy, and for now, all forecasts and surveys are in his favor.
For decades, Latin America has been a forgotten continent by presidents and high-ranking officials in Washington. Obama has shown a modest interest in Latin America, and that is something when one looks at U.S. foreign policy on the whole. Anyway, with or without Obama, not much will change in the relationship between this part of the world and the world’s superpower. Latin American countries have always been regarded as second-tier partners. The two exceptions are Mexico, the favored partner, and Brazil, a big and important country. The United States approaches these two countries with a different sort of strategy.
With electoral power, Latino immigrants may end the discriminatory treatment given to them and achieve immigration reform, which was an issue at the start of Obama’s term, a very positive reality.
It is unclear whether the current president will have the support of the Latino vote. In order to make it happen, Obama has swiftly moved his entire political apparatus and his money to pour millions into an election that is, comparatively, the most expensive in the world.
Seen as “undesirable,” Latino immigrants have become a powerful organized sector, with skilled negotiators who have taken advantage of the new situation and managed to decrease the pressure of American authorities against thousands of people who came to America looking to redeem the precarious existence they led in their former countries.
Obama is a Democrat with liberal tendencies and has gained acceptance in Democratic Party circles. That sector voted for him in the past presidential election. It is not unreasonable to think that, in the next election, he would again get a significant contribution from his party.
Obama’s re-election, after the era of white presidents, faces no major obstacles. We must assume that Obama will continue to lead the world's largest democracy, and for now, all forecasts and surveys are in his favor.
For decades, Latin America has been a forgotten continent by presidents and high-ranking officials in Washington. Obama has shown a modest interest in Latin America, and that is something when one looks at U.S. foreign policy on the whole. Anyway, with or without Obama, not much will change in the relationship between this part of the world and the world’s superpower. Latin American countries have always been regarded as second-tier partners. The two exceptions are Mexico, the favored partner, and Brazil, a big and important country. The United States approaches these two countries with a different sort of strategy.
With electoral power, Latino immigrants may end the discriminatory treatment given to them and achieve immigration reform, which was an issue at the start of Obama’s term, a very positive reality.
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