The ‘Donroe Doctrine’ Is in Trouble
1. I’ll start with Brazil. Those of us who thought we knew a thing or two about elections took the predicted outcome as a given after Luis Inacio Lula da Silva’s defeat in the election’s first round on Oct. 5. So I put on Mozart’s “Requiem” and wrote a piece in advance that began like this: “Lula’s defeat has ended the sovereignty of our America.” But 20 days later, I tore up what I’d written, turned off the requiem, and played the samba, “Consejo” (“You have to fight/don’t lose heart, tan-tan!”), and the salsa song “Pedro Navaja” by Panamanian Rubén Blades and New Yorker Willie Colón (“Life gives you surprises/surprises life gives you, oh God!”).
2. And now. As in life, there is everything and everything is connected to everything else, there were no shortage of killjoys who dismissed Lula’s victory in the runoff as only a result of “electioneering.” As usual, there were armchair scientists who predicted that, in the short and medium term, Lula would be ousted by the far-right Bolsonaro faction. This, of course, scientifically supported what my Instagram “doctors” had warned me of: At a certain age, elevated bilirubin levels cause liver disorders.
3. I’ll continue with Mexico. I was happily going about my business when engineer and former President Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas passed away. And my memory transported me back to that time in the 1970s when Mexico welcomed with open arms thousands of refugees fleeing international terrorism in the Southern Cone countries*.
4. Those first exiles from Argentina formed the Committee of Solidarity with the Argentine People in a dilapidated building in the downtown Juárez, Mexico, neighborhood known as Roma 1. The engineer, President Cardenas, accepted the “honorary presidency,” and his efforts with various institutions spared us from having to auction off whatever we could to meet the urgent needs of those who arrived with only the clothes on their backs: a silver-inlaid maté cup; a used vicuña poncho; photographs signed by Evita Perón, which we reproduced at a nearby print shop, and so on.
5. And often, on unforgettable Saturday nights enlivened by Los Folkloristas, Amparo Ochoa, Antar and Margarita and Gabino Palomares, Cardenas would drop by to give talks, share wines of dubious quality, and enjoy the hearty empanadas of a veteran anarchist from Tucumán who always repeated: “In 40 years of activism, I was never imprisoned. Until the day I joined a left-wing party …”.
6. I’ll wrap it up with the United States. Did the multifaceted “progressive” ideology win in the midterm elections? That’s an open-ended question in a society that is conservative, retro-liberal, or neoliberal— depending on how things go — and home to great musicians, poets, actors, painters, architects, writers, inventors and scientists. I’m not including philosophers or economists because, unlike the English, thinking is a luxury the average American can’t afford.
7. And then there are the wide avenues of Trumpism, attuned to whatever the market offers: à la carte belief systems; sports; four-layer hamburgers; shows; a variety of messiahs; terrorists, with or without turbans; temples; both bars and flags every 100 meters (about 328 feet); the imminent arrival of aliens — you name it.
8. The United States’ foreign policy has always been dependent on its domestic policy. The only real war it ever fought was on its own soil (1861–1865). From then on, its “wars” have been punitive expeditions against countries either lacking the ability to defend themselves or dominated by subservient oligarchies. Not to mention their wars waged against illegal “organized crime,” in competition with the market for legal “organized crime.”
9. For now, it would seem that reason is beginning to overcome the supremacist faith, digitized by the nihilistic demiurges of Silicon Valley. But beware! Trump has two years left, and he has just appointed the Judeo-Nazi Stephen Miller — architect of the ruthless hunt for immigrants — as his White House chief of staff.
10. Under these circumstances, it’s best not to make any predictions. In the true “promised land,” Zionist-evangelical forces hold 79.5% of the Republican leadership — and 80% of the Democratic leadership — the ears (so to speak).
11. Finally, let’s raise a toast to the heroic resistance of Iran, Palestine and defiant Cuba; to Lula’s victory; to the rebellion of European youth; to Mexico’s sovereignty; and to the downfall of the mafia boss who ruled Paraguay (with a shout-out to the “Monroe Doctrine” and the ridiculous “Shield of the Americas” initiative of Secretary of State Marco Rubio). A list from which we obviously exclude the terrorist entity known as Israel, where elections sent Benjamin Netanyahu into retirement but were contested by democratic genocidal perpetrators.
12. The moral of this story: First, there are the poor, and the art, the science and the technology of the people. And second, there are the hateful rich, along with those algorithms that seek to turn politics into something it never was — an exact science.
*Editor’s note: The Southern Cone countries are comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
2. And now. As in life, there is everything and everything is connected to everything else, there were no shortage of killjoys who dismissed Lula’s victory in the runoff as only a result of “electioneering.” As usual, there were armchair scientists who predicted that, in the short and medium term, Lula would be ousted by the far-right Bolsonaro faction. This, of course, scientifically supported what my Instagram “doctors” had warned me of: At a certain age, elevated bilirubin levels cause liver disorders.
3. I’ll continue with Mexico. I was happily going about my business when engineer and former President Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas passed away. And my memory transported me back to that time in the 1970s when Mexico welcomed with open arms thousands of refugees fleeing international terrorism in the Southern Cone countries*.
4. Those first exiles from Argentina formed the Committee of Solidarity with the Argentine People in a dilapidated building in the downtown Juárez, Mexico, neighborhood known as Roma 1. The engineer, President Cardenas, accepted the “honorary presidency,” and his efforts with various institutions spared us from having to auction off whatever we could to meet the urgent needs of those who arrived with only the clothes on their backs: a silver-inlaid maté cup; a used vicuña poncho; photographs signed by Evita Perón, which we reproduced at a nearby print shop, and so on.
5. And often, on unforgettable Saturday nights enlivened by Los Folkloristas, Amparo Ochoa, Antar and Margarita and Gabino Palomares, Cardenas would drop by to give talks, share wines of dubious quality, and enjoy the hearty empanadas of a veteran anarchist from Tucumán who always repeated: “In 40 years of activism, I was never imprisoned. Until the day I joined a left-wing party …”.
6. I’ll wrap it up with the United States. Did the multifaceted “progressive” ideology win in the midterm elections? That’s an open-ended question in a society that is conservative, retro-liberal, or neoliberal— depending on how things go — and home to great musicians, poets, actors, painters, architects, writers, inventors and scientists. I’m not including philosophers or economists because, unlike the English, thinking is a luxury the average American can’t afford.
7. And then there are the wide avenues of Trumpism, attuned to whatever the market offers: à la carte belief systems; sports; four-layer hamburgers; shows; a variety of messiahs; terrorists, with or without turbans; temples; both bars and flags every 100 meters (about 328 feet); the imminent arrival of aliens — you name it.
8. The United States’ foreign policy has always been dependent on its domestic policy. The only real war it ever fought was on its own soil (1861–1865). From then on, its “wars” have been punitive expeditions against countries either lacking the ability to defend themselves or dominated by subservient oligarchies. Not to mention their wars waged against illegal “organized crime,” in competition with the market for legal “organized crime.”
9. For now, it would seem that reason is beginning to overcome the supremacist faith, digitized by the nihilistic demiurges of Silicon Valley. But beware! Trump has two years left, and he has just appointed the Judeo-Nazi Stephen Miller — architect of the ruthless hunt for immigrants — as his White House chief of staff.
10. Under these circumstances, it’s best not to make any predictions. In the true “promised land,” Zionist-evangelical forces hold 79.5% of the Republican leadership — and 80% of the Democratic leadership — the ears (so to speak).
11. Finally, let’s raise a toast to the heroic resistance of Iran, Palestine and defiant Cuba; to Lula’s victory; to the rebellion of European youth; to Mexico’s sovereignty; and to the downfall of the mafia boss who ruled Paraguay (with a shout-out to the “Monroe Doctrine” and the ridiculous “Shield of the Americas” initiative of Secretary of State Marco Rubio). A list from which we obviously exclude the terrorist entity known as Israel, where elections sent Benjamin Netanyahu into retirement but were contested by democratic genocidal perpetrators.
12. The moral of this story: First, there are the poor, and the art, the science and the technology of the people. And second, there are the hateful rich, along with those algorithms that seek to turn politics into something it never was — an exact science.
*Editor’s note: The Southern Cone countries are comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
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