Obama Cannot

The event, a couple of days ago, in which Barack Obama behaved as the most traditional of the traditionalist presidents with a crowd of children invited to the White House to play with him and listen to fairy tales in the most guarded space in the world, had many similarities to future developments between the U.S. executive and President Enrique Peña.

First and foremost, the delight: If children whose parents participated in a lottery to achieve the honorable distinction of finding and carrying eggs through the lawns of the White House could hardly sleep during the previous days, Mexican politicians are preparing for a photo-op with Obama with an almost reverent anticipation.

Already they are rehearsing:

“… Tuesday? No, that’s the day we’re dining with Barack. If you want next week, bro, sure. I’ll say hello for you.”

But the party in D.C. had, from the point of view of this column, many moments that looked like politics, especially bilateral politics.

As we all know, one of the most pressing demands of Mexicans is for U.S. immigration reform, especially because, by tightening U.S. borders, Obama has deported more Mexicans than did all his predecessors since Ronald Reagan combined. The great Democrat is the champion of the deportations. See for yourself:

“With the government of Barack Obama,” El Mexicano B.C. reported, “the deportation of Mexicans increased by 30 percent, from 300,000 each year under George W. Bush to 500,000.

“Meanwhile, the federal government is abandoning Mexican nationals, even claiming that immigration reform is not a Mexican subject, even though there are more than 20 million Mexicans in the U.S. living with the fear of being deported.

“This was revealed by former rapporteur for human rights of migrants of the U.N. and Colef (El Colegio de la Frontera Norte — in English, Northern Frontier College) founder, Jorge Bustamante, interviewed on immigration reform, which he said is being seen as a one-sided affair by the U.S. when it should be approached from a bilateral perspective.

“‘Barack Obama’s position is contradictory. While he is saying that he is pushing immigration reform, on the other hand, he is the U.S. president who has deported the most Mexicans in history. Even under George W. Bush, who was seen as the main enemy of migrants, some 300,000 Mexicans were deported, while Barack Obama hit a record of 500,000 per year,’ explained Bustamante.”

As we can see, Obama stays healthy, speaks softly but uses a big stick. He claims credit for a nonexistent congressional reform but does not give up executive powers, the execution of which is not the responsibility of the legislature.

But repeatedly he insists upon giving stirring speeches on the subject. It is like the Easter party when he wanted to sink a shot during an exhibition by the Harlem Globetrotters: He tried again and again, and the third shot failed too. A feast of eggs for children and repeated failed efforts.

In his Feb. 12, 2013 State of the Union address, Obama stated:

“… the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

“Real reform means strong border security, and we can build on the progress my Administration has already made — putting more boots on the southern border than at any time in our history, and reducing illegal crossings to their lowest levels in 40 years.”

This is simply meant for the political reality of domestic consumption, against which there will be no dissent. It is a matter of patriotic pride to have closed the underdeveloped southern border with Mexico. And the drop in remittances, announced just a few days ago, shows how successful this closure policy was for them. Read further. Give him another shot at his oratory:

“Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship — a path that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come here legally.

“And real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods, reduce bureaucracy, and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our economy.”

Under these conditions, resist any temptation to believe that this matter will be the focus of the Peña-Obama interview.

The central theme, spoken or unspoken, will be how to guarantee Americans the benefit of the global drug market, the alpha and omega of the work of Calderon, who was paid with a fake professorship at Harvard, benefits of so many extraditions, drone flights, intervention through the Merida Initiative and the duplication of the functions of intelligence in this country.

Obviously, the phony academic chair is nothing but a mask for intermittent exile in order to offer him and his family Secret Service protection in the U.S. and, if he were to ask, permanent residence.