The Cleveland Convention

Today we will witness a mise-en-scene that accurately reveals, within each of its layers, the reality of American society through a lens that could not be more chaotic. Donald Trump will depart from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland as the anointed candidate for the presidency of the most powerful nation in the world. Not only will party representatives and their traditional supporters be in attendance, but so will Trump’s own followers — [those he amassed] since he learned to stoke the hatred and discrimination of a wide cross-section of the U.S. population — pitting them against protesters, which will undoubtedly make for one of the most important media events in recent memory.

Trump has promised a spectacle that will presumably match his ego. Credibility for his candidacy will have to be provided by a media apparatus capable of filling in the gaps in support from establishment leaders, many of whom bowed out from attending, according to the U.S. mainstream media, for such “subtle” reasons as an urgent need to tend their gardens or get a haircut. Trump will make use of a production that, as far as tone and content goes, will need to appeal to people’s most basic instincts: fear and hope.

Fear and hope, adapted to his message. Fear for those who distrust the current administration; hope for those who are in outright disagreement. A strategy based on hate and division thrives on and exploits fear not by unifying but by finding differences. This strategy has handed the opportunist the opportunity he has been preparing for over very few months; meanwhile, from the same podium and with forced smiles, the true politicians who missed the chance they may have been waiting for all their lives will give their own speeches.

Such is American society today. The American dream in the land of opportunity has given way to the real nightmare of opportunism and frivolity. The political class has not learned how to take on the challenges that ultimately all democracies in the Western world face: establishing public policies that will bolster macroeconomic indices meant to balance long-term budgets with endless social responsibilities, all while pleasing outlandish figureheads (like what happened in the United Kingdom). Corruption without restraint and a disconnect from citizens. The Republican candidate sums up the deficiencies of a system that no longer works, and his followers are the reflection of a society that measures its value based on approval ratings from social media instead of actual contribution to society. The American political system is a clear example of how the false glow of democracy has blinded those who cannot distinguish between a departure from the prevailing demagoguery and a normal course of virtuous democratic processes.

Trump goes to Cleveland with his flag of intolerance and a resentful society clamoring about its lack of opportunities, which the presumptive nominee has attributed to generalizations targeting Mexico’s people. What a few months ago began as a joke, is no longer; it is time to act. The Mexican secretariat of foreign affairs must change its stance and take charge of a situation that, for the most part, is based on the long-outdated Estrada Doctrine.*

*Editor’s note: The Estrada Doctrine refers to Mexico’s core foreign policy ideal from 1930 to the early 2000s. Its name derives from Genaro Estrada, secretary of foreign affairs from 1930 to 1932, and proposed that foreign governments should not judge other governments or changes in other nations because it would imply a breach to its own sovereignty.