A Global Nightmare

Published in El País
(Spain) on 21 July 2016
by Editorial (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jamie Agnew. Edited by Melanie Rehfuss.
Against all early predictions that Donald Trump, a buffoon with authoritarian tendencies, could not possibly win the Republican nomination, the Republican convention, which ended last night in Cleveland, Ohio, has nominated a candidate for the White House who represents a grave danger for both the U.S. and the rest of the world.

It was not the spite of a sore loser that drove Ted Cruz, the ultraconservative senator who fought Trump for the nomination, to step out in front of the convention’s raucous crowd and refuse to endorse the Republican nominee. Rather, it was a profound belief that Trump’s candidacy puts at risk the very principles that inspired the U.S. Constitution.

It is regrettable that the Republican Party, either through inability or a cowardice that will long be remembered, has been unable to elect a candidate who is able to leave anger to one side, unite Republicans behind the values that they hold in common, and guarantee to defend the rights and freedoms that form the bedrock of American democracy. Like all democratic and developed societies, the U.S. clearly has many problems, as has been seen time and time again: the crisis of political representation, exemplified by Trump, feeds off of a social malaise rooted in the uncertainties created by recent profound economic changes. Trump has secured the nomination by playing on these fears with the help of the basest racism and most simplistic populism.

The global consequences of a potential Trump victory are worrisome to say the least—but who would dare to rule it out after the result of the British Brexit referendum? In addition to Trump’s well-known desire to build a wall along the Mexican border and his inconceivable proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the country, one can now add doubts over his commitment to the security guarantees that underpin NATO.

In a new show of irresponsibility—certainly followed with great interest in Moscow and Beijing, which are both currently exerting high levels of pressure on key U.S. allies in Eastern Europe and the South China Sea—Trump has distanced himself from committing to the notion of collective defense, as laid out in article five of the North Atlantic Treaty which obligates all members to consider an attack on one member state as an attack on all. All of this comes precisely at a time when NATO has just strengthened its eastern flank—sending a clear message to Moscow about the sovereignty of its members—and when China is weighing its response to a finding by an international tribunal in The Hague against them.

It now falls on Republican voters, divided like never before and abandoned by their party, to decide if Trump would be the president that they and the world deserve. It has been a poor start to a process that could ultimately lead to a conclusion that I sincerely hope does not come to pass – for everyone’s sake.


Pesadilla global

Destrozando los pronósticos de partida, que descartaban que un histrión con tentaciones autoritarias como Trump pudiera lograr la designación como candidato republicano, la Convención de este partido que concluyó anoche en Cleveland (Ohio) ha colocado en la carrera hacia la Casa Blanca a un candidato que representa un serio peligro, tanto para Estados Unidos como para el resto del mundo.

No es el resentimiento del perdedor el que ha llevado a Ted Cruz —el senador ultraconservador que disputó la designación a Trump— a enfrentarse a unos enfervorecidos asistentes a la Convención negando su apoyo a Trump, sino el convencimiento, expresado públicamente, de que esa candidatura pone en peligro los principios que inspiran la Constitución de ese país.

Hay que lamentar que el Partido Republicano, en un gesto de incapacidad o cobardía que pasará a la historia, no haya sabido dar un paso al frente para tener, como reclamó Cruz, un candidato que deje a un lado la ira, que una a los republicanos bajo los valores que les son comunes y que garantice la defensa de los derechos y libertades que cimentan la democracia estadounidense. Sin duda que EE UU, como todas las sociedades democráticas y avanzadas, tiene múltiples problemas. Como se ha señalado una y otra vez, la crisis de representación política, que Trump tan bien ejemplifica, se alimenta de un malestar social que tiene su origen en las incertidumbres generadas por los profundos cambios económicos. Trump ha logrado esta designación buceando en esas ansiedades con la ayuda del racismo más descarnado y el populismo más simplista.

Preocupan, y mucho, las consecuencias internacionales de una eventual victoria de Trump (¿quién se atreve a descartarla por completo después del resultado del referéndum británico?). A su conocida exigencia de construir un muro con México y facturar el coste a su Gobierno y a su inconcebible propuesta de prohibir la entrada en el país a los musulmanes se ha añadido ahora el abierto cuestionamiento de la garantía de seguridad que cimenta la Alianza Atlántica.

En una nueva muestra de irresponsabilidad —leída sin duda con sumo interés en Moscú y Pekín, que mantienen una elevada presión sobre aliados clave de Estados Unidos en el Este de Europa y en el mar de la China Meridional—, Trump se desentiende del cumplimiento de la cláusula de asistencia mutua, establecida en el artículo 5 del Tratado de la Alianza, que obliga a todos sus miembros a considerar un ataque contra uno de ellos como un ataque contra todos ellos. Y todo precisamente en un momento en el que la Alianza acaba de reforzar su flanco oriental y mandar un claro mensaje a Moscú sobre la integridad de sus miembros, y cuando China sopesa su respuesta al negativo arbitraje de la Haya.

Queda en la conciencia de los votantes republicanos, divididos como nunca y abandonados por su partido, decidir si Trump debe ser el presidente de EE UU que ellos y el mundo se merecen. Un mal comienzo para un desenlace que ojalá no se produzca. Por el bien de todos.
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