STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
Trump Irony: Candidacy May Unify U.S. with Mexico
By Daily Bell Staff - May 04, 2016

Ted Cruz drops bid for Republican nomination, clearing path for Trump … Ted Cruz suspended his US presidential campaign on Tuesday after a crushing defeat in Indiana’s primary, leaving the way clear for Donald Trump to become the Republican nominee.  – UK Guardian

It seems more likely now that Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. But there are seemingly two main questions to answer: Will Trump really go on to win the presidency and … is his candidacy what it appears to be?

We don’t know the answer to the first question. In fact, we are still not sure he will be the nominee. But we have thoughts on the second question, some of which we have mentioned previously.

In an article entitled Trump, Another Manchurian Candidate? we wrote the following:

The mainstream media is filled with howls about Donald Trump. Even the most positive articles about him tend to catalogue his political achievements within a larger context of GOP consternation and evident fury. Here is our question, as close observers of the mainstream media.

Is it propaganda of a sort? Is the evident antipathy orchestrated to serve certain purposes of a shadowy power elite? To elaborate: Are those at the top of US society who evidently structure and control US elections creating a figure that is sympathetic to the tens of millions who are deeply alienated from almost every part of establishment society? Is Trump himself part of a deeper plan?

We elaborated on this with an article entitled, Trump and ’60s Propaganda: Strategy to Launch North American Union?

Here’s what we proposed:

Is it possible some sort of dialectical strategy is taking place? [George] Soros provides the thesis, you see, and Trump the antithesis. Out of media-promoted conflict emerges a synthesis that considerably deepens the relationship between Mexico and America.

Trump’s “wall” – his signature political issue – would be at the center of this cultural and geographical realignment. Out of its construction, might emerge a greater union embracing a much larger geographical region.

We then tracked the creation of this media-promoted conflict and reported on its escalation on April 12 in an article entitled, US Elections Giving Rise to Broad, Socialist Coalition. Here’s an excerpt:

The anger manifest in the current political season is being used by elite money-men to forge a new protest coalition that is extensive and international. A quick glance at Democracy Spring’s website reveals a coalition of supporting groups drawn from the entire spectrum of leftist activism.

Ironically, they are using the current polarization of US politics to build this bigger movement. Meanwhile, US citizens swept up by the current election are once again losing sight of the reality of American politics: They don’t work properly and don’t yield beneficial results.

The growing movement, as we reported, created a significant early-April protest in Washington DC. Many hundreds participated in voluntary arrests to protest “money in politics.”

But as we’d predicted, this was but a warm-up. Only days ago the mainstream media reported on further protests in California. Here’s something from the Los Angeles Times

Trump faced large and hostile demonstrations outside a rally Thursday night in Costa Mesa and at the Burlingame hotel where he delivered a speech to the California Republican Convention … “People are angry — they are feeling personally attacked and in danger,” said Luis Serrano, 28, an organizer with California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.

On May Day, April 1, there were protests up and down the West Coast, as reported by the UK Guardian:

Immigration a main cause for marchers’ concern as at least nine were arrested Sunday in Seattle, while hundreds protested in downtown Los Angeles  … Demonstrators repeatedly called out Trump for his remarks about immigrants, workers and women.

There have been credible reports that Trump didn’t run to win the nomination but to advance his position as a national political pundit and to raise his profile generally.

Along with others, we’ve suggested Trump’s campaign is more complicated than simply one man’s determination to raise awareness of issues he believed needed more attention.

Our main hypothesis has been that Trump’s candidacy would create an upswell of Latino activism in the US and Mexico that would revitalize a political movement to further merge the two countries.

Trump has certainly provided a rallying point for those who want to see a reconfiguration of the relationship between the US and Mexico.

If Trump does win the nomination, much will become clearer in the general election. No matter who is the Democratic nominee, the chances are that the issue of Mexican-American relations will dominate the campaign.

And Trump will have to make a decision as to whether to reach out to blacks and Hispanics or try to make significant gains in white “rust belt” states.

Ultimately, Trump’s entrance into the campaign and his success may be comforting to those who want identifiable anti-immigration policies. But it may be that purposefully or not, a Trump candidacy galvanizes the Mexican-American relationship in ways that Trump supporters do not expect.

A final point to make is that the mainstream media has been exceptionally hostile to Trump but that few of the threats leveled at him have slowed his momentum or had a significant impact. Meanwhile, the mainstream media’s hostility to Trump has galvanized the Hispanic community.

We will know more once the Republican convention takes place. If Trump receives the nomination it may be time to reassess some of the more mysterious and controversial speculations swirling around his campaign.

What can probably be said without fear of contradiction is that Trump has aggravated simmering Mexican-American tensions. Given the economic dysfunction of both countries, this aggravation may prove continually more destabilizing and dangerous.

Conclusion: If you are in a position where you might be personally or professionally affected by such tensions, please try to anticipate them and take appropriate action. Alternatively, you may see business opportunities in a fraught Mexican-American relationship that might not have been possible previously.

Tagged with:
Posted in STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
loading
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap