Breathe
By Leticia Bonifaz
The bully returns and the world is on edge. His statements herald a worse scenario than eight years ago. He returns with more power and more legitimacy to throw his weight around. He, who deeply despises women, has competed with two: Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. One white and the other of Asian-African descent. On the first occasion, Hillary had more roll call votes, but did not win the states' vote. This time, Trump's triumph was resounding and with it comes the possibility that he will actually implement the drastic measures, especially against migrants, that he has already announced.
In our childhood, there were caricatures of someone trying to take over the world. He was the bad guy who, despite all his tricks, lost to the forces of good. The man in the caricature shouted, waved, threatened and showed off his lethal weapons. Today, that caricature seems to have become a reality. With contempt for international institutions, for the Agreements and for what civility has dictated for several decades, Donald Trump wants the United States to regain control and dominion of the Panama Canal, ignoring the Torrijos-Carter agreements; he has his eyes on Greenland, which puts him in conflict with Denmark. The intention to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico does not only imply ignorance of history, but shows his eagerness for primacy and domination.
The consolation for some is that many things will remain in words, but there are already imminent issues announced that could begin to have legal effects from the very day of the inauguration. The world and Mexico are waiting.
The question is whether one man can hold the entire planet in check. I don't think so. Geopolitics has its own way of acting as a system. The global counterweights are there with China leading the way economically.
The theory of systems would say that it was the political, economic and social systems of the United States that led Trump to victory. How can it be understood that there were Latinos who voted for him? Nor can it be understood that young Argentines voted for anti-rights characters like Milei. It is the systems that interact and provoke the arrival of characters like these, but the systems continue to act and generate counterweights. In the case of Trump, the international system will continue to do its part in each decision. In the economic system it will be seen how some measures, such as tariffs, affect the Americans themselves and what would happen to the labor force that does need migrants and their presence in the provision of some fundamental services for the U.S. economy.
So it is not Trump against the world, but Trump in the world. A world that, fortunately, can put roadblocks in his way.
As for his contempt for women, their use, their objectification, which even led him to be a convicted felon, you have to see their reaction. At the inauguration 8 years ago, it was women who staged massive demonstrations in the first days of his mandate. Women constituted the biggest vote against Trump even among Latinas. There are women in Trump's cabinet in sensitive areas. will they make a difference?
Today there are more questions than answers. We will remain expectant. We will see what shouts worked for him in the campaign and what actions he will actually start to implement. I in particular believe that it will be the economic, social, international and domestic systems of the United States that will be the ones to put the rattle on Trump.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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