Bread for today and hunger for tomorrow

The Ninth Summit of the Americas is over. The biggest controversy aroused was the (completed) threat by Andrés Manuel López Obrador not to attend… if they did not invite, although they were undone, the three Latin American dictatorships remain Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. They were not invited, and the Patron Saint of tyrannies kept the bows made. Of course: he sent his chancellor, a much more presentable character than himself: Marcelo Ebrard. The Americans breathed a sigh of relief. They had the best of all possible worlds. AMLO’s government, without AMLO.

But the president of Mexico was not the only absentee. Nor were the presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, the famous “northern triangle” of Central America. (Famous for his crimes and his volume of exiles). The Ninth Summit, fortunately, had an exceptional reporter in Héctor Silva Ávalos for Infobae, the first Argentine digital media.

Alejandro Giammattei, from Guatemala, did not attend the Summit, outraged by the accusations of corruption. Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran, firstly, because he had agreed with the gangs on the governance of the country, and, secondly (sticks because you go and sticks because you don’t go), because of the mistreatment of the thousands of imprisoned gang members, when they continued murdering in the streets of the tiny country. (Bukele has the support of a majority percentage of the nation in his “iron fist” policy against the gangs). As for the president of Honduras, Mrs. Xiomara Castro, wife of the political leader Manuel (Mel) Zelaya, because she feels more comfortable in the proximity of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua because her husband wanted to thank these dictatorships for the favors rendered.

In Mexico, simultaneously with the Los Angeles Summit, the “mother of all marches” is being organized. I remember the origin of that phrase: “the mother of all battles.” It was the spectacle that Saddam Hussein promised if the United States dared to lead the charge after the occupation of Kuwait by the Iraqi army. A German newspaper tallied up the weapons held by the two contenders and concluded that “the mother of all battles” would probably be won by Saddam Hussein. A few hours were enough for the US coalition forces to show that German journalists had underestimated George HW Bush (the father, to understand us) and General Norman Schwarzkopf, the head of the Armed Forces during the “so-called” Gulf War. Actually, it was a ride.

Many of those attempting “the mother of all marches” are Cubans, Venezuelans, and those belonging to “the greater triangle of Central America,” precisely those who do not have a president to represent them: Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Hondurans. What should be done with them? Of course, let them in and give them “papers” to pay taxes and become citizens as soon as possible. There is nothing more ridiculous than assuming that they are “spies.” The spies enter another way. Cubans have been allowed entry at all times, which has been very convenient for the receiving country. 99.99% come to work. It is impossible to defend freedom and deny them entry when needed. No one leaves their land for frivolous reasons or in pursuit of a ridiculous stipend.

Cubans and Venezuelans were recipients of immigration before 1959 and the 21st century. Cuba experienced a small emigration after World War II: from 1945 to 1955, 35,000 people “left,” but in that same period, 211,000 immigrants “arrived.” Fernando Bernal, a diplomat of the revolution and later an exile, told me that there were 11,000 requests for emigration to the island in the Havana consulate in Rome alone. As for Venezuela, what has happened in that country has no name. : from having a growing number of immigrants (Portuguese, Italians, and Central Europeans), today they have six million exiles.

Why are they leaving? Essentially, they have no way of earning a living and lack social mobility. The idea that you can’t improve your quality of life, no matter what you do, is a spur to go. The type of political regime in the abstract only matters to a minimum of people. If the USA wants to restore social mobility in Cuba and Venezuela, it must overthrow the government that provokes it. Otherwise, it is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow.