Trump vs. Biden, A Rematch with Serious Consequences
This leads me again to state that none of this is normal. For the second time, Trump will compete, and who knows if he will win the presidency. A man facing 91 charges stemming from four cases against him, who led a revolt on January 6, 2021, to try to steal the 2020 election, who has said he wants to be a dictator and pursue his political enemies, who promises massive deportations and immigrant detention camps, and who resorts to racism and prejudice to paint all immigrants as criminals because of the actions of a few.
And in this kind of parallel universe where we are, none of these issues disqualify him in the eyes of his mesmerized MAGA base, or the fearful Republican leaders who follow the orders of the undisputed leader of a Republican Party turned into a cult of Trump's persona.
Republican leaders in Congress blocked aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, arguing that tough immigration measures were needed to control the border, and when they Knally get the Democrats to cave and grant them what they asked for, despite undermining asylum laws, they change their minds because Trump doesn't want to solve the problem but to exploit it in the presidential campaign.
And exploit it he has. Last Thursday at the border, he used the vile murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia, for which an undocumented Venezuelan is blamed, to paint all immigrants with the same brush of criminals. The responsible deserves the worst punishment for his deplorable acts. But one cannot judge an entire community by the acts of a few. It's like blaming all Anglosaxons for the violent crimes committed by some white men. Various studies conclude that immigrants do not commit more crimes than those born here.
But for Trump, it's not about offering data but about sowing fear and exploiting the prejudice he has turned into a powerful electoral weapon to the extent of winning the 2016 election with the script of painting immigrants as criminals. Last night, after sweeping the primaries, he declared that "open borders will destroy our country."
We know the direction this issue will take in the bloody presidential campaign that looms, which will once again elevate and normalize white supremacist conspiracy theories because, after all, they are wielded by a former president who wants to return with the endorsement of his Republican leaders, an extremist base, and other electoral sectors that for some reason support or consider supporting a Kgure like Trump.
What is worrisome is the response of the Democrats because they have yielded to Republican pressures. They speak of the immigration language of the Ukraine aid plan as if it were something positive and benekcial for the immigrant community and asylum seekers.
Contrary to 2020, when Biden condemned the immigration policies of former President Trump and defended an immigration reform with a path to legalization, now the crisis at the border and in Democrat cities that host thousands of refugees has put him against the ropes, and the simplest way out is to compete with Trump to see who can be tougher on immigration.
The eventual Biden-trump contest offers two very different visions of what the United States is and aspires to be. Trump offers an apocalyptic vision tinged with prejudice, revenge, and chaos. Biden says he aspires to an inclusive, equitable, and just society. In his vision, immigrants should not be sacrikcial lambs for political purposes. (America’s Voice)
SAO PAULO, (Reuters) - La deforestación en la selva amazónica de Brasil cayó un 30 % en febrero con respecto al año anterior, según mostraron los datos del gobierno el viernes, mientras el gobierno del presidente Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva trabajaba para lograr una promesa de poner )n a la deforestación ilegal para 2030.
Según los datos satelitales preliminares de la agencia de investigación espacial INPE, el mes pasado se limpiaron 226 km cuadrados (87 millas cuadradas) de la selva tropical más grande del mundo.
Eso representó una caída signiscativa con respecto al récord de 322 km cuadrados deforestados en el mismo período del año pasado, aunque las cifras todavía estaban por encima del promedio de nueve años de 173 km cuadrados para el mes.
Sin embargo, los datos satelitales de febrero pueden ser especialmente ruidosos dadas las fuertes nubes sobre la selva tropical a principios de año.
El mes estuvo marcado por un fuerte aumento de incendios forestales en el estado de Roraima, el más septentrional de Brasil, que amenazaron a las comunidades indígenas en el territorio de Yanomami, asolado por la crisis.
"Debemos interpretar especialmente con especial cuidado los datos de enero y febrero, pero la tendencia sigue siendo la misma que habíamos estado viendo en 2023: una caída en la deforestación del Amazonas, un aumento en la deforestación del Cerrado", dijo la directora de estrategia de Wwf-brasil, Mariana Napolitano, citando la creciente amenaza a una de las sabanas más biodiversas del mundo.