How Bizarre Is This: The AMLO and Trump Meet Up At The White House

Courtesy Proceso

I'm going to be adding on more reports throughout the day when I can; Mike is coming home, he should be here in the afternoon, so I'm slightly busy.

But here is this for starters...and perhaps all we need :

 ~ From Proceso

AMLO y Trump: Cumbre de Cuates
por, Denise Dresser

(AMLO & Trump: The Summit of Pals - or maybe even Best Buds !)

AMLO y Trump: cumbre de cuates

 

 MEXICO CITY (Process). - "What is a friend?" Asked Aristotle, and offered the answer: "a single soul inhabiting two bodies." Like AMLO and Trump holding their friends summit despite criticism in Mexico and the bewilderment of the Democratic Party in the United States.

 

  "Like two presidents with much in common, alone against the world, unmoved by reality, linked by their temperaments and their style of governing.

The American using the Mexican, and the Mexican allowing himself to be used by the elective affinities they share, the styles they use, the way of doing politics they promote. Both are the product of broken democracies and unequal societies, of disillusioned citizens and dysfunctional institutions. Both came to power riding on the wave of rancor that they continue to exploit. And out of that foundational understanding they have forged an unusual relationship. So, now that Trump is seeking re-election, López Obrador is poised to help him. 


AMLO goes to Washington because his friend asks him to. It does not matter that the occupant of the Oval Office has vilified, humiliated, persecuted, deported, or imprisoned thousands of compatriots. It does not matter that he has forced the Mexican government to negotiate a new free trade agreement on his knees, with unusual concessions and counterproductive locks.


From the start of his Presidency, López Obrador made the decision to appease Trump instead of fighting with him. He has been silent about his rampant racism and intolerant anti-Mexicanism. It has silenced what many other heads of state have denounced. He is willing to take his picture next to an internationally repudiated leader, because he needs him electorally. Trump will brag about what he forced Mexico to do, and AMLO will allow him to get away with it. It will sacrifice dignity for the sake of maintaining civility. You will be patted on the back or perhaps verbal lunges, but it is the game you agreed to play, the risk you are willing to take. 


Despite warnings from diplomats who advise him, despite criticism from the Mexican community in the United States that supported him. AMLO, obstinate as never, obstinate as always. Disregarding voices as sensible and experienced as that of former Foreign Minister Bernardo Sepúlveda, who in an open letter questions an unjustified trip, an unnecessary gamble. Because there is no reason that merits the visit right now, right in the middle of the electoral campaign in the United States. Trump has demanded that his counterpart go precisely for that. For him to pose at his side, to show him as a faithful ally despite the blows and the wall built. So that he smiles with the compliments and the pronouncements on how well he behaves.



Just a few years ago, López Obrador wrote a book about Trump's racism and now he seems to be willing to ignore it. Because with the Mexican economy on the brink, the T-MEC appears as the only lifeguard. Because with the contraction of GDP estimated between 7-10% by 2020, free trade has become the only rescue plan that Mexico has.


López Obrador will board a commercial flight, risk his health, will have to undergo the coronavirus test to be able to live with Trump. But for a few days at least, you will be able to leave behind the awkward signs about the pandemic and unemployment and the parity of the peso and the systemic crisis. It will seek to focus attention on how the new treaty will attract investment, promote growth, ensure prosperity. It will seek to reverse the perception that its government is hostile to private and foreign investment, although reality contradicts it. It will embrace an openly neoliberal trade agreement, even if in Mexico it does not want to recognize it.


And it will ignore those who insist that inserting itself into the US electoral situation is a wrong strategy for many reasons. The latest New York Times poll puts Biden ahead of Trump and by more than 10 points. More importantly, it leads it in the bundle of states that are crucial to winning the Electoral College. Even if Biden lost, the Democratic Party is likely to keep its majority in the House of Representatives and win seats in the Senate.



From a position of powerful opposition, the Democrats will charge AMLO for the support he gave his adversary; the unnecessary trip that the Mexican president could have postponed with a variety of pretexts, beginning with the pandemic.


The planned trip smacks of improvisation, surrender, a desperate effort to change the conversation. A real state visit would have involved speaking before Congress, meeting with Biden and leaders of the Democratic Party, starting a dialogue with representatives of Mexican communities abroad, incorporating Justin Trudeau, since the T-MEC is a trilateral treaty.


But it doesn't seem like that will happen. It will be a meeting of friends to talk about how much they love each other and how well they like each other. They will underline the respect they have, the collaboration they have established, the agreements they have reached, the fans that Mexico received and thanked.


At any moment, Trump being Trump, he could insult his friend, as he usually does with anyone if it is politically convenient for him. That's what AMLO risks, but it doesn't seem to worry him. Just as the migrant caravans that the National Guard stopped, the Mexican children that the American immigration authority jailed, the multiple times that Trump derogatively referred to the people of Mexico and insulted him have not lost their sleep.



Smiling, buoyant and exultant from the White House, AMLO will send a message and it should hurt us: the president extends his hand to those who hate Mexico so much that they build a wall day after day. And that is not a sign of friendship, but quite the opposite."


~  For Mucho Mucho Mas...go here:


Denise Dresser



~~~~~ 

I'm just wondering if Trump will remain true to his sadistic and white trash nature by serving pre-ordered "Taco Bell" fare at the big dinner blowout.  Naturally, the food will be gross and served cold while he insults the Mexican envoy to their faces. They say Bolsonaro won't be making an appearance - oh right, he has the virus.


take care y'all !

~~~~~

Update/edit 06/08:  Nope, says Mike (who sleeps for hours and hours, still in pain, a lot) ..."I bet Trump will serve crappy Mcdonalds which will also be cold and gross - in fact, he told the Mcdonalds to make sure they burn the burger which is laced with chemicals & preservatives & use rotten lettuce and moldy mayonnaise & month old dried out buns. Then, he will bring in Mexican and immigrant detainees from across the country  dressed in concentration camp/prison attire to pour the pepsi (which has gone flat) into little paper cups with imported ice from Flint, Michigan.  As a bonus, he will offer fly overs of the US Detention Centers which have basically been infected with COVID..."

Thanks, Mike. 

end edit.