For U.S. citizens who are also nationals of countries with painful experiences, such as exile and political persecution at the hands of the socialist regimes of Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela, it is in bad taste to manipulate, for political-electoral purposes, the drama we have experienced.
The Democratic Party and its leaders defend and promote the American Dream, which is summarized in the promise of a democratic society with economic freedoms that, combined with social policies, guarantees social mobility to citizens who work hard to improve their quality of life. In that context, an inspiring element of the character of American society has been its openness and the opportunities it offers to immigrants.
Personally, my family and I had to make the painful decision to uproot ourselves from our beloved Venezuela because of the regime’s persecution of me due to my unwavering opposition to its arbitrariness. When we left Venezuela 15 years ago, we decided on the United States, in certainty that it is a society with solid democratic institutions and great opportunities for immigrants, of which the success of the Hispanic community is proof. Because of this, it has been disturbing and difficult to process that both elements are being undermined by a president like Trump.
In addition to the parallels between the anti-democratic and corrupting vocation of Trump’s leadership, it is important to highlight the analogies that explain the rise to power of this type of populist leaders and demagogues, whatever their ideological inspiration. In Venezuela, we had a solid democracy from 1958 to 1998, when Hugo Chávez won the elections. The country was in the midst of the collapse of a bipartisan system and the growth of poverty and social inequalities, in a society whose oil wealth had enabled it to build a democracy that was exemplary in the continent, exceptional in the long historical military tradition of the country. In the first two decades of Venezuelan democracy since 1958, the country became a society of opportunities for nationals and immigrants. At some point (and for various reasons that go beyond the scope and purpose of this column), the inconsistencies of the ruling classes and the exhaustion of the oil economic model were opening the gap of inequalities. Poverty increased at the rate of the advance of corruption and the destructive tirade in political leadership. It was fertile grounds for anti-politics. The demand for a break with all that had emerged, without valuing reforms and undeniable conquests. Then the charismatic, confrontational, divisive leadership of Hugo Chávez broke in. The result is known, Venezuela is a destroyed country. But when we think about the political and socio-economic tragedy of socialism, we often forget the circumstances that led to it. For example, the fact that if a set of economic reforms had been promoted in time with social sustainability in mind, democracy, tolerance and an inclusive capitalist economic system would have been strengthened. In other words, with equal opportunities, the rise to power of Chávez and his “Socialism of the XXI Century” would have been avoided.
The United States is a formidable country. But in the last three decades there has been a gradual deterioration in the quality of life of the middle and working classes, expressed in the stagnation of their income, to the point that today they live suffocated between university debt, credit cards, mortgages and cost of living, in which the costs of healthcare and medicine stands out. The economic recession of 2008, even when overcome by the skillful performance of Barack Obama, rooted a perception of economic insecurity, without completely reversing the stagnation of the middle classes, even in a period of low inflation and sustained economic growth. Legislation, such as Obamacare, promoted positive changes, but others are needed that depend on legislative agreements, still hampered by polarization. Another relevant factor is social tensions, incubated from the vestiges of racism, as a systemic cause of poverty and inequalities. On the other hand, the advances achieved in the social or racial, as well as the progress of the immigrant communities, coincide with the deterioration of the quality of life of many white families of the working class, whose well-being is related to a traditional economic platform (industry, for example), that the new realities have changed forever, forcing an economic transition that requires cooperation between the government and the private sector. In that environment, Trump’s irresponsible xenophobic and racist preaching has found listening ears.
The promise of the American dream has lost sustainability and this has generated immense frustrations. Instead of looking for solutions, the political and ruling class engaged in a dynamic of mutual disqualification of the two parties that are pillars of American democracy. In this context, the figure of Donald Trump emerged. With all the differences with the Venezuelan case, which are many, of course, there are two coincidences that I want to highlight. First, they are two forms of populist radicalism, with a tendency to undermine and corrupt democratic institutions, causing social division, in order to achieve and retain power. And second, both leaderships, Chávez and Trump, arise before the exhaustion of a basic promise, the country of opportunities that in Venezuela was glossed as “Land of Grace,” in the United States, the “American Dream.”
The capitalist system has evolved a lot over the years. The market economy has found forms of organization according to the specificity of each country and the democratic demands of its citizens; and more recently, it has admitted the urgency imposed by climate change, which represents an existential challenge that involves the challenge of energy and economic transitions. How to achieve the economic, fiscal, social or environmental sustainability of these proposals may be debated, but it is nonsense to deny that free enterprise and the market system need efficient social security and public health systems, as well as to guarantee access to education and establish reasonable forms of regulation to protect the consumer or the environment, and above all, guarantee equal opportunities.
In my constant dealings with Latino families in the United States, including, of course, those of Venezuelan origin, I am frequently questioned about what I think of accusations from the Republican party that the leaders of the Democratic party of socialists. In my reply I ask them: what are the three problems that prevent you from sleeping well at night? All coincide in three things: 1) the expensive university tuition of their children or the deterioration of public schools due to lack of investments; 2) the need to strengthen and expand health coverage under the Obamacare system, especially due to the cost of prescription drugs (whose prices are ridiculously high, compared to those in Europe, Canada or Japan); and 3) for entrepreneurs, access to financing to grow their businesses, and for professionals and other labor sectors, the stagnation of their income, contrary to the immense profits of the companies where they work. Those problems have been aggravated by the pandemic and the economic recession derived from its poor handling.
Facing these worries, I propose: defend the continuity of the American dream. Democrats have proposals to solve these problems, and without hindering the free market economy. Joe Biden’s plan for the Latino community is focused on these problems, committed to the social and economic empowerment of our communities, as well as establishing a clear path to citizenship for Latino immigrants, who contribute so much to the country.
To those who resort to the politics of fear and populist rhetoric of using labels that misinform and adulterate reality, I invite you to formulate an alternative to solve these problems. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party with Joe Biden at its forefront, we remain steadfast in defending the equal opportunity that defines and sustains the American Dream. Much more, for those of us who come from the nightmare.