Skimm for Latin America 11/9

November 9, 2016

· by Isabella DeSpirito · in Skimm Extra Credit

Skimmed while listening to Daddy Yankee and pondering how the election of Donald Trump will affect Latin America.

Quote of the Day

“Wow, President Obama just arrived in Cuba, a big deal, and Raul Castro wasn’t even there to greet him. He greeted Pope and others. No respect” –Donald Trump on Twitter, 20 Mar 2016

Cuba announces military practices after election of Donald Trump

The communist party of Cuba’s main newspaper, Granma, announced this morning that it will hold military exercises between 16 November and 18 November. On 19 and 20 November, the nation will hold its National Defense days. They will hold troop movements, fly-overs, and even explosions, and analysts say that Cuba often holds exercises as these to send a message to the U.S. or during times of tension. While no official links have been reported that this is due to Donald Trump’s election to office, we can assume Cuba is preparing itself for possible interventions as Trump showed support for the U.S.-Cuba embargo, which recently showed signs of thawing.

All this work for nothing?

In July of this year, President Obama visited the island nation and even went to a baseball game with Raul Castro. Since then, Cuba has opened an embassy in Washington, D.C. and Washington has reciprocally re-opened its embassy in Havana. There have also been a relaxation of restrictions on U.S. travel to the island, and direct flights have commenced. Although the embargo has not officially ended, it has “relaxed” and is showing signs of completely thawing at the rate of President Obama’s efforts. Trump believes that the U.S. “should have made a better deal” when it came to dealing with relaxing or tightening the embargo, and he even said that closing the U.S. embassy in Havana “until such time as a really good deal could be struck.” It is still too early to see how President-elect Trump will approach the newly-kindling relations with Cuba, but it seems that Cuba is ready for hostile relations once again.

Mexico is worried!

Many Mexicans woke up this morning in utter shock, which later turned into fear when they realized that the U.S. elected Donald Trump as its 45^th President. Today, the day after the election, President Nieto of Mexico congratulated the U.S. on its democratic election process, but hesitated to congratulate its winner, Donald Trump. Trump actually visited with Nieto in Mexico this August, and popularity ratings of Nieto plummeted because of it. Two days ago, the Mexican peso actually dropped almost 10%, after Trump bashed NAFTA, which did in fact benefit the Mexican economy. Mexicans are now afraid that a potential rise in U.S. protectionism will cause Mexico to fall into recession, and that Trump’s insistence on building a higher, stronger border wall will hamper cooperation efforts between the two nations at the border.

Build the Wall?

Today, the day after the U.S. elections, Mexico insisted that it will not pay for the wall that Trump imagines. On Twitter, President Nieto said he was ready to work and cooperate with Trump, but bridging this new gap in ideology will make these efforts even harder. Many believe that Trump’s election is a huge setback in the cooperation efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border, especially if he follows through in building a wall “10 feet taller”. Many Mexicans are disappointed that his election represents an even worse image of Mexico in the eyes of Americans, which will not only cause a financial crisis but an “existential” one as well.

“Imagine what the U.S. will look like from now,” said Angelina González of Mexico City. “A big wave of discrimination is coming.”