Denver presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived calm and unhurried, and with an air of being completely convinced that he can become the first African-American president in the history of the United States.
I had met him twice before during the presidential debates, and I wasn’t surprised to find him imperturbable and centred, with an inner equilibrium that can only be described as spiritual. He gives the impression always of thinking before he speaks — a fraction of a second longer than most other politicians.
There are some politicians who hide their weaknesses and pretend to be stronger than they really are. Not Obama. He accepts his vulnerability. This quality allows him to connect with people and voters, especially the young.
When I asked him whether his wife, Michelle, thought he faced any danger in the election campaign, he acknowledged immediately the strong influence she exerts. ”If she did, obviously she would have veto(ed) me getting into the race, in the first place …” he told me. ”I think everybody had some initial concerns, but I think the Secret Service protection is excellent.”
The purpose of this 20-minute interview with the candidate was to find out how much he knew about the US’s Hispanics and about Latin America. He had certainly done his homework.
Hillary Clinton received more Latino votes than he did in 50 state primaries and in Puerto Rico. Some believe this stemmed from the decadesÂlong tension that has existed between African-Americans and Latinos. Others, however, blame the small, inefficient, and last-minute effort of the Obama campaign to target Hispanic voters.
”You know, I think it really just had to do with the fact that the Latino vote was less familiar with me than they are with Senator Clinton,” he said.
They are not aware, he added, of his work with the Latino community in Chicago; that he backed efforts to legalise undocumented immigrants and to improve education programmes. However, what many do know is that as a member of the Senate, he voted for the construction of a 1 120km fence along the border with Mexico.
”If you become president, would you stop the construction of the fence?” I asked.
”I want to figure out what works,” he responded.
”But a fence works?” I questioned.
”I don’t know yet,” he replied.
”But you voted for the fence,” I reminded him. ”Well, I understand. I voted for the authorisation to start building the fence in certain areas on the border. I think there might be areas where it makes sense and it can actually save lives if we prevent people from crossing desert areas that are very dangerous,” he explained. About 400 people die on that border every year.
The other issue he would also address as president concerns the raids and deportations carried out against undocumented immigrants.
”I don’t believe it is the American way to grab a mother away from her child and deport her without us taking the consequences of that,” he said.
Obama did not want to commit himself, as Clinton proposed, to sending Congress an immigration reform Bill by the end of his first 100 days in the White House. It is not realistic when he first has to resolve the war in Iraq and the current economic crisis. He said, however, that ”what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration Bill that I strongly support.”
Obama has never visited Latin America. He does not support the Free Trade Agreement currently being negotiated by the US and Colombian governmentsÂ. In addition, he may suspend or renegotiate the free trade agreement signed with Mexico in 1994. His foreign policy for the region, though, really goes beyond that.
”There is a natural connection between the US and Latin America,” he said. ”When we start ending the war in Iraq, we can refocus our attention … in Latin America.” Then he went down a long list of the things he wants to do in order not to forget the region (as current President George W Bush did after September 11 2001).
This is what Obama would do in Latin America: ”I will initiate talks with our enemies in Cuba and Venezuela … [lift] travel restrictions for family members in Cuba … I want to join with countries like Brazil to work in clean energy … I voted for the Peru Free Trade Agreement, but I oppose the Colombian Free Trade Agreement until I have confidence that union organisers are not being murdered … I think you have to put an end to this kind of paramilitary operations”.
And what about Hugo Chavéz? Is he a threat to US national security and to the rest of the continent?
”I do think that he is a threat, but I think he is a manageable threat,” he answered. ”Look, we know, for example, that he may have been involved with supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (Farc), undermining a neighbour. That’s not the kind of neighbour that we want … I think it is important, whether through the Organisation of American States or the United Nations, to initiate sanctions that [say] that’s not acceptable behaviour. What I have said is that we should have direct diplomacy with Venezuela … and with all countries in the world.”
While his comments about Venezuela and Cuba — ”I doubt that Fidel wrote [his last editorial] … I think he is too sick for that …” – make the most headlines, it’s the relationship with Mexico that he wants to repair first.
”I think it’s very important to reach out to the Mexican government in a way that, I think, this administration has failed to do. And to find out what do we need on the other side of the border to encourage economic development and job creation there,” he said. More jobs there mean fewer undocuÂmented workers coming to the US.
More than 1 000 people in Mexico have died so far this year in the war among drug cartels. Obama knows this and believes the demand for drugs in the US is also part of the problem.
”I would not legalise marijuana but I do think that we have to reduce the amount (of drugs) here in the US,” he stated.
Obama studied Spanish in high school and for two years in college.
”My Spanish used to be OK,” he said. Now, however, he has all but forgotten it. ”Yo hablo un poquito de espanol pero no es very good,” was all he dared to say, in a mixture of both languages.
During a recent speech on Cuba the only word he uttered in Spanish was libertad (freedom). Also, with the help of a teleprompter, he has just recorded a Spanish-language ad for Puerto Rico.
In his presentations, he will often echo the slogan made famous by United Farm Workers founders Cesar Chavéz and Dolores Huerta: ”Sà se puede” (”Yes, we can”). But he is aware that sputtering a few words in Spanish is not enough to win 10-million Hispanic voters in the November presidential election, or the good will of 550-million Latin Americans.
Finally, trying to show he would be a president of action, not words, he wants to make his first trip to Latin America very soon. ”I would love to go … between now and November.” —