Presidents Obama and Calderon: Is the
Mexican leader
too permissive when it comes to the United
States?
La Jornada, Mexico
Churchill Reborn? Calderon's Proclivity Toward the U.S.
"When there are rumors that the U.S. is
installing military bases in the country; when there are confrontations within
the Executive over whether U.S. overflights have been authorized and whether
they were requested or ignored; when there is talk of a failed state, I don't
think it's too much to turn on our antennae, even if that characterizes us as
paranoids."
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: Is Mexican President Calderon suffering delusions of grandeur comparing himself to the august statesman?
I became concerned when listening to parts of President
Calderón's high-minded harangue and beration of his colleagues. Well nowadays, his
harangues of anyone and everyone are high-minded - as he hopes to get people into
the streets to spread the word, according to him, of the "immense achievements
of his administration." I was just as astonished by the exaggerated invocation
of Winston Churchill's celebrated "Blood, Toil and Tears" speech,
and his definition of "victory" and "strategy" - in reference
to his comparison of World War II and the "war that isn't a war"
against organized crime - as I was by the stature of the people he invoked.
But my astonishment turned to immense concern when
afterwards, I noticed an apparent "coincidence" regarding the two
speeches, first, because I don't believe in such coincidences, and second,
because what I'm referring to becomes, from my point of view, something extremely
serious and grave. Allow me to explain.
I haven't believed in such "coincidences" since
I learned upon reading Jean d'Ormesson, that it wasn't true
to say, as I believed for many years, that Cervantes and Shakespeare died - what a coincidence! - on precisely the
same day. Indeed, both literary figures died on the 23rd of April, 1616.
However, the greatest literary figure of the Castilian-tongue ended his days in
Madrid on Tuesday the 23rd, while the greatest English-language literary figure
passed on to a better place in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday, April 23rd.
This apparent incongruity occurs because Cervantes lived in Catholic Spain,
which followed the Gregorian Calendar, whereas
Shakespeare lived in Protestant England, which followed the Julian Calendar. So in fact, Cervantes died 10 days before
Shakespeare - not the same day.
So explains my doubts about coincidences. Returning to
my original theme, I was so concerned, realizing again, that the English prime
minister gave his celebrated speech on the May 13, 1940, and Calderón chose to
foist his tirade on his staunchest supporters on precisely the 13th of May just
passed, since I don't consider it a coincidence, but rather something
predetermined and preconceived. I'm worried by the exaggerated gesture of
megalomania reflected by the fact that Calderón considers his life and that of Winston
Churchill as "parallel lives." Does he genuinely feel like the reincarnated
Churchill? And therefore, will the president seek to expand on this parallel to
extremes - short of receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature
I suppose - given his proclivity toward our neighbors in the north, and try to
repeat this sketch of history?
I approach this with fear, because there are still two
occasions of June 6 remaining in the present federal administration, and as June
6th 1944 was the "D-Day" of the Normandy landings, I don't wish to
twin that date with the landing of American forces in connection with the
Merida Plan, to help us win the war against the "axis of cartels."
When there are rumors that the U.S. is installing military
bases in the country; when there are confrontations within the Executive over
whether U.S. overflights have been authorized and whether they were requested or
ignored; when there is talk of a failed state and national security concerns on
both sides of the border; when the U.S. is offered unrestricted access to our intelligence;
or when ways to protect "unarmed” foreign agents in our country are discussed,
I don't think it's too much to turn on our antennae, even if that characterizes
us as paranoids.
But of course, if it's part of the president's
political drawing board to consider shifting around these dates - it will only
be the dates.
