Ideas & Articles

By Ricardo López Göttig The populist and angry message of Donald Trump, who is the GOP frontrunner according to the polls, is doing a great damage in the American society. His insidious comments against Hispanic immigrants may be welcome among frustrated WASP voters, but he is isolating the Republican Party, and creating an awful environment. How can Hispanic leaders defeat Trump? Latinos have an overdeveloped sense of honour that could be self-damaging in this battle. This is not about pride, but achievements. Hispanic leaders and movements should showcase that Latin immigrants are a positive contribution to United States economy, culture, and politics. If they want to be respected, they should talk loud and clear about how they progress, giving examples of outstanding Hispanic businessmen, scholars, scientists, journalists, lawyers, etc. Individual initiative and social mobility are in the United States' DNA, and Hispanic leaders should talk the language that WASP citizens...

By Ricardo López Göttig On 25 October are the general elections in Argentina. After twelve years of Kirchnerism, with Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernández de Kichner (2007-2011 and 2011-2015), the upcoming elections are the opportunity for a change. Of the two main opposition candidates, Mauricio Macri -mayor of Buenos Aires- has better chances to compete in the ballottage against governor Daniel Scioli. The third presidential candidate, Sergio Massa, is also of peronist origins, but he quit the party in 2013 in order to run for a seat in Congress. The main battlefield is the province of Buenos Aires, with 38% of total voters. Mr. Scioli is actually the governor, and after two terms in office, he is now running for president. But it's well known that governors of Buenos Aires never succeeded in presidential elections. Eduardo Duhalde, former governor of Buenos Aires, was elected president by the Congress in 2002, but not by popular vote. Mr. Scioli needs 40% o...

By Ricardo López Göttig In face of the humanitarian crisis with the arrival of thousands of immigrants seeking asylum, the European Union is acting precipitately after the problem. It was previsible that the civil war in Syria was going to cause a human wave in search of refuge, and the endless spiral of atrocities and barbarism of ISIS is increasing. Countries like Hungary decided to close borders, taking another step against the democratic and humanist principles of the European Union. Others, taking conscience of the tragedy, and with an eye looking to the public opinion, resolved to open doors to refugees. The Islamists, of course, are looking to cause fear in the European public opinion, stating that among the refugees are many combatants ready to commit terrorist acts. And fear is the most powerful weapon, because they know that xenophobic and nationalist parties are using this insidious speech in order to refuse refuge without distinction to asylum-seekers, who are getting tr...