Read La Jornada Internacional en español aquí.
The Republican Party’s crushing defeat in the midterm elections has stirred up a whole range of emotions: from relief and happiness that a majority of Americans aren’t outright racists to a certain degree of concern that, with congressional limits on international affairs, the president might become more aggressive toward Cuba, Mexico, and the rest of the world.
Our newspaper argued that the decision to appoint Stephen Miller as chief of staff could make it difficult for Republicans to win a majority in Congress or retake the White House in the 2028 elections.
“Although political memory tends to be short and a Republican comeback cannot be ruled out, such a comeback seems impossible as long as Miller remains the face of the administration and his supremacist agenda is not replaced by a more pragmatic approach,” the editorial board writes.
Following the U.S. midterm elections, which gave Democrats a majority in Congress, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said that relations with Donald Trump’s administration and the U.S. Congress “have not changed” and that “nothing has happened to indicate that anything is changing.” At the same time, she expressed her “pride” in the election of two governors who are the children of Mexican immigrants.
“A glimmer of hope has emerged for the United States,” writes Pedro Miguel in La Jornada. “Last Tuesday, ordinary people—the people who generate the nation’s wealth, who suffer from the insatiable corruption and misguided decisions of those in power—turned out in massive numbers to reclaim their place in the world... Perhaps, just perhaps, this nation, founded 200 years ago on an extreme paradox—a slaveholding republic that proclaimed freedom as its guiding principle—may still be capable of redemption and renewal.”
But not everyone is happy. “The appointment of the ever-menacing Stephen Miller as chief of staff in the Trump administration is, in itself, an unmistakable threat. A 41-year-old Californian, he is a far-right extremist obsessed with hostility toward immigrants and supportive of U.S. military intervention in Mexico to ‘put an end’ to organized crime cartels,” writes Julio Hernández López in his Astillero column.
“The degree of openness and the concessions Mexico may have to make in this new, more intensified phase of Trumpism will depend on the gatekeeping—whether porous or firm—of Security Secretary García Harfuch. He has already shown a willingness to work with U.S. agencies, in contrast with the more closed-door approach of the previous, López Obrador administration. It is worth keeping a close eye on developments in this area, beyond official statements and the mantra-like repetition of certain Mexican principles, which, in the explosive reality of the drug war, are being swept aside by what is seen as unavoidable pragmatism.”
Academics Víctor Silverman and Miguel Tinker Salas write: “There is no doubt that the Democratic Party’s electoral victories stem from the economic crisis affecting families across the United States.” They continue: “The path forward is clear: Democrats must push for immigration reform and repudiate ICE’s actions, promote new voting laws that curb the power of billionaires, and advance a package of social and economic protections, along with environmental progress. This is the challenge facing Democrats. Will they rise to the occasion?”
The unprecedented victories of women and minorities in the elections are reshaping the U.S. political landscape, our correspondents report. In the wake of the elections, Native Americans are reclaiming their place. Progressives and some who identify as democratic socialists are also preparing to take on the oligarchy and Trump. But the implications of the election for U.S. foreign policy remain unclear. What is clear, however, is that, for the first time in two years, the monologue—and the exclusive control over the superpower’s foreign policy—will be interrupted.
The Quote:
“This is a very promising moment because it is a moment of genuine populist possibilities. That doesn’t mean it is going to happen, but we normally don’t have the possibility.”
-Jim Hightower, progressive populist leader
In Case You Missed It
◻️ Community experiences in water management. In this issue, the La Jornada del Campo supplement examines the country’s water crisis and presents community-based knowledge and examples of solutions to water management. One such example is the country’s 28,000 Community Water Systems, self-organized groups that manage water locally - it’s estimated that they could be serving more than 20 million Mexicans. “Water distribution is deeply marked by class and racial bias, whether in cities or rural areas,” write Anna Rosa Domínguez Corona and Alfredo Méndez Bahena. Another example, reported by La Jornada from Puebla, illustrates the disparity: while thousands of families across different regions of the state face unreliable access to water or watch their crops dry up, a handful of private corporations and large-scale energy projects have access to billions of liters of water.
◻️ A triumph over death. The average daily number of intentional homicides nationwide fell by 50 percent over the past year, the federal government reported this week. It added that from January through October, seven states accounted for 52.5 percent of all cases, led by the State of Mexico, which accounted for 10.6 percent of the total number of killings. The percentage of people who feel unsafe in urban areas fell to its lowest level since 2013, while the share of residents who feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods dropped from 50.1 to 35.9 percent. “Public security and health policies are producing tangible results for the population as a whole,” La Jornada wrote in an editorial.
◻️ Data center: a cautious opening. Mexico has the conditions needed to become a leader in the age of artificial intelligence and the digital economy, provided it develops a clear roadmap based on joint investment, infrastructure development, and coordination between the public and private sectors, said Jessica Peña, president of the Mexico AI+ Council. However, La Jornada offered a warning in an editorial: “Before presenting these facilities as a panacea, it is essential to ensure sustainable water use, a fair tax framework, and that facilities are not made available to military contractors or foreign intelligence agencies, among other safeguards.”
◻️ The power that Morena is squandering. Morena controls the presidency and holds a legislative majority, a level of power that should make it possible to organize the country’s development, José Romero writes. “But much of that power is being squandered in infighting over control of the party and the government, while the transformation promised to voters remains on hold as factions fight over government positions… Morena may retain the presidency while leaving intact the economic order it promised to change. That would be the failure: having won the power needed to transform Mexico, only to use it to ensure that those who hold it remain in power.”
◻️ Mexico defends multilateralism and condemns the U.S. embargo against Cuba. “We believe in understanding among sovereign nations, international law, democracy, the self-determination of peoples, and the peaceful resolution of disputes,” said Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Velasco, addressing the plenary session of the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. He reiterated “our longstanding position of rejecting the embargo and other coercive measures against Cuba.”
◻️ Argentina: Pope Leo XIV expresses support for social movements. “The economy must serve the human person, not the other way around,” the Pope declared upon arriving in Argentina. Addressing a massive crowd of 2.5 million people who attended his first open-air Mass, he emphasized social justice as a cornerstone of the Church’s doctrine, criticized labor exploitation, and warned about the impact of artificial intelligence on employment. During his visit to Córdoba, he described “hunger,” “unemployment,” and “the lack of decent housing” as urgent injustices, and condemned “success at any cost, money, and the obsession with appearances and popularity.”
◻️ AI, trans, and pódcast added to the Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Chambitas, acitronar, checador, conurbado, credencializar, déjà vu, ecoansiedad, fregonería, gordofobia, AI, imeca, metaverse, narcolancha, pódcast, poké, porfa, QR, tejeda, tiradito, trans, and turistificación are among the new entries in the 24th edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua Española (DLE), the leading reference work for the Spanish language. The dictionary is available free of charge for unlimited consultation here.
🎥 What We Are Watching:
Disappeared persons: an interview with the Deputy Secretary for Human Rights on Palabras Cruzadas.
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Edited by David Brooks and Jim Cason in the United States, Tania Molina Ramírez in Mexico City, of La Jornada, and Elizabeth Coll in Tokyo, under the direction of Carmen Lira Saade and Guillermina Álvarez. More information.