I was exceedingly happy when Mexicans elected López Obrador as president in 2018. Here in part is how I commented in “Mexicans Voted for López Obrador to Confront Donald Trump,” July 2, 2018:
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Obrador has been running for president as a socialist godsend for 18 years, to no avail. … But the (orange) elephant in the race this time was President Donald J. Trump. Specifically, because he is treating Mexicans with the kind of hostility nobody has ever imagined, let alone seen. …
This is why it was so shrewd for Obrador to cast himself as the anti-Trump. Because this alone must have compelled many Mexicans to vote for him – if only as a matter of national pride. Obrador is championing the kind of democratic socialism I admire. Imagine what the United States would be like today if Americans had elected Bernie Sanders instead of Donald Trump in 2016 – and I’m alluding more to politics and policies than temperament and tweets.
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Therefore, imagine my shock and dismay when I read this truly extraordinary revelation:
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had sought a pardon for Julian Assange from former U.S. President Donald Trump before he left office last year and repeated his offer of asylum for the Wikileaks founder on Monday. Mexico did not receive a reply to the letter, Lopez Obrador told a regular government news conference. ‘It would be a sign of solidarity, of fraternity to allow him asylum in the country that Assange decides to live in, including Mexico,’ Lopez Obrador said.
(Reuters, January 3, 2022)
This is wrong on so many levels, I honestly don’t know where to begin. But it speaks volumes that common sense caused even Trump to snub Obrador.
Frankly, the ignorance inherent in his request is surpassed only by its presumptuousness. But perhaps I can sum up his political and legal blunder by noting the US invaded Panama to arrest its president for less serious crimes than those it’s alleging against Assange.
Not to mention that, instead of offering misguided refuge to Assange, Obrador should be providing safer refuge for the Jamaicans and Haitians. After all, reports abound about Mexicans treating them like lepers while they await legal entry into the United States …
As indicated above, I stand in solidarity with the likes of Bernie Sanders and Noam Chomsky when it comes to criticizing the US government. But I’ve written many commentaries explaining why I support its indictment of Assange, including most recently in “Julian Assange Is Coming to America. And He’s Not Happy About That…,” December 10, 2021.
In any event, Obrador revealing his efforts to get Trump to pardon Assange is tantamount to Trump revealing his efforts to get the president of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Crazy. Disappointing.
Related commentaries:
Mexicans voted… Assange…
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