Should we believe in Trump?

Of course, the Cubans of this Island believe in the words of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that he will maintain, and toughen, the blockade policy against Cuba until our country releases the criminals he describes as political prisoners, calls for free elections, when he questions the previous results of the last US presidential elections —obedient to tariff interests—; and we stopped exporting the Revolution, which is why at the end of his mandate he included Cuba in that unfair list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Of course, we believe in what this colorful character says, who lives in Florida surrounded by his old friends opposed to the Cuban Revolution, while he takes advantage to the limits of showmanship of the failed attack that cost him a small part of his right ear, achieving enormous support from his party and increasing his advantage over the senile President Joe Biden, who last weekend maintained his confusion, forgetting the name of his Minister of Defense, whom he called “this black man” and ended up ceding the Democratic Party candidacy to his vice, Kamala Harris.

In the meeting where he was ratified as the presidential candidate, Trump left the ambitious Marco Rubio out of the running for vice presidency, chose a more suitable one and gave a speech that kept the eyes of those present teary for 28 minutes, but those same eyes remained closed in the following 62 minutes.

PROMISES

If Trump finally gets into the White House, he has made absolutely clear how his government’s roadmap will be in a likely mandate. These are his main promises, some of them already described in the election programme approved during the Republic National Convention held in Milwaukee.

The Republican, a man who won in 2016 with the project of building a border wall, has promised the largest deportation of migrants in the history of the United States, where over 10 million people in irregular situation are living right now.

Trump has assured he will stop the “invasion” of immigrants and will resume his program “Quédate en México” (Stay in Mexico), which forced asylum seekers to wait for the paperwork on the Mexican side of the border, while he plans to veto the entry of Muslim people from several countries to the U.S.  In an interview granted to the Times magazine, he opened the door to building migrants detention camps and deploy the U.S. Army to persecute illegal immigrants.

Under the slogan “Make America Great again,” he wants to promote a protectionist policy that applies tariffs to all products imported onto the country. He assures the will lift the policies that promotes the manufacturing of electric vehicles in United States and will curb the importation of vehicles coming from China, a country he seeks to intensify trade dispute.

If he returns to power, he also promises that he will boost the oil and gas production to down the prices of energy and he will also carry out the largest tax relief in the U.S. history.

Trump confirms that he will rapidly end the war in Ukraine. He also threats to cut any aid to Kiev if NATO’s European allies do not increase their military spending. The former president has promised to defend Israel and, amid the debate held in June with Democrat Joe Biden, he did not commit to the creation of a state for Palestinians. He also wants to label Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations and plans to use the army to fight them.

Trump says that he will order the Department of Justice to pursue Biden, whom he accuses without evidence of having orchestrated a “witch hunt” against him because of the cases that the Republican has in court. He wants to fire thousands of career officials to dismantle what he calls the “deep state” and cut the independence of federal agencies to concentrate power in the Presidency.

The Republican, who refused to accept his electoral defeat in 2020 and is accused of having instigated the assault on the Capitol in January 2021, assures that he will only accept the November results if these are “honest.”

Trump defends that each state in the country should be free to regulate access to abortion, after the conservative majority of the Supreme Court, with three judges appointed by the Republican himself, overturned the federal right to that practice in 2022. The New York tycoon has ruled out imposing a national veto on abortion, although the most radical faction of the party is asking him to do so.

Finally, he wants to cut public funding to schools where gender identity is discussed and ban trans women (whom he calls men) from participating in women's sports competitions.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff