Imperialism ‘is acquiring all its crudity again,’ says Cuban historian about Trump’s comeback
By Gabriela Vera Lopez / Translated to English by Ana Paula Rocha
On January 6, just two weeks before the presidential inauguration, the US Congress will certify Donald Trump’s victory as the new president-elect. The date will be more than emblematic, as it marks four years since the storming of the Capitol.
Trump will return to the White House with much more power than in his first term. His movement has become the hegemonic force within the Republican Party, and his triumph has secured his control over Congress, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Hassan Pérez Casabona, a professor and member of the Center for Hemispheric and United States Studies (CEHSEU, in Spanish) in Cuba, describes Trump as the expression of “right-wing populism” that seeks to connect with “US citizens corroded by identity crises caused by the relative decline of US hegemony.”
The members of his cabinet, dominated by extreme right-wing sectors, anticipate a government formed in his image and likeness. This situation reflects the hegemony in party politics of his far-right movement, MAGA, an acronym for “Make America Great Again”.
“In his second term, Trump is surrounding himself with ideological allies. Technical knowledge or the ability to contribute in different areas has not prevailed in the proposals. What is prevailing is the ideological alliance of followers, people who behave like subjects and empathize with the figure of Trump,” he says.
“From the point of view of his philosophy, we could say that Trump has learned from his first presidential term. He said he had made the mistake of appointing highly qualified names with whom he later disagreed. Now that he’s strengthened, he doesn’t even want to talk. I believe that a very complex phase is coming, in which the imperial face is once again acquiring all its crudity, all its drama,” he says.
A new imperialist phase against Latin America and the Caribbean
Among the main names in Trump’s cabinet, Hassan Pérez highlights Marco Rubio as head of the State Department, the agency responsible for US foreign relations.
The son of Cuban parents, Marco Rubio, through his hostility to progressive and left-wing governments in Latin America and the Caribbean, has built his career as a leading figure in the Republican Party.
“Marco is a highly respected leader, and a very powerful voice for freedom. He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” said Donald Trump in his statement announcing Rubio’s post.
Rubio himself responded to the announcement by saying: “Under the leadership of President Trump we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else.”
The idea of “delivering peace through strength” has been prevalent in Rubio’s discourse and proposals. In 2019, in an interview with Univision 23, Rubio even suggested that the US Armed Forces should intervene in Venezuela to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, arguing that “the Maduro regime has become a threat to the region and even to the United States.”
“At that time, Trump was handing over all these draconian measures against Cuba to the South Florida lobby,” explains Pérez Casabona.
In the period between March 1, 2023, and February 29, 2024, alone, the blockade generated an estimated loss of $5.5 billion, which means over $421 million per month, according to estimates by the United Nations (UN).
“I believe that an emboldened Trump is coming. And in the face of an emboldened Trump, we also have to show all the resilience that our country has a PhD in,” says Pérez Casabona.
“Someone might think it’s hard to see how an escalation would be possible after these 243 measures [sanctions approved by Donald during his first term and maintained by Biden]. But they can be updated. If Trump and his team have a Machiavellian view, trying to find every last loophole will be much more complex.”
“I think that, on our side, there is no alternative but to be resilient and creative. The will of the vast majority of our people will not be broken either, to continue developing an alternative project, a thinking project, which is not paradise on earth, but is based on emancipation, participation, and freedom, a project which is not subordinated to the desires of Wall Street, neither at the domestic level nor in foreign policy decisions,” he said.
