This Was Not Supposed to Happen Here
A march, inspired by President Donald J. Trump’s baseless complaints of a stolen election descended on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. It spiraled into a deadly siege. Photo by Alex Gakos/Shutterstock
Many Latinos sought refuge from political violence in the comfort of U.S. democracy. But the Trump-inspired siege in the U.S. Capitol building is digging up scary and familiar fears.
They chanted, “The steal is real'' and “U.S.A., U.S.A.” They shattered windows, desecrated symbols of American governance, and screamed “traitors!” at Capitol police.
Was it a protest or an insurrection? Were they Trump-inspired domestic terrorists, freedom fighters or la guerrilla?
No matter the label, most everyone agrees that the deadly violence that unfolded over four hours on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol was shocking, especially for those who had fled countries where political upheaval is deeply embedded in history.
“The images from the Capitol have to be jarring for Latino or Latina immigrants, particularly recent arrivals,” said Richard D. Pineda, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at The University of Texas at El Paso, who teaches popular culture and Latinidad.
“For an immigrant who has come to the United States in the last 20 years, this has to be jarring,” said Pineda, who described what happened in Washington as a “civil insurrection.”
To be sure, the U.S. Capitol has been the target of attacks before, including in 1954 when four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on the House floor wounding five members of Congress. But the level of destruction and terror that took place on Jan. 6 — and resulted in five deaths — had not been seen since the Capitol building was set on fire by British forces during the War of 1812.
All too familiar
For many, the uprising in Washington, D.C. showcased scenes they thought they left behind.
“It’s very painful. I lived it in Nicaragua. I’ve seen it in Venezuela. I’ve seen it in Cuba. I never thought I’d see it in the U.S. Capitol,” said political commentator Ana Navarro-Cárdenas, who was born in Nicaragua.
Falling for fake news
While protestors who overtook the Capitol were overwhelmingly white, it is important to note that the support base for President Donald Trump includes Hispanics and Blacks. More Latinos in states like Florida and Texas voted for Trump in last year’s election than in his race against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Guennady Rodríguez, who immigrated to Miami from Cuba in 2013 and edits the Spanish-language political blog and podcast called 23 y Flagler, said many Hispanics who voted for Trump “fell for the fear mongering of socialism.”
He said Trump and Trumpism embodies the same characteristics of fascism and communism. “Shameless denunciations, chauvinism and ultra-nationalism. Everything was there,” Rodríguez said. “That happened in Cuba. It happened in Venezuela. I thought the country was going to reject Trump, but then he won.”
Capitol police confront a mob attempting to enter the House Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol building. Photo by Alex Gakos/Shutterstock
The outburst at the Capitol — following a pro-Trump rally in which the president urged supporters “to fight” as members of Congress gathered to formally certify election results in favor of President-elect Joe Biden — is most certainly a new front in a tense civic discord that’s uncomfortably familiar to many.
“This was domestic terrorism,” said Pineda, adding that there is little difference between what occurred in D.C. and guerrilla warfare carried out in various Latin America nations. “There is growing racial and ethnic instability in the United States.”
While there has been widespread condemnation, Trump support even within Spanish-speaking communities appears likely to remain strong.
“It is still an open question for us on how those Latino supporters are reacting. But if past events have a metric, we aren't going to see a major shift,” said Carlos Odio, co-founder of EquisLabs, which specializes in public opinion polls in the Latinx community.
“The vast majority of Latinos supported Biden. But the fringe has a wide platform and is very mobilized,” he said. “If our leaders start to speak more plainly, it could behoove some action against that. I think the vast majority of Americans really do want to move on.”
Our fragile democracy
“Now should be a moment for those who so frequently expressed concern about the condition of democracy or lack thereof outside our border to do a little bit of looking in the mirror,” said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University (FIU).
“Our democracy is fragile,” he said.
Bustamante does not like portraying Trump as a caudillo because it suggests some kind of foreign import.
“If Trump is one thing, he is 100 percent gringo,” he said. “The roots of what happened (at the Capitol) are entirely in the history of this country.
“Was it a coup, was it not a coup, was it an autogolpe? I think it’s secondary to the real lesson: our democratic norms are not as rock-solid as we would like to think they are. More important is what it means for our country rather than what it’s called.”
So, where do we go from here as a nation?
“I don’t know,” Bustamante said. “Time is short. I think the Biden administration faces a real challenge. It’s too early to say whether the Republican Party has had enough of Trumpism.”
“To unify the community I think we need to set positive goals,” said Rodríguez of 23 y Flagler. “Stop the labeling. Stop incentivising the cultural war.”
Lines have been crossed
“Trump labels everyone who disagrees with him as a socialist and those not from the United States as illegal. If you are critical of Trump you are an enemy of the people. It’s not creating a healthy society and it’s not educating people on the value of diversity,” he said.
Navarro-Cárdenas, a longtime Republican strategist who became one of Trump’s most ardent critics early in his campaign and tenure, said the spectacle of the Capitol attack and subsequent uproar may perhaps result in “some level of realization” by Republican politicians that supporting Trump is no longer viable.
“It infuriates me that people are willing to look the other way because a dark-hearted, deranged narcissist threw them little bones,” she said. “Hopefully, there will be less power and less of a stronghold for the Republican base.”
Too little and too late
Police response to the Capitol uprising also has fueled debate.
Pineda agrees with the argument that if the mob storming the capitol had been predominantly black or brown the police response “would have been radically different.”
Equally important, he said, is how mainstream media will report these kinds of events moving forward.
“We have to be prepared to call out the falsehoods,” Pineda said, “especially for Latino and Latina journalists,” who as both professionals and members of immigrant communities have been the target of falsehood spewed by Trump and his ilk.
The fact that Facebook banned Trump from posting any more comments at least until after Inauguration Day -- and Twitter has permanently shut down his account -- is not likely to make much of an impact.
“Ya pa que?,” Pineda said. “The damage has been done.”
Instead, it is now incumbent on all media, including on Spanish-language, to call out the real fake news. One of the reasons Hispanics voted for Trump despite toughened immigration policy, Pineda said, is because he was able to categorize immigrants already in the country as “the other” by giving credence to those who believe they are true Americans. The underlying message: “Brown people already here, good. Those coming in, bad.”
A throng moved on the U.S. Capitol building after Trump called on them to march. Photo by Lev Radin/Shutterstock
Media manipulation fans flames
Trump’s reality TV persona also held sway among supporters and the president became adept at using social media to reach voters.
“He figured out that by appealing to the people directly, by being brash, he was going to have broad appeal,” Pineda said. “By his very nature, he is unlike most people in this country. His brand flew in the face of the average American.”
Odio, of EquisLab, agreed that the media has a critical role. For Hispanic communities, it is essential that Spanish-language news outlets become more responsible with content they disseminate, he said. In Miami and elsewhere, even after the violent outburst at the Capitol, conspiracy theories alleging a “stolen” election continued to stream across airwaves, particularly on Spanish-language radio. Many have cast blame on Black Lives Matter and antifa, even though there is no evidence to support that claim.
“We need Univision and Telemundo to be on the forefront of getting out right information but also beat down untruths,” Odio said.
Pineda of UTEP said there also needs to be more conversation about media literacy and the need for news consumers to be more reflective — to look at multiple media sources for information.
“We should be teaching our students that this is a beautiful time for people to take advantage of looking at different perspectives; force a conversation about what is going on on the other side; listen to and hear what is going on in these other spaces and these other spectrums,” he said.
The scary truth
Today Congress is debating another impeachment for Trump. Some of his cabinet secretaries are mulling forcing out the president. And the FBI is rounding up the most brazen of the domestic terrorists caught on video in full rage. Now it’s time for news outlets to “be honest about this period of time, hold people accountable; return to news minus the commentary; make sure to have journalists who are immigrants add what they have learned,” Pineda said. “Stories told via journalists from other parts of the world are important. We need to hear different perspectives. Time is of the essence.”
“Getting a dictator is not difficult,” said Rodríguez of 23 y Flagler. “The only thing you need is a strongman in power who is unscrupulous. Institutions who work for the leader, that’s a dictatorship. Trump almost got it. If he was given four more years, I think democracy would not be a reality in the U.S. anymore.”
“Fortunately, the political culture in the United States was able to hold the line and defend democracy,” he said. “Right now, everyone should be on maximum alert. We need to hold our leaders accountable.”
---
Nancy San Martín is a freelance journalist based in Miami. She has 30 years of experience as a reporter and editor.