The proposal to appoint Senator, Marco Rubio, as the Secretary of State, a Latino, from Florida, appears to have reached in the final state in the Republican Party. His elevation, however, indicates that Rubio known for not having any friendly approach towards China, that the Trump Administration would be pursuing a more hardline approach in dealing with the US’s foreign adversaries like China, Iran and Cuba.
In domestic policies, the partisan approach, has been noticed even in the distribution of the much-needed assistance to the victims of the cyclones off the Mexico coast. The cyclones hit the regions during October-November every year. It was confirmed, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency director, Deanne Criswell, stated that an employee of her organization has recently been terminated for denying assistance to the victims for supporting the President-elect, Donald Trump.
The supporters of Rubio, a member of the Select Committee on the Intelligence, and a senior member of the Committee on foreign Affairs, have intensified the campaign for their nominee, who is no stranger in the higher echelons of the Republican Party. The observers of the American politics are convinced that Rubio’s name for the key position will be ratified without any difficulty in the Senate. During the recently held elections, the party has not only got its nominee, Donald Trump, elected to the presidency, it has overwhelmed the political adversary, the Democrats, in the bicameral American Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
It, perhaps, might have been surprising, if not shocking, to a large number of political commentators that despite favoring stringent laws for the immigrants, how Trump could successfully enlist the support of the Latino population in the recently held presidential election.
Rubio, 53, if appointed to the key post, would be the first Latino US diplomat. He is also credited for obtaining massive support of Hispanic voters in favor of Donald Trump, who has been campaigning for regulating immigration from Mexico; and even asking the outgoing Joe Biden administration to stop the illegal immigrants, especially from almost open borders with the neighbors. It is also believed that his decision to appoint a multi-ethnic cabinet, Trump might have been trying to position himself as a leader not harboring any animosity against any social group by appointing a Cuban-American as the Secretary of State.
The political observers as well as the experts of the strategic affairs in New Delhi and Washington, perhaps, are in unison that during his presidency, Joe Biden, has been following, if not indulging, in policies without any focus. In case of India, his administration, including the deep state or CIA, has been signing huge contracts, but only a fraction of these commitments could percolate down at the ground level during the past four years.
Both Biden and his protégé, Kamala Harris, a descent of Indian-African couple and the Vice-President, who was later fielded to contest for presidency on the Democratic Party ticket, have been seen a befitting nominee for the highest office for supporting the illegal immigration, and later giving them voting rights and also offering them welfare allowances. In spite being an ardent follower of the President Barrack Obama traditions of the Democratic Party, she could not carve out a strong constituency even among the Latino and other immigrants; also, her repeated slogans she could not match the image of her mentor, who had carved out as a leader committed to democracy and human rights.
It appears that her political detractors have succeeded in convincing a large number of the American voters, representing the migrants from South Asia, including Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis that she was for them. On the other hand, for many, she symbolized the American establishment promoting anti-democratic elements in Asia and other parts of the world. It may be noted that there is a sizeable presence of Bangladeshis as taxi drivers, tea vendors and others doing blue collar jobs in New York metropolitan areas. It was not taken kindly by them, when a democratically elected Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, was forcefully evicted from the high office by the Islamists in Dacca. It was also noted there was little response from the Biden Administration; a few weeks later, the conspirators, were seen being blessed by Joe Biden personally. In spite of being vehemently denied that the bloodless coup was a joint venture of the Bangladesh Army, Jamaat-e- Islam, the Chinese and the American intelligence, the political damage was finally done adversely affecting the image of Kamala Harris. Her political opponents blamed her as a co-conspirator in writing the epitaph of democracy, thus, her prospects for a landslide victory started declining on the eve of the crucial election. Another mistake of the Biden Administration could be attributed to its inability to condemn the atrocities against minorities, especially the Hindus, in Bangladesh.
Further, the Sikh extremists were being given security and allowed to threaten Indian diplomatic missions and even bombing airlines, but the US Administration failed to arrest the hooligans responsible for the arson, or threatening Indian missions.
Apart from supporting the joint takeover of the Islamists-military of Dacca, Biden Administration did little to support the democratic forces in Myanmar. Instead, it was also being accused for conspiring to promote a new state, Crown Country, indeed a dream of the British rulers in India, comprising the pre-dominant Christian states of India’s north-eastern region, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and the border provinces of Myanmar comprising the Chin and Shan areas. Similarly, Joe Biden had abandoned the issue of the autonomy for Tibet. During his vice-presidency, he had met his then counterpart, Xi Jinping, now president of China, in Tibet, thus formally ending any commitment or support towards the hapless people of the region and their leader, Dalai Lama.
For many, Trump’s agenda for peace, accompanied by fortifying the demographic aggressions from the neighbors, emphasizing on taking affirmative initiatives for ending the Russia-Ukraine War and the ongoing conflict in West Asia, might look like a mission of Don Quixote. He, however, is not just a dreamer, but knows how to fight for his political survival. If he finally appoints, Rubio, a member of the Congressional Executive Commission on China since 2015, who has been on Beijing’s blacklist for his advocacy for human rights, it would give a strong message that the US genuinely represents democracy and the fusion of different cultures and religions. Similarly, Iran, too has to decide, whether to escalate the conflict or end its support to the terrorists in the region. And in the case of Cuba, it has to abandon its policy allowing the Chinese to set up intelligence devices to pry on American institutions, especially military deployments in the region.
Gopal Misra has been associated with national and international media. His books on journalism and geo-politics have been well-appreciated. Views are personal.
