EL BULLY EN EL RECREO / THE SCHOOLYARD BULLY

LATIN AMERICA IS LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH TRUMP (SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ENGLISH VERSION)

EL BULLY EN EL RECREO

(Febrero 10, 2025)

Le apodábamos “el caballo” y le teníamos pavor. Durante varios años en mi escuela primaria y secundaria en la ciudad de México, “el caballo” dominaba el patio durante el recreo. Nos sacaba a todos una cabeza, varios kilos y un año más. Era el bully aunque nadie le llamaba así y no existía la conciencia que ahora tenemos sobre los estudiantes que hostigan y atormentan a otros más vulnerables. Ningún maestro vigilaba el patio y “el caballo” daba rienda suelta a sus violentos impulsos. Nos golpeaba en la cabeza, nos daba cachetadas y patadas, nos gritaba hasta sentir su aliento y sus babas sobre nuestra cara, nos arrebataba los dulces y nadie se atrevía a enfrentarlo.

Recuerdo agarrarme de la puerta del salón, antes de salir al patio del recreo, para asegurarme que “el caballo”, quien iba en otro grupo, no estuviera cerca. Mis recreos y los de mis compañeros dependían de lo que quisiera “el caballo”. Si nos quitaba la pelota se acababa el juego de futbol y si le daba una madriza a alguien, todos salíamos huyendo para no ser el próximo. Hasta que apareció “el perro”.

No era tan alto ni tan fuerte como “el caballo”. Pero “el perro”, quien por mucho tiempo se mantuvo se mantuvo al margen de lo que ocurría en el patio, decidió ponerle un alto al “caballo”. Defendió valientemente a uno de mis compañeros cuando “el caballo” lo estaba pateando en el piso. Aunque tenía los puños curtidos y listos, “el perro” no tuvo que tirar ni un golpe. Solo se le acercó a la cara y le dijo al “caballo” que parara. Desconcertado y asustado, el abusador se fue del lugar de la pelea. Desde ese momento “el perro” -de grandes cachetes y mirada intensa- se convirtió en nuestro salvador.

“El caballo”, humillado y retado, nunca más volvió a molestar a nadie y poco después se cambió de escuela.

Lo que está haciendo Donald Trump en sus primeros días como presidente me recuerda tanto al bully de mi escuela en el recreo. Con todo el poder a su disposición, con el apoyo del congreso, de la mayoría en la corte suprema y del voto popular, y con un ego que se revienta, Trump se expande. Quiere Groenlandia. Quiere el canal de Panamá. Quiere convertir a Canadá en el estado 51. Y esta semana anunció que también quiere tomarse la franja de Gaza para convertirla en una riviera mediterránea. ¿Y qué piensan los palestinos, los canadienses, los panameños y los groenlandeses de todo esto? A Trump no le importa.

Por eso llama tanto la atención que la presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, haya logrado detener -al menos por un mes- las intenciones trumpistas de imponer aranceles del 25 por ciento. México, como ya lo fue con López Obrador, tendrá que convertirse en la policía migratoria de Estados Unidos y en el refugio de sus deportados. Por eso el ofrecimiento de 10 mil guardias nacionales de México a su frontera norte. Pero parar a Trump, aunque sea temporalmente, no es poca cosa.

¿Y por qué funcionó la estrategia mexicana? Porque Trump es un ser transaccional, convenenciero, y la presidenta Sheinbaum le dio algo a cambio. Así él se sintió como ganador aunque perdiera la partida.

Algo parecido hizo el dictador venezolano Nicolás Maduro. A cambio de que Estados Unidos lo dejara en paz, liberó a seis rehenes estadounidenses y permitirá el regreso de miles de venezolanos deportados. Y como si fuera poco, Maduro pone los aviones. El terrible mensaje de toda esa negociación entre Trump y Maduro es que la democracia en Venezuela puede esperar.

Todos están aprendiendo de esto. Tú le das algo a Trump y él deja de apretar por un ratito. Panamá es el que sigue. Su gobierno seguramente aceptará la llegada de deportados de varios países y le quitará a China -o limitará- el control de dos puertos sobre el canal de Panamá a cambio de mantener la soberanía de su territorio.

Con Trump se acabó el soft power. Esta es la época de los trancazos y de amistades rotas.

Apenas estamos empezando. Nos quedan tres años y 11 meses de sobresaltos y amenazas.

Ahora quiero terminar mi cuento sobre los horrores que se viven en una patio escolar. Nunca más volví a ver al “perro”. Pero tengo mucho que agradecerle. Su lección fue impecable: ante un bully, no te puedes quedar callado ni mostrar miedo. Hoy esa lección es tan válida como hace medio siglo.

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ENGLISH VERSION

THE SCHOOLYARD BULLY

(LATIN AMERICA IS LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH TRUMP)

February 10, 2025

We called him “the horse” and we were very scared of him. For many years, in my primary and secondary school in Mexico City, “the horse” ruled the schoolyard during recess. He was a head taller than us, a year older and several pounds heavier. He was a bully, although no one called him that and at that time there was no understanding like we have today about students who harass and torment more vulnerable classmates. Teachers did not monitor the schoolyard, and “the horse” could unleash his violent impulses. He hit us on the head, slapped and kicked us, screamed at us until we could feel his breath and spittle on our faces and took away our candy. And no one dared confront him.

I remember holding on to the door of a classroom, before heading out to to the yard for recess, to make sure “the horse” was not nearby. My recess, and the recess of my classmates, depended on what “the horse” wanted to do. If he took the ball, the soccer game was over. And if he beat up someone, we all ran away to avoid being next. Until “the dog” appeared.

He was not as tall or strong as “the horse.” But “the dog,” who for a long time stood on the sidelines of what was happening in the schoolyard, decided to stop him. He valiantly defended a schoolmate who was on the ground and being kicked by “the horse.” Although his fists were ready, he did not have to throw a single punch. He just got up right in the face of “the horse” and told him to stop. Surprised and scared, the abuser walked away. At that moment “the dog” – fat cheeks, piercing eyes and few smiles – became our savior.

“The horse,” challenged and humiliated, never bothered anyone again and soon transferred to another school.

What Donald Trump has been doing in his first days as president reminds me so much of the bully in my school. With all the power at this disposal, with the support of Congress, a majority of the Supreme Court and the popular vote and an exploding ego, Trump is throwing some elbows. He wants Greenland. He wants the Panama Canal. He wants to turn Canada into the 51^st state. And this week he announced he wants Gaza, to turn it into a Mediterranean riviera. And what do the Palestinians, Canadians, Panamanians and Greenlanders think about all that? Trump doesn't care.

That's why it's so interesting that the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, managed to hold off for at least a month Trump's decision to slap a 25 percent tariff on Mexican imports. She had to negotiate with a cold head. Mexico – as it was under her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – will have to become an immigration police for the United States and recipient of deportees. That's why she offered to send 10,000 Mexican National Guardsmen to the border. But stopping Trump, even temporarily, is no small feat.

“Did you blink,?” a reporter asked Trump about the negotiations with Sheinbaum. No, he shot back. But without a doubt the Mexican president make him blink.

And why was the Mexican strategy successful? Because Trump is a transactional person, someone who favors convenience, and Sheinbaum gave him something. So he felt like a winner even though he lost the match.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro did something similar. In exchange for a US promise to leave him alone, at least for now, he freed six US hostages and promised to accept the return of thousands of Venezuelan deportees. And as if that's not enough, Venezuela will pay for the airplanes. The terrible message from the negotiations between Trump and Maduro is that democracy in Venezuela can wait. The hope that the Maduro regime would collapse has vanished under Trump. Many Venezuelans who supported Trump are disillusioned. And now he even wants to take away TPS.

During these early days, everyone has learned something about Trump's negotiating strategy. You give him something, and he stops pressing for a bit. Panama is next. Its government will surely accept the return of deportees from different countries, and it will end or limit China's control of two ports on either end of the Panama Canal in exchange for retaining sovereignty over the territory.

That's the way Trump is. He demands a lot at the beginning and always makes sure that in the end he wins something. But that's a strategy that tests alliances and generates a lot of resentment. It is the best formula for losing friends. And as evidence of this new animosity, just listen to the boos from Canadian fans at the start of hockey and basketball games against US teams.

With Trump, the time for soft power is over. This is a time for truncheons.

One of his first domestic moves was to shut down or paralyze USAID, created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to help the development of other countries, from providing vaccines to attacking poverty to promoting democracy and diversity in more than half the world's countries. Well, that face of the United States, one of its best faces – the one that showed the world cooperation, empathy and the defense of human rights – is the one that Trump is erasing.

We're just getting started. We have another three years and 11 months of somersaults and threats.

Now I want to finish my tale about the horrors in my schoolyard. I never saw “the dog” again. But I have much to thank him for. His lesson was perfect: when facing a bully, you cannot remain silent or show fear. Today, that lesson is as valid as it was 50 years ago.