Violence has always been at the heart of the United States' way of doing politics, both internally and externally, from massacres of native populations and minorities to the two-party system that favors economic power and alienates the people. The way out of this vicious cycle is to strengthen the working class, both politically and economically.
That’s one of the ideas that US presidential candidate Claudia De la Cruz, from the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), mentioned to Brasil de Fato after shots were fired at Republican Donald Trump's rally on Saturday (13). If the far-right candidate emerged virtually unscathed, his electoral chances may have been boosted for the November elections.
De la Cruz is the daughter of immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic and an activist with the New York-based organization People's Forum, which is responsible for popular and cultural education and also serves as a media laboratory for the city's working class. Her candidacy seeks to shed light on specific agendas to expose political ideas that differ from those defended by the candidates of the two main parties.
On Monday (15), she talked to Brasil de Fato about the attack at Trump's rally. Read below:
Brasil de Fato: What’s your opinion about the attack during a Trump rally in Pennsylvania? What do you think it reveals in political terms?
Claudia De la Cruz: The ruling class is going through a political crisis, and we cannot analyze what happened in Pennsylvania as an isolated event. A lot is still unknown and under investigation, but the initial impact of the events puts Trump in a favorable political position.
Even the Democrats changed from attacking Trump to expressing solidarity with him and commented that “there is no room for political violence in the US "This statement completely ignores that political violence has been part of US. politics: from mild forms like voter suppression to the most extreme political violence, such as the assassination of black political leaders like Black Panther Fred Hampton, the incarceration of Indigenous leaders like Leonard Peltier or the attempted assassination of politicians in past history. It's important to recognize that violence is at the heart of politics in the US.
Ultimately, the biggest concern is that the consequences of this event will mean more attacks and repression for those of us who are committed to building the [socialist] movement, for the left and for people fighting [on the left], regardless of who wins the elections in November.
How do you assess the far right's actions around the world? Now, some of them consider Trump a “messiah”. How do you see this political tactic?
The Republicans are doing what they usually do: blaming the Democrats and the discourse against Trump as catalysts for the attack. There is no indication that the shooter was a Democratic supporter or a leftist; in fact, he was a registered Republican.
But it is useful for Republicans to consider Trump as the “survivor” of a violent attempt, a kind of messiah. In fact, this label fits well with Trump's narrative, which presents himself as anti-establishment and someone “for the American people”.
What do you think should be the U.S. left's position on the attack?
We should look at this within the context of the current economic and political situation that the country is in: funding the [Palestinian] genocide, supporting the war in Ukraine, the movement against China, the continued funding of the war machine at the expense of the everyday working class.
Workers are facing a deep economic crisis, civil rights are being suppressed, and there is a frontal attack against immigrants and women's rights – and these are all projects of both parties of the ruling class. People are waking up and protesting, demanding more progressive policies and solutions to these issues. And once again, the consequences of this shooting will mean more repression targeting those who demand basic rights.
We must continue to build a coalition work, deepen the consciousness of our people to understand what is happening and its implications, and our need to build our own independent movement and political instruments.
Do you think that Trump’s violent rhetoric and support for the deregulation of firearms might have something to do with the episode?
I don't think so. I don't think there are any laws or policies “to prevent” these events from happening. Ultimately, the shooting will be used to elevate and strengthen Trump's campaign and will not be linked to any demands made by the people.
What solution does your campaign propose to tackle political violence in the US?
Both parties represent two factions of the same ruling class and do not constitute a real opposition to each other. The real and only solution to political violence is the transfer of (political and economic!) power to workers.
Trump and Biden, their billionaire donors, the bankers and Wall Street firms exercising political violence – at different levels and times - but always against the people. Our campaign believes that we need to end the dictatorship of the billionaires and get rid of this two-party system, build a socialist party as a third political option for our class and as the real solution to building a true democracy in this country, and end once and for all the violence inherent to capitalism.
Edited by: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
