BUENOS AIRES — Every Argentine asks me, why didn’t Hillary win?! I give the usual answers (facts, not truthiness), and ask what they think about what’s happening in the United States.
Argentines are experts on elected autocrats who have bankrupted and re-bankrupted this weathy nation whose borders reach from the equivalent of Yucatan to Alaska. Argentines understand corrupted institutions and destroyed opportunities. Has the United States become the Argentina of the North? A few responses:
— Those who win elections in fact do represent the people who select them — Peron, Menem, Cristina. We can’t deny it. The same with you and Trump in the United States. (Male lawyer in his late 50s.)
— Re: Mexico: I’ve heard there is going to be a one-day strike by all Latins in the United States and the world. That will be a protest that is noticed—there are a lot of us. (Female education specialist, GenX, married, mother of two.)
— The US has very strong institutions. I have confidence that you are going to survive. I’m not as worried as you are. (Male, multilateral IT sales consultant, divorced, 70s.)
– Is Trump worse than Cristina? Me: Yes, he’s smarter and more devious. Think Peron. (Male video editor, single, late 20s.)
— Our president is opening up trade just as you are closing it. I don’t know what is going to happen because of change. We aren’t competitive after years of protected trade, so now factories are closing and people are out of work. (Female organizational change consultant, single, early 30s.)
— Eyerolls. Horrible. OMG. How can you stop him? (Everyone—friends and colleagues of decades and their grown children.)