Latinos yes, Muslims no. Vox's racial laws

Vox is the last party to launch itself for the so-called Latino vote. He has done so by blatantly copying the successful strategy of the US Republican Party, even covering a theme and a song (“Latinos for Donald Trump”), which here is “Latinos for Abascal”. It is curious how the declared enemies of globalism allow themselves to be influenced so frequently and with such enthusiasm by the ideas that come from the global Empire. To such an extent that they seem to have given up in their fight to impose terms such as Hispanics or Iberosphere, renouncing labels that fit better with their vision of the world, but that have very little impact among the community to which they appeal..

Regarding what we call the Latino vote, some commonplaces are also being imported that are worth reviewing. The crudest of all is to think that they have an innate ideological preference in their cultural DNA.. It is repeated that the Latino voter is conservative by nature, an idea that fits badly with the current political map of their continent, painted almost entirely red.. It is true that the association adapts like a glove to the desires of the Venezuelan community installed in Madrid, especially among those who fled from Chavismo and live in fear of a repeat of the nightmare in their host country.. As we told in El Confidencial at the time, there is indeed a juicy niche for conservative options, an opportunity that Isabel Díaz Ayuso saw before her rivals and that her team has managed to mobilize skillfully. Vox has also moved in this area, but from a more geopolitical perspective, strengthening ties with the new booming Latin American right, with which it has more in common than the Popular Party..

The Venezuelan community installed in Spain is large and politically very active, but it is not even the largest. That first place is occupied by Colombians, with quite a difference. Twenty years ago, there were no more than 50,000 and now it is estimated that there are more than 700,000, according to the consulate's own calculations.. Half of them (about 350,000) can already vote in a general election. Aware of the magnitude, there are several parties that have been working for some time to attract their vote. The Government of Pedro Sánchez, for example, has allowed students who enroll in Spanish public universities to work 30 hours a week to earn some money, in addition to streamlining the procedures for the recognition of academic titles. Although it was Mariano Rajoy who did the most for Colombians, removing the requirement to obtain a visa to enter Spain, and shooting up the numbers of irregulars.

“It is impossible to know for sure, but I would say that the Colombian vote is very distributed. Most work in sectors such as hospitality, and many have sympathy for the PSOE. Then there is a high percentage that votes for the PP, especially in medium and high socioeconomic levels. In Madrid, Ayuso arouses great sympathy. And surely there are some who vote for Vox because they are convinced by its policies or for whatever reason, but in general they continue to be suspicious when they hear messages like that Spain is for the Spanish,” says Juan Carlos Iragorri, a veteran Colombian journalist living in Spain and current correspondent for RCN Radio.. Something similar occurs with three other very large Latin American communities: Peruvians, Ecuadorians and Central Americans, who do not have a marked ideological identity and tend to go to the polls as divided as the Spaniards themselves can be..

In broader terms, Vox's strategy is based on a logic that has been raised since the very foundation of the party. Its leaders often situate the rejection of immigration on a cultural plane, in which Latinos would be brothers and, therefore, acceptable immigrants.. It is about distinguishing them from the rest, especially those from Africa or the Middle East, and even more so if they are Muslims.

This idea has a basic practical weakness, since it is estimated that 80% of irregular immigrants currently living in Spain come from Latin America, while Africans, including North Africans, barely add up to 10%.. Colombians, by the way, are the most numerous, as we explained in this report. Consequently, if Vox intends to deport all foreigners who do not have proper papers, it will mainly punish the Latino communities that it claims to support.. And, if, to prevent something like this from happening, it decided to establish exceptions for countries of origin and religious denominations, we would be entering a field that is already beginning to be very reminiscent of racial laws..