La última de Gallup

Sphere: Related Content

Reacción de la prensa...El mundo como Disney

"Obama has benefited from a week of good images. But substantively, optimism without reality isn’t eloquence. It’s just Disney."
Paul Krugman en el NYT

Pundits del Washington Post


La prensa norteamericana amaneció dura con Obama, los comentarios de la gente igual, el ad nauseam repetido fantasma del II Reich apareció en los comentarios: "a los alemanes los convence cualquier líder que hable bonito", así como otros comentarios: "en Ohio también hay bratwurst", "no dijo nada sustancial", "muchas palabras, pocas propuestas", y un largo etcétera.
Bueno, quizá no se habían dado cuenta de que TODOS los discursos que Obama ha pronunciado desde enero de 2008 han sido así (no puedo hablar de antes pues no seguía su carrera antes). El tan famoso speech racial A More Perfect Union fue así, retórico, no propuso nada, pero fue alabado como un discurso que se "estudiará en las escuelas", y hasta lo equipararon con el Gettysburg de Lincoln.
El discurso de ayer fue emotivo y fue retórico, fue un buen discurso. Obama no venía a Europa a hacer campaña, a quién le iba a proponer algo? a los alemanes? a los miles de turistas que había en Berlín ayer? si tiene que proponer algo es en todo caso a los líderes de Europa (para ello se reunió con Merkel y con Steinmeier y hoy está en Paris). Como Senador en campaña no puede hacer grandes propuestas, ni está facultado ni el gobierno alemán (o el que sea) tiene porque atenderlo, más que en su calidad de Senador. Obama, no puede hacer política aquí, menos desde un monumento en la calle, bien hizo en no proponer nada, pues su papel era --y no por que él lo haya dicho-- el de un ciudadano famoso al que le organizaron un rally, su papel era como el de Bono hablando ante el publico sobre el hambre en África. Inmiscuirse en asuntos concretos de política exterior hubiera sido peligroso. --aunque sí mencionó las tropas en Afganistán--

Obama vino a enamorar al público europeo, a provocar reacciones que lo favorezcan y que influyan en los votantes norteamericanos de que él es quien va a cambiar al mundo, Obama quiere decir en su casa "miren, en Europa me adoran, si votan por mi vamos a tener de nuevo un aliado en ellos".

El discurso de Obama fue perfecto en todos los sentidos, logró reunir 200mil personas en la capital simbólica del transatlantismo y de la unión del occidente. Las masas lo ovacionaron, los diarios nos saturaron de imagenes y reportajes de Obama, los noticieros no se cansaron de recordarnos "people of the world look at Berlin" y Merkel lo recibió aunque ella se opuso a que Obama hablara en Berlín. Nada pudo ser más perfecto. Su discurso pasará a la historia como el primer discurso pos-moderno, la globalización, "People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one." Lo que pasa aquí, afecta allá. --debo decir que sí extrañé en sus palabras a Latinoamérica--.
Habló sobre la responsabilidad de todos y eso es lo que todos queremos oir hoy, no queremos líderes que se abstraigan a su nación y decidan que para ellos es bueno seguir generando CO2, o que no hagan nada por la violación como arma de guerra en África, o que no nos preocupe lo que sucede con la selva del amazonas o los indígenas en Chiapas. El mundo es uno, y a cada acción corresponde una reacción y entre mas porosas se vuelven las fronteras y más medios de comunicación nos conectan de punta a punta del planeta, esas reacciones nos afectan a todos.
Eso fué lo que dijo Obama y eso es lo que todos esperábamos oir, no esperabamos propuestas, pues el 99% de los 200mil no tienen derecho a un voto. Pero sí tienen derecho a preocuparse y a ser optimistas, después de todo a quien no le gustaría que el mundo fuera como Disney?

Sphere: Related Content

Fotos desde Berlín en la Fan Mile de Obama

Corresponsal en la avda 17 de junio.

Vendieron Playeras (blancas y azules)

Global Tsunami of Change

Las puertas las abrieron desde las 4pm y durante 3 horas hubo música en vivo, comida y cervezas.

Se reclamó Guantánamo (bien hecho)

Mucha gente, se calculan 200mil (ARD)
Las pantallas y las bocinas permitían a todos los presentes enterarse de todo.
A lo lejos podemos ver la columna de la victoria que conmemora la victora prusiana sobre Francia, siglo XIX.

Aquí vemos una de las distintas pantallas que se colocaron en el mismo lugar donde fuera el Fan Mile del Mundial de Futbol 2006

El público de regreso a casa. Atrás del lado izquierdo vemos el Bundestag y el Kanzleramt.

Otra manta de protesta.

Agradezco mucho a Aline por haberme envíado estas fotografías.

Sphere: Related Content

Discurso de Obama en Berlin

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama (as prepared for delivery)
“A World that Stands as One”
July 24th, 2008
Berlin, Germany

Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father – my grandfather – was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning – his dream – required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I’m here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.
On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin. The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

And that’s when the airlift began – when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city’s mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. “There is only one possibility,” he said. “For us to stand together united until this battle is won…The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty…People of the world, look at Berlin!”

People of the world – look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.
Continue...


People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived – at great cost and great sacrifice – to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom – indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people – everywhere – became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation – our generation – must make our mark on the world.

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.

Sphere: Related Content