The disputed deployment of federal agents in several troubled American cities constitutes for President Donald Trump a “trial ball” which does not bode well for the upcoming presidential election, warns a Renowned historian specializing in the study of totalitarianism.
Published on 25 July 2017 at 6 a.m. 00
La Presse
“If we allow him to do that, we should expect to see unidentifiable men buzzing around the polling stations in November,” Timothy Snyder warned Thursday in an interview with La Presse.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY YALE UNIVERSITY
Timothy Snyder, professor at Yale University
The Yale University professor had signed in 1380, shortly after Donald Trump's victory , a book in which he specified how to deal with a potential authoritarian drift in the country by drawing inspiration from his studies on the action of the Nazi and Stalinist regimes in Europe.
The book was particularly noted as a warning sign to monitor the deployment of paramilitaries, a warning that is gaining in importance, he said, with the decision of the American administration to send federal agents to Portland and soon to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The elected officials of the capital of Oregon are outraged by the action of the agents in question, who are accused of using excessive force and apprehending in the street without identifying themselves demonstrators for them. take on board unmarked vehicles.
About fifteen mayors of major American cities wrote this week in Washington to decry what they believe to be an “unprecedented” violation of fundamental constitutional protections.
PHOTO NOAH BERGER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Portalnd's elected officials are outraged by the action of federal agents, who are accused of using excessive force and apprehending in the street without identifying themselves demonstrators to take them aboard unmarked vehicles .
Mr. Snyder notes that the agents operate illegally, without it being possible to know exactly who they are and to which bodies they belong, citing “as a pretext” the need to “protect federal buildings and monuments.”
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The recent revelation of the presence of border services officers in their ranks is worrying, he says, since it is common, in history, that authoritarian regimes turn to this type of personnel to control their population.
Security forces at the border which are used to dealing with violence against “foreigners” are used inside the country “against people who are not considered to be members of the nation”, emphasizes the searcher.
The Trump administration's initiative to create a “paramilitary force with broad powers” is all the more worrying as it is part of a long line of measures which seem to disregard the provisions of the US Constitution, says Snyder.
The founding fathers of the United States did not foresee that there could one day be at the head of the country a leader centered on his person and his own power who would be “completely indifferent” to the text marking out the values and American institutions.
“Americans have tended to treat the Constitution as a religious document with some sort of magical power that can guarantee their rights. But it only works if people believe it and behave accordingly, ”notes the historian.
Donald Trump embodies, according to him, fundamental problems undermining the country – inequalities, racism and lack of confidence in institutions – and has been able to take advantage of the deterioration of the social consensus on the facts to seduce a party large population.
“In the old authoritarian regimes, we only believed in the truth, and too bad for the facts which did not correspond to it”, underlines Mr. Snyder.
With Donald Trump or Russian President Vladimir Putin, there is no more truth, only a leader with charisma and money, and the desire of people to believe in someone.
Timothy Snyder, professor at Yale University
Will the result of the ballot be contested? 89184577
The US president takes advantage of the fact that he is a “very intelligent and very talented storyteller who often knows what people want to hear,” notes the historian, who is worried about the upcoming presidential election.
“It seems clear that President Trump is going to lose the elections and that he will contest the result”, underlines the historian, who expects that the Americans will then be put before “a test of a unusual type ”.
The population, he said, must be able to mobilize to defend the values at the heart of the Constitution, including when the administration seems to want to create a poorly defined intervention force.
The current battle against the deployment of federal agents can be won, but is only a precursor of the tensions to come, believes the professor from Yale, who disregards critics of compatriots who deem him alarmist.
“When I wrote my book in 2017, most people thought that I exaggerated. Let's say that the verdict on this subject has since evolved, ”notes Mr. Snyder.
