Photo: Yasuyoshi CHIBA Agence France-Presse Democratic activists from Galeo Impact Fund, an NGO that encourages Latinos to become more involved, gather at the organization's offices on October 22 in Georgia.
Gerard Martinez – Agence France-Presse in Atlanta
Published at 8:31
- United States
“La presidenta”: in the suburbs of Atlanta, Democratic activists from an NGO proudly display these words in Spanish in the hope of convincing Latin Americans who are still undecided to vote for Kamala Harris on November 5, increasingly counting on the violent rhetoric of the Republican camp.
Deputy director of Galeo Impact Fund, which encourages Latinos to get more involved, Elisa Covarrubias is furious after the insulting and racist remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” on Sunday during a Donald Trump rally.
“It's very insulting to the Puerto Rican citizens of this country,” laments Elisa Covarrubias, herself originally from this Caribbean island that is a territory of the United States.
“It's horrible to be insulted like that in a rally of someone who wants to be president,” she continues, speaking of a “big political mistake” against a community that “watches and listens.”
In recent weeks, Galeo Impact Fund activists have been mobilizing to encourage Hispanic communities to vote for Kamala Harris wherever the Democratic candidate’s campaign team has not gone in Georgia, one of the states that will be decisive on November 5.
The Latino vote was prized at one point in the campaign, but with a week to go until the presidential election, many of them feel they have been, if not insulted, often overlooked as, while the majority Democrats, some are increasingly leaning toward Republican Donald Trump.
In an election that is shaping up to be the closest in modern U.S. history, more than 36 million Latinos will be able to vote, out of a total of approximately 244 million eligible voters.
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Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba Agence France-Presse Activists from Galeo Impact Fund are trying to convince undecided Latin Americans to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris.
“Lack of investment”
This electorate “can be the one that tips the scales,” argues Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, director of the Latino Data Hub at the University of California, Los Angeles.
A role that is all the more important given that it carries a lot of weight in key states like Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Yet, beyond a few speeches and appearances in Spanish-language media, the candidates have made little effort to appeal to this electorate, notes Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas.
“There are few profiles, few political strategists of Latino origin and a lack of investment,” insists the expert, who also deplores the tendency of the two parties to conceive of these diverse communities as a single monolithic bloc.
To fill this gap, Galeo Impact Fund activists often invite Latino voters around for tacos to talk politics, like Jeanette Bowden. Also of Puerto Rican origin, this New York native already supports Kamala Harris, whom she considers more capable of reducing tensions and inequalities in the country.
“I’m proud to be Latina,” the 48-year-old, who works for an association fighting violence against women, told AFP. “I’m happy that there’s this pressure on us and that we can play a decisive role in this election.” »
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“Personal War”
Like her, about 56% of Latinos support Kamala Harris, compared to 37% for Donald Trump, according to a recent poll by the New York Times, who nevertheless points out that this margin has decreased compared to previous presidential elections.
After 27 years in the United States, Angel Ozuna will finally be able to vote for the next host of the White House. This 50-year-old man of Mexican origin, recently naturalized as an American, is leaning more toward Donald Trump.
In the perfume store of an Atlanta shopping center where he works, Angel Ozuna is counting on the Republican candidate to, he says, improve the economy and fight against illegal immigration.
Many Latinos voting for Donald Trump are highlighting this central theme of the Republican campaign, which has not failed to present newcomers as “criminals” with more rights and stealing the jobs of immigrants already settled.
But the violent rhetoric of the Trumpists, especially the ad hominem attacks against Kamala Harris, has somewhat cooled Angel Ozuna. He who would have liked the candidates to address the core concerns of the voters regrets that the campaign has turned into a “personal war.”