The gaffes, the advancing age, the immigration emergency, the security dossier. There are many problems Joe Biden a few months before the US presidential elections. One of the most delicate fronts for the leader of the White House is the foreign policy: the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East they saw Washington in the front row. Just think of the vibrant controversies linked to support for Kiev, with the head-on clash between Democrats and Republicans which slowed down the aid package for Zelensky. But it didn’t end here. Biden must deal with what Federico Rampini dubbed in the Corriere della Sera the “third fire”: theEcuador.
Unlike Ukraine and Gaza, Ecuador is much closer to the United States and therefore is a much more real international crisis in the eyes of Americans. The facts are known: the country is one step away from civil war after a group of armed men broke into a studio of the public television channel on Tuesday, taking journalists and technicians hostage, who were then freed by the special forces, complete with reprisals from the narcos with violence and looting. An emergency situation with obvious facts domestic implications for Biden & Co.
In addition to its territorial proximity, Ecuador is one of the kingdoms of narcos, that is, the main causes of overdose deaths among American citizens. Without forgetting another problem that grips Biden and his followers: themigratory emergency, increasingly unmanageable for the dem administration. The White House’s position on what is happening is as follows: “The United States supports the people of Ecuador and stands ready to provide assistance to their government.” Stop. Not the same emphasis shown for Ukraine and Israel, but a meager and rather bland statement. The reason is clear: the limits of acceptance of American help between the weight of history and the concern of American citizens.
The chaos in Ecuador could therefore have repercussions on the next presidential elections, certainly not positive from Biden’s point of view. L’Donald Trump’s isolationism could find broad consensus in the face of such delicate scenarios. “You must understand that if Europe were under attack we would never come to help and support you,” the tycoon told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020 at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And there is another detail to highlight: under Trump’s management not a single conflict broke out, while under Biden we are at the third war in the space of a few years. In other words, Ecuador could reinforce the widespread belief that the United States should stop playing the game policeman of the planet.