Just as he did in 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is once again badly tripping up in his interviews on Univision. In his latest interview with the top U.S. Spanish-language media outlet, the Vermont senator's evident soft spot for disastrous socialist leaders and governments in Latin America left aghast both the network's viewers and anchors.
Though on U.S. domestic politics Univision’s leading on-air personalities have been vociferous allies of the Democrats, when it comes to U.S. foreign policy in the region a clear and noticeably growing rift exists, particularly in relation to the Democratic Party’s ascendant Socialist wing, led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.
That rift was first evident in 2016, when an interview with Bernie Sanders by Univision’s top Los Angeles anchor, León Krauze, went south fast when Krauze asked Sanders to address socialism’s catastrophic failures in Latin America, and the candidate visibly clammed up.
The disconnect was evident once again this week, when Sanders patently refused to call Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro a dictator, despite the Maduro regime’s record of assasinations, torture, censorship and use of the hunger of the country’s citizens as a tool for political control.
JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Is Nicolás Maduro a dictator, Senator, for you and should he go?
BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. SENATOR, I-VERMONT: Alright, I think clearly he has been very, very abusive. That is a decision of the Venezuelan people. So I think, Jorge, there has got to be a free and fair election, but what must not happen is that the United States must not use military force and intervene again, as it has done in the past, in Latin America.
[…]
PATRICIA JANIOT, ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Interesting. He doesn't want to call Maduro a dictator.
Even Jorge Ramos’ co-anchor, Patricia Janiot, could not help but express her astonishment at Sander’s clear refusal to label Maduro a dictator. Janiot’s native Colombia is experiencing firsthand the catastrophic consequences of the crisis provoked by the Maduro regime. So far, Colombia has been inundated with an estimated one million Venezuelan migrants seeking refuge.
As Krauze noted in a post-mortem of Sanders’ latest interview, scheduled to air in its entirety on the February 24, 2019 edition of Univision’s Sunday Al Punto show, Sanders has consistently displayed a disturbing “history of ambivalence toward Latin America’s repressive socialist regimes.” As Krauze also points out, President Trump and his fellow Republicans have welcomed Sanders’ candidacy with open arms and “would be more than happy to make next year’s election a referendum on socialism.” GOP leaders clearly see these developments as favorable to their cause, as well as an opportunity to continue making significant inroads in the Latino vote, particularly in battleground Florida.
To see the relevant transcript from February 19, 2019 Noticiero Univisión, click “expand.”
Noticiero Univisión
February 19, 2019
6:40 p.m. Eastern
JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, UNIVISIÓN: Bernie Sanders entered the presidential race today with the intention of removing from the White House Donald Trump, who he described as the most dangerous president in the modern history of the United States. The Vermont senator lost the Democratic primary elections to Hillary Clinton in 2016, but mobilized millions of young people. Sanders today said that Trump was a racist, and I asked him why.
BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. SENATOR, I-VERMONT: Well, Trump is a racist when even before he was president he led the so-called birther movement trying to deny that Barack Obama was a legitimate president. He is a racist when he suggests that people who come from Mexico over the border are rapists and criminals. He is a racist when he keeps demonizing undocumented people in this country. He is a racist when he picks on Muslims and attacks them as well. That is what racism is about.
RAMOS: As you know, President Trump wants to build a wall at the border with Mexico. However, you know very well that Democrats in the past they voted for walls right at the border. So why Democrats did it and President Trump should not?
SANDERS: Well, what I think we need is strong border security. And I think if you want to do it in a cost-effective way you don’t build the wall. You build, you invest in technology, you invest in manpower, you may invest in some wired fencing, but I do not think it is a cost-effective approach, if we’re talking about border security, to build the hundreds of miles of walls at a cost of billions of dollars that Trump wants to spend.
RAMOS: Before you go I want to ask about Venezuela. Do you consider Juan Guaidó the legitimate President of Venezuela?
SANDERS: No, I think what has to happen right now, I think there are serious questions about the recent election. There are many people who feel it was a fraudulent election, and I think the United States has got to work with the international community to make sure there is a free and fair election in Venezuela.
RAMOS: So is Nicolás Maduro a dictator, Senator, for you, and should he go?
SANDERS: Alright, I think clearly he has been very, very abusive. That is a decision of the Venezuelan people. So I think, Jorge, there has got to be a free and fair election, but what must not happen is that the United States must not use military force and intervene again, as it has done in the past, in Latin America.
RAMOS: The complete interview this Sunday on Al Punto, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 p.m. Pacific.
PATRICIA JANIOT, ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Interesting. He doesn't want to call Maduro a dictator.
