Donald Trump is the ‘new CEO of US imperialism’ – Bayan

Donald Trump
Donald Trump speaking at a campaign stop at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Dec 2015. (Photo by Matt Johnson)

Bayan expressed support for the American people’s resistance movements and struggle for social change, from Standing Rock to Ferguson.

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Amid the surprise victory in the US presidential polls of 70-year old tycoon Donald Trump -– pollsters and analysts had predicted a Clinton win – the multi-sectoral alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said in a statement yesterday that there is really not much to expect by way of change from the US election results. Being elite-dominated, the results of the US elections, they said, promise to bring more of the same if not worse policies for the people.

Trump has wooed the white American voters with populist rhetoric that vaguely sounded like protectionism. Toward this, he promised to review free trade pacts and keep American jobs within their shores. But as a tycoon who has built his empire by exploiting workers, he cannot be expected to deviate from the current path adapted by capitalism to survive its continuing crises. Despite his bluster, Donald Trump “is expected to adhere to the same neoliberal economic policies of his predecessors,” Bayan said.

The multisectoral alliance warned that Trump is also intent on keeping supposed US military dominance worldwide in the name of fighting terrorism. To maintain its global dominance, the U.S. will still impose its unequal economic and military agreements over its colonies, Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya chairperson, said in another statement.

War has always been good business for the American government and military-industrial complex. Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago warned, in another statement, that it’s not farfetched to say that Trump’s warmongering could also drag the Philippines into war. This, amid a seeming backtracking by Malacañang from earlier pronouncements for independent foreign policy. Last Monday, President Duterte reportedly gave the go signal for the Balikatan exercises and EDCA. The first is American military war exercises being held annually in the Philippines. The second, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), is an “agreement” between US and PH defense secretaries, signed in April 2014 under the Aquino administration. It allows US troops rent-free access to bases, camps, facilities, roads, ports and unspecified “agreed locations” in the Philippines.

In the US mainland, Bayan warned that Trump will likely undertake cutbacks on the already meager social benefits, fuel racial hatred and tighten US borders against immigrants.

In other words, “Trump is expected to bring out the worst in the moribund monopoly capitalist system,” Bayan said.

Saying change cannot come from ballots in an elite-dominated election, Bayan expressed support for the growing people’s resistance in the US mainland and elsewhere.

They expressed support for the American people’s resistance movements and struggle for social change, from Standing Rock to Ferguson. The group also allied itself “with the oppressed peoples of the world in resisting US imperialism, now represented by a new Chief Executive Officer.”

In the Philippines, Bayan said the struggle against US military presence, unequal agreements, and economic impositions will continue and advance under a Trump presidency. The group promised to greet Trump with protests and calls for the pullout of US troops and bases from the Philippines if he pushes through with plans to attend the ASEAN summit next year in Manila. (https://www.bulatlat.com)

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  1. “War has always been good business for the American government and military-industrial complex.” Yes, but bad enough for us, and worse for the American people.

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