Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda. We will discuss the main issues from the front pages.......
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Los Trump Latinos
Down in Latin America, we see the rise of "The Trump Latinos" or right-center candidates who want to do business with the U.S.
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As a boy growing up speaking Spanish in a Cuban home, my parents would listen to this wonderful musical group from Argentina, i.e. "Los Cinco Latinos" or translated to Five Latins. They sang their own material and wonderful Spanish versions of The Platters. One extremely catchy tune was "Quiereme siempre" (Love me Always), one of my mother's favorites. It's one of those wonderful romantic songs from that era.
You ask why Latinos and not Hispanics? That's what they used to call us before we became Hispanics for the Census Bureau.
Down in Latin America, we see the rise of "The Trump Latinos" or right-center candidates who want to do business with the U.S. They want to join the Trump-Rubio parade and fight criminal gangs and support a tougher hand with criminals. They want to be tough, i.e., "hombre fuerte" like Trump.
"Latin America's Many Trumps" by Daniel McCarthy explains the situation rather well:
Latin America is turning right, and it's a vindication for President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In some ways, the Cold War never really ended in the Western hemisphere: Socialism has haunted the nations of Central and South America long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the same Cuban regime the Soviet Union propped up for decades remains in power to this day.
The hard left thought it had cemented control over Venezuela, too, thanks to Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro -- until American forces snatched Maduro right out of his bed back in January and took him to New York to stand trial.
Yet most of our neighbors to the south are not ruled by dictators. Instead, elections in Latin America have swung back and forth between left and right.
Only now they're all swinging to the right, as the region's biggest nation dramatically illustrated last weekend. Brazil is now the scene of the greatest right-wing comeback since President Trump's own reelection two years ago.
The swing to "Los Trump Latinos" is more than ideology. In other words, I don't think Latin American voters are voting for this guy or that guy based on socialism over capitalism. This is all about security and keeping my small business and streets safe. It's about not worrying about your teenagers going out on Saturday night and getting kidnapped by gangs. Or having a cartel member drop by your "bodega" requesting money for protection from rival gangs. It's about locking up animals who commit horrific crimes for the hell of it. Everybody is looking at El Salvador and saying, why not here?
Time will tell if "Los Trump Latinos" can govern. So far, they are off to a good start, as we see in Colombia, where the new president is not messing around with criminal elements.
As a Colombian friend joked last week, we Latin Americans love "un hombre fuerte" (a tough guy) with a pretty First Lady. They elected lots of those!
Let's hope they succeed!
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Happy # 83 to Jose Cardenal
Cardenal broke with the Giants in 1963 at age 19. He played with the Angels, Indians, Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Phillies, Mets and retired with the Royals.
His best years were with the Chicago Cubs 1972-77: A .296 batting average & a .363 On Base Pct.
Jose became a real fan favorite at Wrigley Field in the 1970’s with his flashy personality. Cardenal retired with a .275 career average and 1,913 hits. He made it to The World Series with Kansas City in 1980.
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1960: "Route 66" made its debut on US TV
"Route 66" made its debut on US television on this day in 1960. It was on until 1964.
The show was about two young men, Buz Murdock and Tod Stiles. They drove across the country in an inherited Corvette (Chevrolet was one of the show’s sponsors), doing odd jobs and looking for adventure. It was also shot on location.
Like many of you, I saw the reruns in the 1970's. I loved the music intro.
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We remember Al Martino (1927-2008)
Remember the opening wedding scene in "The Godfather"? Remember Al Martino? He was born in Philadelphia on this day in 1927 and passed away in October 2009. He was 82.
We will always remember Al Martino because of "The Godfather" movies.
Al Martino had a great voice, as we can appreciate from listening to his many selections.
P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.
Tuesday, October 06, 2026
Brazil and Latin America plus baseball playoffs
Brazil and Latin America plus baseball playoffs.....
Lots of Bolsonaros down in Brazil
No matter who wins, the country is deeply divided and governing won't be easy.
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Former President Jair Bolsonaro must have enjoyed watching the election results on Sunday. It was a big night for the family. Let's check out the results:
The Bolsonaro clan claimed victory in every race they contested in Brazil on Sunday, as Flavio Bolsonaro surpassed President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a first-round vote and several other family members won seats in Congress.
The 45-year-old senator was chosen by his father to continue the family's political project after Bolsonaro senior was convicted of coup-plotting and barred from running for office until 2030.
Other members of the dynasty surfed a right-wing wave that made Bolsonaro's Liberal Party the largest force in the Senate— securing 19 of 54 Senate seats up for grabs — but it fell short of an outright majority.
We will wait for the runoff later this month, but most observers believe that the Bolsonaro sweep will be complete when the next vote is taken.
Beyond the family drama, there are some real issues driving this election. First, a backdrop of corruption scandals, deep political polarization, and growing voter "Lula" fatigue. Second, does Brazil join the rest of Latin America moving to the right, from Chile to Colombia to El Salvador? Bolsonaro wants to move Brazil closer to the US, and Lula ran against Trump.
The two men also see the world differently:
Two days after Lula's UN speech, Brazilian diplomats joined representatives of several countries in walking out as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his address, amid Lula's sharpening criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza. Flávio Bolsonaro has taken a markedly different approach, cultivating ties with Netanyahu, Trump and other leaders Lula has clashed with. When Flávio launched his campaign in July, Netanyahu appeared by video to endorse him, as reported by CNN Brasil. In May, Flávio met Trump in the Oval Office to discuss organized crime, tariffs and critical minerals, then Vance and Rubio the next day.
Argentine President Javier Milei, a libertarian and longtime Bolsonaro-family ally, traveled to Brazil in July to back Flávio's campaign. He called Lula a "convict" and the government "thieving socialists," prompting Brazil to recall its ambassador to Buenos Aires. This comes as Latin America's broader political map has moved right following closely fought elections: Right-wing firebrand Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly won Colombia's presidential election in June, and Keiko Fujimori won Peru's runoff weeks later by roughly a tenth of a percentage point.
"A Flávio Bolsonaro victory would cement this move to the right that we've seen in so much of Latin America over the last two years," Winter said, noting that many of the region's right-leaning governments are aligned with Trump on security and drug policy.
We will wait for the runoff later this month. No matter who wins, the country is deeply divided and governing won't be easy. Bolsonaro will have a more friendly Congress, whereas Lula will face serious challenges getting anything done.
I guess the best part of the story is millions voted and the results were available the same day. Maybe California could learn something from that.
P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.
1981: Sadat killed in Egypt
On this day in 1981, Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, was assassinated during a military parade. It all happened so fast that many thought that the soldiers jumping from the truck were part of the show. Within seconds, it became clear that it was a terrorist attack against a head of state.
President Sadat and PM Begin of Israel won the Nobel Peace Prize for the Camp David accords of 1978. Unfortunately, the deal made him a target of Islamic extremists across the Middle East.
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1966: Jim Palmer the youngest to pitch a World Series shutout
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On this day in 1966, Jim Palmer became the youngest pitcher to throw a World Series shutout. Palmer was only 20.
On the other side, Sandy Koufax started his last game ever. He retired shortly after the Series.
The Orioles swept LA. Overall, they won 4 AL pennants and 2 World Series titles over 6 years.
Palmer won 268 games and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1990. After baseball, he had a great career as a TV baseball analyst:
On this day in 1966, Jim Palmer became the youngest pitcher to throw a World Series shutout. Palmer was only 20.
On the other side, Sandy Koufax started his last game ever. He retired shortly after the Series.
The Orioles swept LA. Overall, they won 4 AL pennants and 2 World Series titles over 6 years.
Palmer won 268 games and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1990. After baseball, he had a great career as a TV baseball analyst:
We remember Charlton Heston (1923-2008)
The great Charlton Heston was born in Illinois on this day in 1923. He died in 2008. He was in so many movies that it's hard to count. However, my guess is that most people remember him for "The Ten Commandments”.
After Hollywood, he worked with the NRA and was a political activist. He was also a great human being.
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
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