Obama-mania has spread south of the border as well. An opinion piece by Jaime Martinez entitled "Obama, the Hope of Latin America" was published in Mexico's La Jornada the other day. Here are some highlights:

The United Statesean (estadunidense) society lives today a new social phenomenon. Barack Obama, senator for the state of Illinois and pre-candidate of the Democratic Party, has broken paradigms and stereotypes and now appears in the polls as the Democratic candidate with the greatest possibility of defeating the Republican party, the party of Bush.

That was the first paragraph.

Broad United Statesean groups , regardless of their ethnic, social or political origin, have joined the electoral crusade led by the young senator from Illinois, who, with a discourse far from the rhetoric of the conservative politicians, has managed to capture the attention of the citizenry of that country.

With a solid academic formation, accomplished through individual and family effort, and a permanent link with the poorest communities of his state, Barack Obama possesses a special sensitivity which permits him to understand the reality of his country and to propose alternate objectives which are solid and effective in electoral terms.

Now, pay close attention to this part:

From his African-American origin, he (Obama) launches a motto of unity for the continent: ”There is not a white America, an Afroamerican America and an Hispanic America, there is only one America.” Few have probably said so much in so few words, especially when our peoples in Latin America are being urged to have a relation of cooperation, brotherhood and solidarity, in contrast to what has been up until now, where the name of the United States has been a synonym of invasion, exploitation,appropriation of natural resources and the imposition of dictators.

Notice that the writer here is using "America" not to refer specifically to the U.S.A., but, as in the Spanish language, "America" referring to the entire Western Hemisphere. (My article "Is It Wrong For Us To Call Ourselves Americans?" deals with this issue.)

For our fellow Mexicans and Latino brothers in the United States he (Obama) has a proposal:”I represent the people who until now have been marginalized. I will make sure that that that people has access to medical care and education, including the undocumented.”

With regards to migration he affirms ”that the subject of immigration has been exploited by the politicians more to divide the nation than to find real solutions. This division has allowed the problem of undocumented immigration to worsen, with borders that are less secure than ever and an economy that depends upon millions of workers who live in the darkness. ”

The role of the sectors traditionally called ”minorities” today has enormous relevance, thus the importance of Obama’s message arrives to all the corners of the United States and Latin America, where its definitions and positions outline a new relationship and a better understanding between our countries . Throughout its history Latin America has not been an enemy of the United States, but the United States has been to our countries, who have seen their borders invaded once and again by the troops of that nation.

Now the writer has a plan of action to support Obama :

That is why it is important that all the Latin American forces have the capacity to unite our voices behind whomever has the best possibilities of constructing a cooperative relationship with Latin America and to overthrow the bellicose party of Bush. As the parties and political organizations of Mexico and Latin America, we have the possibility to provoke a chain of collaborations and supports behind whomever can establish commitments to create new and better conditions of understanding.

And the closing paragraph:

Whatever comes to pass (or doesn’t) in the United States affects our countries, that’s why with all our strength we should create a Latin Force behind Senator Barack Obama. I am convinced we have capability of doing so .