The rectors of 200 universities in the United States signed a public letter in which they accuse the Government of Donald Trump of “unprecedented political interference”, for threatening to withdraw financing and demand changes in curricula, reported on Wednesday the newspaper Mexican The day.
Published Tuesday by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the document is the broader and blissful answer to date since Trump issued a series of threats to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds and demanded changes in the curriculum.
The government offensive, pretended under the flag of anti -Semitism, includes even the installation of external supervisors to monitor the demanded changes.
Columbia and Harvard: Positions found
The day noted that Columbia was the first university to negotiate and surrender to Trump’s demands and others have indicated that they are negotiating, but Harvard surprised to reject the threats of the retirement of about 2 billion federal funds.
Moreover, Harvard became the first university to legally sue the Government for those threats.
Meanwhile, the Trumpist offensive against journalistic media caused the executive producer of the legendary news program 60 minutes He will announce his resignation after the surrender of his company CBS News before pressures of the White House.
The media under fire
Bill Owens, executive producer of the Sunday news magazine in the United States perhaps more famous and old when adding 57 years, announced their resignation because they had lost their journalistic independence, reported the New York Times.
The program has been under intense pressure from President Trump, who has accused the television space of illegal behavior for “misleading” an interview with his Democratic electoral opponent Kamala Harris, in October.
The Republican president filed a lawsuit against CBS for 10 million dollars and demands an apology of the program.
CBS owners, the Paramount consortium, need government’s approval to sell their company, and therefore, wish to negotiate a solution to Trump’s demand.
Other large media, including the Associate present agency (AP), the Public National Radio (NPR) and Public National Television (PBS) have also been subject to punishments and threats from the White House since Trump’s return to power in January.
For the Mexican environment, it is striking that voices of the American dome are universities, media and other elite institutions, they are now forced to express themselves publicly against the government.
For example, Lawrence Summers, former president of the World Bank and former rector of Harvard, commented last week that Trump’s threats are part of a broad and enormous effort to suppress institutions that challenge the presidential power.
“If an institution like Harvard cannot resist tyranny when applied (with its goods of 50 billion, its networks and prestige), then who can?” Summers asked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7hlhyxntwu
The third Reich Background?
For his part, the former vice president, presidential and environmental candidate Al Gore compared some aspects of the Trump government with the third Reich, in his attack on the center of the distinction between the truth and the false.
During a speech on Monday in the Californian city of San Francisco, Gore said that there are some lessons in the history of that emerging evil of Nazi Germany that can be applied to their country now, the journalistic media reported Political.
Similarly, several mayors, including Boston’s, Los Angeles and other cities, as well as some governors, such as Maine, Michigan and Kentucky, have also closed ranks before Trump’s threats to withdraw federal assistance if they do not yield demands to stop being sanctuaries for immigrants.
The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, declared last week that he does not have to meet with representatives of the Trump government and said bluntly: “I will not negotiate with terrorists.”
The protests against the support of Israel continue. Mahdawi case
A large multitude of supporters and defenders met on Wednesday in front of a Vermont court to support a Palestinian student from Columbia University who led protests against the war in Gaza and was arrested during an interview about the completion of his US citizenship, the agency reported AP.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a permanent legal resident for ten years, was arrested on April 14 at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Office in Colchester, Vermont, for Immigration and Customs Control Agents (ICE).
This Wednesday, the young man made a first appearance before the court, during which a judge extended a temporary order that keeps Mahdawi in Vermont and scheduled a hearing for next week.
Mahdawi’s lawyers argue that he was arrested in retaliation for his speech in defense of the human rights of the Palestinians.
Last month the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the visas of visitors who acted “against national interests” would be revoked, among them, some who protested against the Israel War in Gaza and those who face criminal charges.
According to the judicial file, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed courses in Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before starting a master’s program in autumn.
As a student, Mahdawi was an open critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and organized protests on the campus until March 2024.
Numerous academics have expressed their rejection of measures against immigrants and students legally established in the United States.
For his part, Senator Chris Van Hollen has repeated his complaint that the true lunatic is Marco Rubio, since these actions trample the constitutional rights of freedom of expression.
