ICYMI: Bernie Sanders Really Doesn’t Want to Talk About Latin America?

Jun 1, 2016
7:58 AM

Last week, Fusion’s León Krauze interviewed Bernie Sanders in California. The crux of Krauze’s questions had to do with Latin America: from the Drug War in Mexico, to Mexico’s treatment of Central American migrants, to the state of the political left in Latin America. For many who follow these topics from the United States with interest (many of whom are actual young Latino voters), Sanders’ answers were bizarre, to say the least. Here is the video clip of the interview:

Here are some quotes of what Sanders said:

Look, you’re asking me questions about the impact on Central America, which honestly I should know more than I do know….

You are asking me questions about Latin America that I am very interested in but right now I’m running for president of the United States.

In another interview with Pilar Marrero of La Opinión, Sanders gave similar answers to similar questions, although he did say that the United States should focus more on Latin America:

Right now, my focus on this campaign… that’s a very important question, I am aware of the instability in Venezuela. My focus right now is on this country. Clearly, but I will tell you, is that in general I do not believe, whether it is Venezuela or Mexico or any place else, that we have paid the kind of attention that we should to Latin America. And what we have seen in recent years is are countries like China making very significant investments in countries throughout Latin America, and that concerns me. Latin America is natural and strong ally of the United States, and I think we have got to pay a lot more attention to that continent than we have in recent years.

For someone who has spoken about Latin America in the past and who should know that these issues being asked are of actual importance to many young Latino voters, someone on the Sanders campaign should have prepped the candidate a bit more. And no, we aren’t the only outlet who is saying this.