Texas Rep. Greg Casar Talks Progressive Dems Visit to Latin America, Condemns Gov. Abbot on Border

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We speak to Congressmember Greg Casar of Texas, who has just returned from a congressional trip to meet with newly left-leaning governments in Brazil, Colombia and Chile ahead of the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-backed Chilean coup, which overthrew democratically elected President Salvador Allende and installed a 17-year military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet. Casar was joined by other progressive Latinx members of Congress, including New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow Texan Joaquin Castro. During the trip, the lawmakers called for the Biden administration to declassify more documents revealing the U.S. role in the coup. It was the first time an all-Latinx American congressional delegation traveled to Latin America, Casar says, and marked a "historic" attempt by young, progressive lawmakers to break from Cold War-era American interventionism on the continent and to move toward a relationship "based on mutual respect and supporting democracy."

We also speak with Casar about U.S. policy in Latin America by looking at one of its long-term effects: migration to the U.S. As people flee instability in their home countries brought about by U.S. trade and military policy, U.S. border authorities have implemented increasingly dangerous measures to stop migrants from traveling safely, including a deadly floating barrier of circular saw blades in the Rio Grande. This is all fueled by racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric spouted by right-wing extremists and politicians, whom Casar characterizes as "the arsonists trying to blame the firefighters for the flames."

Transcript: democracynow.org

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