Obama asume el Poder Ejecutivo en los Estados Unidos

• Autor: Mirador Internacional

Ante 2.000.000 de personas, congregadas especialmente para la ocasión, el 20.01.2009 asumió Barack Hussein Obama la Presidencia de los Estados Unidos, afirmando que "la esperanza ha vencido el miedo". Cabe ahora que tenga la visión y el coraje para, junto con el pueblo que lo aprueba en un 83%, transformar la realidad. Este es nuestro deseo. Le esperan grandes desafíos: Irak, Afganistán, cumplimiento del retiro de Guantánamo, embargo a Cuba, la presencia israelí en la Franja de Gaza, el Tercer Mundo, la crisis dentro de los mismos Estados Unidos.

Desde siempre, orar por los gobernantes ha sido un mensaje de las grandes religiones. La cumpliremos. Entre tanto, nuestra Revista Científica ha enviado una nota al Embajador de los Estados Unidos en Argentina para que le encamine al Presidente Barack Obama, indicándole la necesidad axiológica de que el país ratifique el Tratado de Roma y acepte el Tribunal Penal Internacional: de ese modo, las inconductas de dirigentes políticos, fabricantes de armas y militares en zonas de combate podrán ser juzgadas por ese Tribunal. Su ejemplo seguramente llevará a otros países, entre ellos Israel y China, a ratificar dicho Tratado. El Derecho comenzará a transformar la realidad internacional, lo que satisfaría a las víctimas de atropellos y a Emmamnuel Kant, impulsor de la Paz Perpetua.

Se ha extractado el editorial del The New York Times (21.01.2009:

President Obama declared: “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn- out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

The American story “has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame,” he said.

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified,” he said.

Mr. Obama was unsparing in condemning the failed ideology of uncontrolled markets. He said the current economic crisis showed how “without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control” and that the nation has to extend the reach of prosperity to “every willing heart, not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.”

Mr. Obama also did not shrink from the early criticism of his ambitious economic recovery plan. Rather, he said the “state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift,” to build roads and bridges and electrical power and digital networks, to transform schools, and “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”

After more than seven years of Mr. Bush’s using fear and xenophobia to justify a disastrous and unnecessary war, and undermine the most fundamental American rights, it was exhilarating to hear Mr. Obama reject “as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

Instead of Mr. Bush’s unilateralism, Mr. Obama said the United States is “ready to lead once more,” by making itself a “friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity.” He said “our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.” Mr. Obama told the Muslim world that he wants “a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

Mr. Obama was steely toward those “who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents.” He warned them that “our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.” But where Mr. Bush painted this as an epochal, almost biblical battle between America and those who hate us and “who hate freedom,” Mr. Obama also offered to “extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

La dra. Móica Andrieu, de la U.N. de La Plata, nos ha mandado el texto completo del discurso de Barack Obama, en inglés y en español. Se lo agrademos cordialmente.

Discurso completo de Obama

Advertencia:

Este texto se acompaña por gentileza de la dra.Mónica Andrieu, a quien agradecemos el texto y la traducción

En inglés

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America´s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.

They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated...