Bienvenue aux Etas Unis!

by Mónica del Rio

November 2011

The woman who is making noise in Europe is now doing so in the American continent. Marine Le Pen, candidate of the FN for the 2012 presidential elections, packed her extreme-right propaganda and took a trip to the American capital. As of November the first, he will be touring the States as she prepares for the upcoming elections as a strategy to gain international appeal. Her father, the former leader of Fronte Nazionale, did something similar when in 1987 he secured a handshake with president Ronald Reagan during a trip to the US. Unfortunately, so far her daughter has not managed to obtain such results from the American political elite in Washington D.C. The success of this visit could help Le Pen look more presidential and less radical than her father, Jean Marie Le Pen.

            When Le Pen announced this trip last year, she said she would meet with politicians from both the Democrat and Republican Party, but according to France24, these appointments have not materialized. She was scheduled to a sit down with Republican Congressman Ron Paul, but the meeting was cancelled and she only got five minutes with the Congressman. The Huffington Post wrote that Le Pen also had intended to meet with the leader of the Tea Party movement, a conservative and populist political group and also, trying not to appear too conservative and radical to the international media, wished to get together with a representative member of both the Black and Jewish community, but neither took place.

The one thing that is secured and schedule for the French candidate, is a visit to the IMF, an institution that she would most likely see dissolve, where she will be addressing protestors. So far she’s been snubbed by American politicians, but she’s still has time to gain their support in the upcoming days, as she travels to New York and Florida.

Crowther, Philip. (2011, November 3). “Playing hide and seek with Marine Le pen: a French presidential candidate comes to Washington”. France 24. Retrieved from http://www.france24.com/en/node/5263419

(2011, November 2). “Marine Le Pen, France’s Fron National Leader, Visits U.S.”. Huffington Post. Retrieved form http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/marine-le-pen-us-. visit_n_1072049.html?ref=worldto

Economy of the poor and the rich: The euro, the crisis, and the solutions

by Fabiola Figueroa-Navarro


October 2011

The economic cycles in every country’s history reflect the way all economies fluctuate from a crisis to stagnation and then reach a peak of stability and prosperity. In the case of Europe, the consolidation of the European Union brought an apparent period of economic growth. Nonetheless the monetary strength met its adversary, and as the extreme right would allege, when the policy changed from deepening to widening.

     The annexing of more member states into the Union clearly developed into adopting also their weak economic structures and the deficit they had compared to the profitable economies of the strong European initial member states. According to an interview made to Michael Mackenzie, US markets editor at the Financial Times, the “the Eurozone crisis has been unfolding for more than a year. But the story involves so many different countries with different levels of economic health and very different political agendas that it's easy to lose sight of the problem…” considering the fact that thirty years ago, the Greek economy seemed almost as weak and problematic as it is now in the twenty first century.

     The consequences today are an inevitable: governments of the countries have come to take measures such as reinforce the policies regarding migration and economic trade. “The euphoria over Europe’s latest rescue package faded quickly. Now the question is whether European leaders will ever agree on measures needed to end the sovereign debt crisis, and whether they will get another chance.” (Fistick and Bloomberg, 2011) on the one hand, a more extremist right would rather have less states than a deeper crisis; on the other hand, states are still trying to find a way to reassign the euro its former prestige and value. While this happens Europe might as well be ready for another period of struggles.

Bloomberg and Fistick, Jock (2011) Europe Blowing Last Chance to End Crisis. Retrieved from Bloomberg, at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-30/europe-might-have-blown- last-chance-to-end-its-crisis-view.html



Norris, Michele (2011) How did Europe’s financial crisis start? An interview with Michael Mackenzie, U.S. markets editor at the Financial Times. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140409300/how-did-europes-financial-crisis-start

Marine Le Pen: Next extreme-right President?

by Hernán del Valle Rodríguez


September 2011

As we’ve reviewed earlier, the candidate for the extreme-right Marine Le Pen, has demonstrated she can be a strong opponent in the next 2012 presidential elections, along with the current president Nicolas Sarkozy. There are still seven months left for France’s presidential elections, and this September ratings have placed Marine Le Pen ahead of the mainstream candidates for the elections, with a separation of five percentage points from president Sarkozy.

Although there has been a recent slip in her popularity during the past weeks, one of the reasons for the success of Marine Le Pen is the constant support she has received from sympathizers and people during several conferences she has held during her campaign. She intends to recover from this slip by holding a conference in the French southeastern city of Nice next September 10 and 11. According to Joseph Bamat from France 24, “Le Pen will deliver her keynote speech at the National Front conference. Her address may seem ill-timed, but in fact it suits a party that has always painted itself as a counterforce to France’s political and social establishment.”

When France and all the world is focusing on the near 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks; according to Jean-Yves Camus, a political scientist and expert on France’s far right, Marine Le Pen “is part of a generation that is really hungry for power” and for this reason she needs to keep on with a tighter schedule of public appearances to attract more sympathizers.

Knowing Marine Le Pen, the conference taking place at Nice will probably be focused on immigration, the Muslim world, and the Greece debt. Are these issues she focuses on still enough to attract new voters and recover from her slip? We’ll have to wait and see.

Bibliography 

·           Bamat, Joseph. (2011, September 9). “Far-right targets 2012 presidential vote at Nice rally”. France 24. Retrieved from http://www.france24.com/en/20110908-france-national-front-conference-far-right-marine-le-pen-2012-elections-nice

·           Bamat, Joseph. (2011, September 22). Le Pen: ‘The US model cannot be applied to France’. France 24. Retrieved from http://www.france24.com/en/20110922-france-far-right-marine-le-pen-interview-american-model-greece-national-front

2012 Election Part II: Jean-Marie Le Pen sabotages his daughter's campaign...again

by Fernando Miranda O.


August 2011

Marine Le Pen has made exhaustive efforts to create a kinder, gentler National Front. But her father Jean-Marie Le Pen is determined to sabotage his daughter electoral campaign once more, with “no hard feelings” of course.

     Marine has tried hard to normalize a party that is still viewed as too extreme for most of French voters; she has managed to put the fascist label to a minimum without compromising the fundamental party ideologies; It is being said that if Marine Le Pen keeps doing things the right way she will gain a lot of electoral ground against her competitors.

     The problem is that she can´t prevent her father from blowing off her campaign, first Jean-Marie Le Pen said that the everybody exaggerated the nature of the Holocaust, then some pictures of him doing the “Hail Hitler” routine in front of a neo-Nazi flag  were released to the media.

     Then after the Norwegian terrorist attacks in Oslo, Jean-Marie Le Pen said in his radio broadcast that the naive left-leaning Norwegian government and the Norwegian population itself were more of a problem than the massacre itself which he referred to as “an accident”. Marine is now stuck between a rock and her father because the both the left wing and the right center parties are all over her for not denouncing her father´s word. Five days after this incident finally Marine Le Pen is defending her father’s words and letting the world know who the real leader of the French Front National really is.

Bibliography

·        Von Rupp, B. (2011, August 2); 2012 Election Part II: Jean-Marie Le Pen sabotages his daughter's campaign...again.  Retrieved from http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com/post/2011/08/02/dsaf