Give Trump room
I am now continually lambasted by my liberal friends and relatives that returning President-elect Donald Trump to office will do this and do that. For instance, that he’ll deport 12 million immigrants, give more tax breaks to the rich and among other things, imprison those correspondents who spoke out against him.
This is what he will do. On day one, he will reverse all the directives President Biden signed on immigration and have those seeking asylum wait in Mexico.
On day two, he will restart building the wall along the southern border. He next will deport, not 12 million, but the thousands of hoodlums who need not be here. He also will implement bills that remove taxing tips and taxing Social Security.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let’s give him a little space and see what transpires.
Roger Shatanof,
Coral Gables
Cuba’s economy
The Nov. 8 article, “Hurricane left trail of collapsed homes, lost crops, and damaged infrastructure in Cuba,” highlighted the devastation left by Hurricane Rafael which, along with recent blackouts and a prior storm, has deepened Cuba’s crisis. El Nuevo Herald reporter Nora Gamez effectively connected these crises to Cuba’s worsening food insecurity.
According to a USDA study, 37.8% of Cubans faced food insecurity in 2023, a figure likely even higher now. Beyond natural disasters, Cuba’s centrally planned economy poses additional challenges.
Without resilient supply chains or private insurance, as found in free-market economies, Cubans are left without essential goods or financial support after disasters. The state’s monopoly over these services limits responsiveness, slowing recovery and compounding hardship.
Even humanitarian aid may fall short, as many Cubans in exile lack trust that the Cuban government will distribute these resources transparently. Cubans are now on their own to do what they can to survive.
Carlos Martinez.
Silver Spring, MD
Take climate action
Although the outcome of the election might have been good news to some, it’s undeniably dismal news to the climate. We are at a crucial junction with climate change. We only have a scant number of years left to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid irreversible climate impacts. With President-elect Donald Trump soon to be in office, there is a real risk that all climate progress in the United States will stall.
Can we afford that?
One would think that with back-to-back hurricanes destroying communities throughout the Southeastern U.S. and with 2024 set to be the hottest year ever recorded, we would get the message, but it wasn’t enough.
While things look hopeless, we do not have to depend on the federal government for climate action. Real differences can be made at the state and local levels. Don’t lose hope. Don’t stop acting. We can’t afford to fail.
Giovanna Santo,
Miramar
About character
Re: the Nov. 11 article by Miami Herald reporter Raisa Habersham, “‘We have to be overqualified’: Harris’ loss stings for many Black women In Florida.” Martin Luther King said that one should be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.
Condoleezza Rice, who was U. S. Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009, was fluent in Russian and served as National Security advisor from 2001 to 2005. Everyone wanted her to run for president, but she declined. She would have won.
Vice President Kamala Harris had $1 billion to run her campaign and according to recent news reports, is now nearly $20 million in debt. Can anyone imagine how she would run our country financially? Did she spend millions for popular entertainers to perform and endorse her?
In her campaign, Harris did not address the concerns of most American voters. Despite all her excuses, most Americans did not buy it.
Lucita L. Moran,
Coral Gables
Voters mislead
The misguided people who voted for Donald Trump have broken America. We will all pay for the consequences in years to come, perhaps in bizarre and aberrant ways. Our country, as it is now, will no longer exist after 2024.
Carlos M. Taracido,
Miami
Have faith
Do we allow ourselves to be dragged into a void, feeling helpless with nothing to brighten our future? Or, can we muster that “glass is always half full” attitude?
Let’s keep hoping and trusting that a spark will ignite our darkness, giving us back our feeling of security and positiveness. I have faith that it will.
Diane Goodman Dolcourt,
Pinecrest
Somber America
Bravo, Vice President Kamala Harris, for representing womanhood and the best qualities of America in a campaign that featured competency, integrity, leadership and equal promise for all our citizens. Unfortunately, as a country, we fell short.
We have proven that we are a misogynistic, racist society free of any commitment to morality or the respect of law and unworthy of the mantle of leader of the free world. We have tarnished forever the glow from Lady Liberty’s lamp, and proven unworthy of the sacrifices of our forefathers.
May our children forgive us and may heaven help us.
Kathleen Doyle,
Miami Springs
Digital campaigning
Let us cease the blame game. The truth is, Donald Trump’s campaign was greatly amplified by the influence of social media, the spread of misinformation, deliberate falsehoods and considerable financial backing, largely from social media mogul Elon Musk. Most of Trump’s supporters did not apply critical thinking to political matters nor follow mainstream media; rather, they fully accepted the information disseminated online.
Ultimately, this highlights an important lesson: traditional campaigning methods are no longer effective; they have evolved into something entirely new.
Delia de Varona Garcia,
Miami
Election lesson
Donald Trump’s resounding victory reveals that voters really don’t care about morality, which must be a relief for Medicare fraudster Sen. Rick Scott, as he plots a run for president in 2028.
Dan Lundberg,
North Miami
Ideology rejected
Part of the reason the country moved to the right and voted for Donald Trump is because voters rejected the Biden-Harris progressive left wing policies.
Their woke ideology and cash giveaways, such as their commitment to forgive student debt and money for startup businesses and first-time home buyers, were all a turnoff to many voters, particularly working class people.
Gilbert Schwartz,
Aventura
Election lessons
We learned two things about this presidential election. The first is that donating millions upon millions of dollars to a political party doesn’t win an election.
The second is that endorsements by Hollywood elites doesn’t win an election.
Rita Alvarez,
Miami
Surviving pregnancy
Women, not men, take risks during each trimester of their pregnancy. No one knows or can predict if or when a life threatening medical crisis can arise during a pregnancy. Licensed obstetricians, not politicians, should be the sole medical providers of what is in the best interest of a pregnant patient.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and his draconian six-week abortion ban, along with Donald Trump and the U.S. Supreme Court, tyrannically overturning Roe v. Wade, have contributed to further endangering women’s right to privacy, medical care and surviving pregnancy.
Appropriating women’s human rights to bodily autonomy and reproductive and medical treatment is gender apartheid and it’s happening now in America, the so-called “land of the free.”
Enid Garber,
Palmetto Bay
Colonial daze
Our country was founded by rich, white, male, slave-holding land owners. We have truly Made America Great Again.
Beth Miller,
Parkland
