USA Fallen So Far That Great UN Speech On Freedom Cannot Be Delivered By American President | Armando Salguero
This is how far the United States of America has fallen and how unrecognizable to the rest of the world we are:
The United Nations General Assembly began its session this week and the countries of the world heard a world leader explain how his country is blazing the path to freedom with traditional American ideals.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. World leaders from more than 190 nations have descended on New York City for the general assembly's annual high level debate as well as discussions on the war in Gaza, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and issues ranging from climate change to the challenge posed by artificial intelligence. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Government for ‘Its Own People First’
Within one minute of stepping in front of the microphones for his 10-minute speech, that leader reminded the delegates from the UN's 193 members that "the main responsibility of a government is towards its own people first."
No, that speech was not delivered by American President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris. It couldn't be.
The speech also was not delivered in English because, sadly, the English-speaking world has been given over to governments that mostly do not protect liberties, or respect the will of their own people anymore.
The speech that outlined what in the past had been American ideals was delivered by Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez.
He's the president of El Salvador.
He's the president of a tiny country most Americans never think about. And he delivered a speech most Americans will never hear. But that speech was bathed in American ideals that, unfortunately, too much of America has abandoned.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 24: Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 24, 2024 in New York City. World leaders convened for the 79th Session of the General Assembly as the world continues to experience major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan along with the threat of a wider conflict in the Middle East. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Nayib Bukele Sees Decline Of Free World
"Today, the free world is no longer free," Bukele told the delegates. "This is not an exaggeration. Tragically, there is undeniable proof of this decline every day…
"When the free world indeed became free, it was thanks to its principles of freedom of expression, equality under the law, unity, and respect for private property. But at the moment a nation abandons its principles that make it free, it's only a matter of time before it loses all its liberties completely.
"The consequences are developing before our very eyes. We can see them. In some so-called first-world cities, stores must secure their products behind glass cases under lock and key in order to prevent robberies. And I speak not of expensive products. I'm talking of simple things like chocolate bars or razors.
"In other cities, the streets no longer belong to the people, but have instead fallen into the hands of homelessness, of gangs, of organized crime and drugs."
And now Bukele was speaking as if directly to the United States, although he didn't mention the U.S. by name.
SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 26: Homeless people are seen as the City fighting with fentanyl problems in San Francisco, California, United States on February 26, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
American Streets Full of Drugs, Crime
"You cannot claim the title of leader of the free world if your people are not free to walk the streets without fear of being accosted, robbed or murdered," he said. "We are also bearing witness in real time to the erosion of the freedom of expression.
"It's been barely a decade since the West was the bastion of freedom of expression. And now it is lectured to by those who used to speak out. The largest social media platforms in the world are forced to censor its users at the petition of its governments.
"Citizens of Western countries have been arrested for sharing posts on social media. The ruling parties have attempted to ban their political opponents. These are not accusations or conspiracy theories.
"They are verifiable and widely documented facts."
All of that, by the way, addresses the entire English-speaking world.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO - FEBRUARY 15: A police vehicle blocks a downtown street to prevent trucks from joining a blockade of truckers protesting vaccine mandates near the Parliament Buildings on February 15, 2022 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canada's history to try to put an end to the blockade which is now in its third week. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Bukele Recognizes Assault On Freedoms
Remember that people cannot speak their minds on social media in wide swaths of the United Kingdom without threat of being jailed. They cannot demonstrate in Canada without, in some instances, having their bank accounts frozen. And people have seen civic freedoms eroded in Australia, where anti-protest efforts and the silencing of whistle-blowers have become laws.
"As a Salvadoran, we recognize these symptoms of the decline when we see it. Because we've experienced all of them," Bukele said. "We lived these stages of the fall of our nation, one by one. And we are seeing all these stages once again, but this time on a global scale."
So what principles has El Salvador established that so many Western countries are abandoning?
"In El Salvador we do not imprison our opposition," Bukele said. "We do not censor opinions. We do not confiscate property from those who think differently. We do not arrest people for expressing their ideas.
"In El Salvador your freedom of expression as well as your private property will always be protected.
A razor wire fence at the La Esperanza Penitentiary Complex in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. Two and half year's following President Nayib Bukele's crime crackdown, El Salvador has remained in a state of exception that has transformed the nation from one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America to among the safest, while simultaneously alarming human-rights groups that have condemned mass arrests and what they say are other abuses of civil liberties. Photographer: Camilo Freedman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jail Thousands To Free Millions
"In El Salvador we prioritize the safety of our honest citizens over the comfort of the criminals. Some say we've jailed thousands. But the reality is, we've liberated millions. Now, it's good people that live free, without fear, with their freedoms and human rights totally respected."
There was a time an American president could give this speech in front of the United Nations and not be gaslighting his nation. Not now.
That's how far the United States of America has fallen.