Thursday, March 28

Jimmy Carter’s warning to the US


(CNN) — Former US President Jimmy Carter warned on Wednesday that democracy is being threatened across the country and that “our great nation is now teetering on the brink of a growing abyss.”

Carter, in an opinion piece by The New York Times published on the eve of the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, charged that “without immediate action, we run a real risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy.”

“Americans,” said the 97-year-old former president, “must put aside differences and work together before it is too late.”

A year ago, the Democrat joined the other three living former presidents (Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton) in criticizing the violent agitators who stormed the Capitol as Congress met to certify the results of the presidential elections of 2020 in favor of President Joe Biden.

On Wednesday, Carter wrote that “promoters of the lie that the elections were stolen have taken over a political party and fueled mistrust in our electoral system.”

Carter said he was hopeful that the deadly attack on Capitol Hill “would shake the nation into addressing the toxic polarization that threatens our democracy.”

But politicians, he said, “have taken advantage of the mistrust they have created to enact laws empowering partisan legislatures to intervene in electoral processes” and “seek to win by any means, and many Americans are being persuaded to think and act. in the same way, threatening to collapse the foundations of our security and democracy at breakneck speed. “

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“Now I fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally – the right to free and fair elections, unfettered by political strongmen seeking nothing more than to increase their own power – has become dangerously fragile. at home, “said Carter, who after his presidency started the Carter Center, a nonprofit organization that monitors free elections around the world.

The former president offered five points to give security to the elections in the United States: American citizens must agree on constitutional norms and respect each other despite political differences; the country must promote electoral reforms to guarantee access and confidence in the elections; the country must resist polarization; the country must reject violence in politics, and finally, disinformation must be addressed.

Henry Cuellar: his testimony of the assault on the Capitol 2:11

“For American democracy to endure, we must demand that our leaders and candidates uphold the ideals of freedom and adhere to high standards of conduct,” he said.


cnnespanol.cnn.com

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