Trump, Pūćin n Bolsonaro hv bn cmplesnt. Nǎ ɖ pandemic hz md ɖm ol vulnṛbl
(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 17 May 2020)
Ɖ wrld’z stroñmen me wel end p peyñ a p’liticl prîs fr ɖer siṇsizm n incompitns
Sîmn Tizdl, Súnde, 17 Me 2020
F Boris Jonsn z mshanḍlñ ɖ pandemic, h z nt alon. Fōlsli clemñ evrʈñ z undr cntrol, dojñ rsponsbiḷti, hîdñ fṛm public vy, xplôtñ ɖ crîsis fr p’liticl gen, mǎntñ arṭfiśl dstrax́nz n blemñ ɖ mīdia: ɖz r comn bhevyrpatnz xibtd bî sm v ɖ wrld’z most pǎrfl – n śifti – līdrz.
Wl ɖe pe a prîs fr ɖer līʈl incompitns n siṇsizm? It’s poṣbl sm wl, ɖo it me tec a ẃl. Ɖ pandemic z ćenjñ p’liticl calkleśnz arnd ɖ glob. Līdrz hu lct invulnṛbl sudnli apir les so. Ɖt in trn cd śift ɖ stṛtījic calkḷs n oltr ɖ baḷns v pǎr btwn cuntriz in wez bʈ unixpctd n prṃnnt.
Doṇld Trump’s pformns z a lésn in hǎ nt t handl an imrjnsi. It me bcm a cmpulsri ceștudi fr fyćr stydnts v crîsismanijmnt. Trump miṇmîzd ɖ ʈret rli on, ofrd foni aśuṛnsz, n feld t mc a plan. H hz sins akzd Ćîna v dlibṛtli spredñ “pleg” ẃl weṗnîzñ ɖ crîsis t smir hiz Deṃcratic rîvl, Jo Bîdn.
Ɖ prezidnt’s mirịd caṛctrflwz nīd no rhrsl hir. Bt it sīmz a despṛt Trump wl stop at nʈñ t rībūt hiz riilex́nprospects. F ɖt mīnz f’mntñ a cold wor wɖ Ćîna, or stǒcñ reśl dviźnz n anti-mîgṛnt, anti-Mŭzlim bays, h’z p fr it. N f ol ɖt felz, h me trî t dle Nvmbr’z ilex́n, a s’nario nt rūld ǎt bî hiz sic̣fantic sun-in-lw.
C’roṇvîṛs hz md a sort v lepr v Trump. A lac v fedṛl līdrśp n hiz s’port fr preṃtyrli endñ stet locdǎnz h nvr trūli s’portd apirz t b pṛpelñ a rîz in Covid-19 cesz in smōl mid-wst tǎnz n rṛl cḿṇtiz fṛm Aywa t Texs. Ɖz r ɖ hartḷndz v Trump’s America, ẃr hiz most loyl votrz liv.
Az a rzult, Rpublicnz runñ fr Congres r runñ awe fṛm Trump, firfl v infx́n fṛm ɖ miazma v lîz n dstrust inveḷpñ ɖ Ẃît Hǎs. Az jobz dis’pir bî tnz v miłnz, Deṃcrats’ hops v winñ ɖ Senit r rîzñ. Bîdn’z līd in ci batlgrǎnd stets z wîḍnñ, fyld bî ic̣nomic meltdǎn n Trump’s gafs.
Vlajīmir Pūćin z anɖr līdr in sirịs vîṛl dificlti. Onli munʈs ago, h lct invinsbl. Ol ɖ tōc in Ruśa wz v consttyśnl “rformz” ɖt wd ifctivli mc him prezidnt fr lîf. Ɖoz planz r nǎ on hold, phps prṃnntli. Pūćin’z dsiźn t śīld himslf fṛm harm, îṣletñ awe fṛm Mosco, hz badli dntd hiz imij az firlis tuf-gai līdr.
Aftr wīcs v cmplesnsi at ɖ top, Ruśa fîndz itslf wɖ ɖ secnd fastist ret v Covid-19 infx́nz in ɖ wrld. Pūćin’z hand-pict prîm̦inistr, Miħîl Miśŭstin, z in hospitl, az z ɖ Cremlin spocsmn Dmitri Piskov. In vidioconfṛnsz hld t dscus ɖ crîsis, Pūćin hz lct mor bord ɖn cnsrnd. Emṗʈi wz nvr hiz stroñ sūt.
Ɖ p’liticl impḷceśnz r ptnṣ́li far-renjñ. Añśs t avôd prsnl blem fr twin hlʈ n ic̣nomic dzastrz, Pūćin hz śiftd rsponsbiḷti fr maṇjñ ɖ crîsis t ɖ rījnz, ẃć hv ifctivli bn left t fnd fr ɖmslvz. Wlʈi biznisṃn – ɖ so-cōld oligācs – hv stept intu ɖ brīć. In sć wez dz a līdr’z pǎr irod n slip awe.
Uɖr poḷtiśnz r śowñ a dgri v reclis insūsịns ɖt mcs Boris Jonsn lc poztivli swićt on bî cmparisn. Bṛzil’z prezidnt Jair Bolsonaro hit a ny lo fr irisponsbiḷti bî ridklñ public-pṛtx́n meźrz. Bṛzil hz ɖ hîist Covid deʈret in Latin America. Bt Bolsonaro prifŕz barḅkpartiz t hospitlvizits. H me yt pe wɖ hiz job in a cuntri ẃr preẓdnśl impićmnt acć̣li wrcs.
In Trci, mnẃl, ɖ vîṛs hz bròt a gret mni pijinz hom t rūst. A strucćṛli frajîl icoṇmi, a holoud-ǎt sivl ssayti n mīdia, n a clîṃt v fir crietd bî Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hz nt pruvd cndysiv t a yṇfaid naśnl ef̣t – līdñ aṇlists sjst ɖ sultnprezidnt’s rên me b drw̃ t a cloz.
Mjoṛti Crdiś eriaz in īstn Trci, fr xampl, ɖ sīn v frīqnt conflict wɖ ɖ sntṛl guvnmnt, hv rportidli bn hard hit. Diyarbakir-best acṭvist n oʈr Nurcan Baysal tlz a fmiłr têl v hlʈwrcrz afreid t g t wrc dy t a lac v pṛtctiv iqipmnt. Bt it’s a p’liticl probḷm, tù.
“Tde, ɖr r nt inuf tsts, nt inuf doctrz, no sivl ssayti, no mẹrz, n nt inuf meźrz t tacl ɖ c’roṇvîṛs in Crdiś sitiz,” Baysal sd – partli bcz mni Crdiś doctrz n nrsz wr sact in Erdoğan’z prjz.
A sntṛl actr in ɖs globl drama, Ćîna’z modn-de emprr Śí Jñpñ z nt abt t fōl – olɖo h rićli dzrvz ɖ sác. Rɖr, an imboldnd Śí riscs ovr-pleyñ hiz hand az h sīcs t trnsform a c’laṃti intu a PR vicṭri fr Ćînīz soft pǎr, streñʈ̇nñ Bêźñ’z clǎt at ɖ xpns v wìcnd wstn cuntriz.
Americn fumḅlñ, plus Ruśn n Yṛpiyn dbiḷti, ofr Śí a mcābra oṗtyṇti t advans hiz viźn v Ćîna az dominnt globl pǎr. Bt ɖ agresiv, Boxr Rbełn-stîl provceśnz v hiz “wlf-worịr” dipḷmats n parti cādraz r fīdñ an inṭnaśnl baclaś.
Preśr z growñ t rtaliet bî qoṛntīnñ Bêźñ, p’liticli n ic̣nomicli. N ɖt, in trn, būsts Trump’s confṛnteśnl, slf-xculṗtri campeņaṛtiv.
Trump clemz Ćîna wonts t dnî him a secnd trm. Yt ɖ oṗzit me b tru. Śí nz a ysfl idịt ẃn h siz wn – n ɖs YS prezidnt z īẓli ǎtfoxt. Ɖ ʈt ɖt Ćîna’z oṗziśnl tactics cd hlp gt Trump riilectd z inuf t mc enwn sic.
