International
Trump’s annexation threats return to Canada at the end of the 19th century
At the end of the 19th century, Canada was saved from being annexed by the United States thanks, in large part, to Spain. With Donald Trump in the White House, the threat is repeated and Canadians wonder what will happen now.
After winning the presidential election in November 2024, Trump made it clear that as soon as he reached the White House he would impose 25% tariffs on Canada.
Alarmed by the possibility of taxes that would devastate the Canadian economy, which allocates up to 70% of its exports to the neighboring country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to have dinner with the then president-elect and try to defuse the threat.
During that dinner in November 2024, Trump told Trudeau that if Canada wanted to avoid tariffs, the country would have to become the 51st state of the United States.
Since then, the Republican has repeated his interest in the annexation of Canada, even using “economic force” to bend his neighbor and ally.
The last time was last Thursday when in the Oval Office, Trump insinuated that Canada as a failed country, unable to defend itself against the threats of Russia or China.
“I think Canada is going to be a very serious candidate to be our 51st state,” Trump explained.
The idea of the US annexing Canada is not new. But for more than a century it had practically disappeared from Washington’s political vocabulary.
After snatching much of its territory from Mexico (from Texas to California) in the first half of the 19th century, in the second half, especially after the end of its civil war in 1865, the United States regularly repeated the idea of taking over the British colonies of North America, what today is Canada.
By then, the United Kingdom considered these colonies a political, economic and military burden. And in a quiet way he had practically decided that his defense was not worth it in case the United States decided to appropriate them.
Paradoxically, as Andrew Johnston, professor of History at Carleton University of Ottawa, pointed out to EFE, it was the American attempts to annex the British colonies that forced their unification in 1867 in the Canadian Confederation.
“The US’ desire to absorb Canada was what actually pushed the British Empire and the inhabitants here to organize themselves into independent colonies and later into an independent nation,” he explained.
The creation of Canada that year, and the expansion of the new country to the west (until 1871 the province of British Columbia was not incorporated into the Confederation), did not stop the American expansionist desires.
This required a change of mentality in Washington. And Spain.
As the authors Gwynne Dyer and Tina Viljoen point out in their book ‘The Defense of Canada’ by the late nineteenth century, the United States had become a more industrial country.
“The old impulse for territorial expansion was ceasing to be a central issue in American life and the new imperialism that soon replaced it was almost no threat to Canada: what Washington now wanted were overseas colonies as the European empires had,” the two authors point out.
So in April 1898, with William McKinley in the Presidency, the United States declared war on Spain and before the end of that year, Washington had its overseas possessions: Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.
Precisely McKinley is Trump’s idol, who has described him as “the king of tariffs”, for being the main driver of the legislation that at the end of the 19th century imposed tariffs of 50% on imports of goods into the United States.
That parallelism between Trump and McKinley does not escape Professor Johnston. “What Trump is expressing is something that I think has always been present in the minds of Americans, particularly after the revolution: that they have a historical mission,” he said.
But Johnston also believes that as in 1867, when the longings for annexation of the United States forced the creation of Canada, Trump’s threats will provoke another cathartic moment that has already begun with the renewed patriotism that the Canadian population has been demonstrating in recent months.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
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