Some of the most well-informed students who may have
participated in political protests and demonstrations could not
vote in the Nov. 2 election.
Many international students felt a sense of helplessness as they
watched the election results come in this week, because they cannot
vote since they are not U.S. citizens.
However, some international students’ defenseless states
have turned to anger and disappointment since the election results
were revealed, as President Bush’s handling of the war in
Iraq has divided the international community.
International relations student Belen Vicens, one of
UCLA’s 2,700 international students, is from Spain. Vicens,
25, simply called the election “the greatest
disappointment.”
But, Vicens was not the only one with these types of
feelings.
Support for Sen. John Kerry echoed through the cafeteria at 500
Landfair ““ a cooperative housing complex where many
international students live. Over dinner, many spoke of their
distaste toward the re-elected president and his foreign
policies.
Biology student Albert Cardona, 26, from Spain, said,
“Elections feel very far away here, it seems impossible for
anyone to have an effect.”
Cardona, like Vicens, wanted the Democrats to win, but for a
slightly different reason, saying, “Bad is better than
worse.”
“There is hardly a difference in the parties now. It is
just pitiful that what is supposed to be a Western civilized
country would choose who is in office by religion,” Cardona
said, referring to religious themes evoked in the presidential
campaigns. He added that involving religion in the political
process was like reverting to the time before the Enlightenment
Era.
But not all international students are displeased with the
political process in the United States.
Rhyme Wong, 20, an English student from Hong Kong, argued that
though she wanted Kerry to win, she still thinks the election
process is better here than in her home country.
“Citizens can actually have an effect here, bad or
good,” Wong said, who believes the political process in Hong
Kong lacks the structure of U.S. politics.
European protests against Bush and the war in Iraq this past
year mimicked the sentiment of people locally in the United
States.
Political science student Esther Urbina, 23, from Italy, was
among the people involved in the protests in Europe. Urbina, who
traveled around Europe about the time the war in Iraq began,
remembers the demonstrations in Paris where there were people who
burned American flags chanting “death to all
Americans.”
But anti-Bush feelings of many international students differed
from the sentiment of several global leaders as they congratulated
Bush on his re-election.
Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed support for
Bush’s re-election in hopes of creating an even greater
effort into bringing peace to the Middle East.
Stressing the need to be “relentless” in both the
war on terrorism and helping the Israeli-Palestinian problem,
English Prime Minister Tony Blair sided with Bush before, during
and after the election. Pleased with the outcome, Blair has pledged
to continue working with Bush.
But back at UCLA, many international students share their
concern for the reputation of Americans in foreign countries.
“Bush has ruined the reputation of American people in
Europe,” said Kathleen Reinhardt, an African studies student
from Germany in the United States for a year. Reinhardt, 20,
continued, “Germany is sensitive about unjustified wars
because of our country’s history. President Bush stepped over
the authority of the United Nations ““ I just cannot respect a
man who does that.”
In addition to concerns over the Iraq war, others are raising
concerns about economic issues that would affect their respective
countries.
Thirty-two-year-old economics student Alberto Baldessari, from
Italy, said, “The president’s tariffs are going to harm
producers all around the world. The U.S. deficit will cost other
countries.”
“Almost everyone in Europe supported Kerry. We just
don’t understand how Americans can vote for Bush,” he
said.