“Bernie Sanders? For us Latinos, it’s a bit of a “tio” (NDRL: uncle, in Spanish) who takes care of you when you have an absent father “, assures, smiling, Ruben Hoyos. Like 33% of Hispanic voters in the United States, this 37-year-old Californian supports the senator from Vermont, leading the polls in the Democratic nomination contest.

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At the end of the afternoon in February, Ruben Hoyos came to participate in a fundraiser organized at a campaign office in Sanders, in the heart of the popular neighborhood of East Los Angeles, 96% Latin. In the small room, nestled between a Peruvian restaurant and a beauty salon, Spanish-speaking volunteers are busy behind their computers, their ears glued to the phone. “Bernie’s program speaks particularly to the hearts of young people of my generation who are struggling and who no longer believe in the meritocratic system”, explains Ruben Hoyos, sitting down by a wall decorated with colorful portraits of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, the young Latin star of the American left.

Health, a central issue for Latinos

This overgraded delivery man, who borrowed several hundred thousand dollars for his studies, explains that he is particularly seduced by the idea of ​​an increase in the minimum wage, the cancellation of student debt or even a European-style health system. , promised by Bernie Sanders. Problems that particularly affect Latinos: according to the US Census Bureau, only 49% of them have private insurance, compared to 75.4% of non-Hispanic whites.

“Many Latinos are also very sensitive to Sanders’ very critical remarks towards Trump’s migration policy”, notes Adrian Pantoja, professor of political science at Pitzer College in California and analyst for the Latino Decision polling institute. The Vermont senator does not hesitate to put forward the story of the immigration of his family of Polish Jewish origin.

Massive recruitment of Latino volunteers and employees

Criticized in 2016 for not having sufficiently mobilized minorities, Bernie Sanders “Clearly learned the lesson in 2020 “, believes the political scientist. ” He knows ” than the approximately 32 million Hispanic voters (or 13.3% of the electorate in 2020) “Can single-handedly tip primary … provided they come to vote!” ” notes Adrian Pantoja.

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The Democratic primary favorite has built on the past four years by developing a broad strategy to mobilize the Hispanic electorate behind him. In addition to his electoral program targeting issues dear to Latinos, the Vermont senator sent them a strong signal by massively recruiting Hispanics into his campaign teams, active across the country.

Strong presence in Latin neighborhoods

He also set up numerous campaign offices in underprivileged Latin neighborhoods, in which no other candidate had hitherto sought to settle, because of their low voter turnout. “By deploying significant resources in these communities, Sanders seeks to show them that he is really ready to work hard for them and that it is worth mobilizing”, says Adrian Pantoja.

Hispanic theologians and activists in El Paso take a stand against American migration policy

“Bernie also massively recruited fluent Spanish speakers for the electoral door-to-doorsays Daniel Andalon, one of Sanders’s California campaign managers. This is absolutely essential because the occasional voters whom we want to mobilize as a priority are also those who often speak only one language, Spanish. This was the case with my father and mother, both immigrants from Mexico, who were cut off from civic life because of the language barrier. “