MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Harris accepts Democratic Party nomination for US presidency

Harris thus became the first woman of non-white ethnicity to vy for such a high office

US Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for the Nov. 5 presidential elections where she will face former Republican President Donald Trump and nobody else, after independent runner Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped his bid to endorse the former head of state. Her acceptance speech ceremony also featured performances by Democratic Party supporters Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and Pink.

Harris thus became the first woman of non-white ethnicity to vy for such a high office. In her acceptance speech at the party convention in Chicago, Harris outlined her plan to focus on unity, justice, and inclusivity for which her multicultural background would prove significant. Her mother was a cancer researcher from India, and her father was an economist from Jamaica.

“I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me,” she said. “And I am determined to carry forward the work of making America a place where everyone can thrive,” said Harris, who started out as a prosecutor in California where she once was Attorney General. In 2016 she was elected to the US Senate and in 2020 she became the first non-white woman and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Harris’s campaign differs from Trump's on several issues, ranging from civil liberties to climate change. She also favors a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as well as the protection of asylum seekers. “We are a nation of immigrants,” Harris underlined. “Our diversity is our strength,” she added.

Trump's camp has denounced that Harris wants to open up the borders, raise taxes, and free criminals. RFK Jr. also pointed out that most speakers at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) targeted Trump instead of having proposals of their own.

“Kamala Harris is the most liberal member of the Senate,” Trump has said. “She wants to defund the police, raise your taxes, and take away your guns.”

Regarding the recent controversial elections in Venezuela, Harris has sent a letter to opposition leaders Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado in which she strongly defended the “democratic values” the Unitarian Democratic Platform (PUD) stands for.

“Knowing that we are not alone gives us even more strength. We Venezuelans are united as never before. Thank you, Kamala Harris, for standing up for democratic values, which are the spirit of our victory. Venezuela will be free. Our families will return home,” Urrutia and Machado replied.

In her letter, Harris also urged Venezuelan law enforcement to protect citizens from “threats and political attacks” while calling for local electoral authorities to produce the minutes that would prove Nicolás Maduro's win on July 28 as announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

Harris also asked the CNE to maintain “the highest levels of transparency”, and promised that the U.S. will continue to “encourage the parties in Venezuela to initiate discussions on a respectful and peaceful transfer of power.”