By avoiding condemnation of Maduro and Díaz-Canel, Mamdani displayed an ethical double standard that undermines the credibility of his democratic socialism among Hispanic voters.
That a candidate for mayor of New York cannot name Nicolás Maduro and Miguel Díaz-Canel as dictators is not a rhetorical slip, but a moral confession: Zohran Mamdani, when questioned, preferred evasion to clarity.
The interview with Jorge Ramos was a golden opportunity for Mamdani to distance himself from left-wing authoritarianism. Many fear that their vision of democratic socialism could be confused with that of repressive regimes. By simply acknowledging that Cuba and Venezuela are dictatorships, Mamdani would have drawn a clear moral limit: to demonstrate that his socialist project seeks the well-being of the people without falling into abuses of power.
However, the candidate left the opposite impression. By refusing to openly condemn Díaz-Canel and Maduro, he maintained ambiguity and tangled the waters over where his ideology draws the line. Faced with this reality, Mamdani had to offer guarantees, but failed to give a forceful response.
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Santiago Vidal Calvo is a Cities policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute.
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images