Se Habla Español

I like that: El Zorro de Plata!

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Media
Anderson Cooper Habla Espanol
by Claire Howorth -- June 22, 2009, 10:02 AM

El zorro de plata habla dos idiomas! Which means, if you’re not as linguistically flexible as Anderson Cooper: The Silver Fox speaks two languages! Cooper exercised his Spanish in “The War Next Door,” a segment on last night’s 60 Minutes about Mexico’s violent drug cartels. It was barely discernible under the translator’s voiceover as he posed questions to drug lord Sandra Ávila Beltrán, first in English, then Spanish once he established Beltran wasn’t fluent. And it was as impressive as it is interesting.

Cooper’s verbal versatility is perhaps not as remarkable as it would be had he busted out Swedish or Swahili. Many Americans know Spanish, or have taken standard school courses in it. (And there has always been gossip about Cooper’s off-camera predilection for Latinos.) But Cooper’s tongue-swap recalled President Obama’s controversial campaign directive to America almost a year ago: “Your children should learn to speak Spanish.”

Keeping in mind the point of the 60 Minutes segment—that a bloody civil war rages right next door—it is worth revisiting Obama’s point. Cooper’s conversion wasn’t a political capitulation; it was a diplomatic means to have his questions answered. Perhaps if the United States could follow such a respectful approach in its discourse with Mexico, and with our Spanish-speaking immigrants, it would be a means to many other ends our country is currently concerned about.