The shadow name behind the US tariffs that have collapsed the markets is rum. The problem is that it does not exist

Peter Navarro He has been the main commerce and manufacturing advisor with Trump twice, once in each mandate. His role in 2025: main architect of the Tariff policies implemented, advocating those significant rates about imports in virtually all countries, now and for a few hours, mainly to China. Behind the economy expert was a figure in the shadow, a name that had repeated in his books to justify the planetary impact of tariffs: Ron Vara.

The only problem is that Vara … does not exist.

Invent. History, as we will see, actually It is not newor not at all, but it has been the gossip of US media Thanks to Rachel Maddowwho explained in his television program that Vara is not only a non -existent figure, but his name is a “Navarro” anagram, a deliberate alteration that allows us to understand this creation as a kind of Ideological reflection of its author.

According to Maddow, Navarro It was not limited To mention it once: he quoted it “again and again” as a reliable source in economic matters, and even attributed a memorandum that circulated in Washington after Trump’s victory, where Ron Vara affirmed that the then president could “ride the tariffs until victory.”

The creation of a fictitious voice. The story goes back to 2019. Until then, Navarro, an economist with a doctorate at Harvard and a key figure of the most radically protectionist wing of the Trump government, had been a reference for years in the Anti-China Economic Speech In the United States. Author of multiple books, articles and documentaries, their influence grew in the heat of a rhetoric that presented Beijing as a systemic threat, both for the US economy and for its national security.

However, in A revelation That caused perplexity in both the academic and politician world, it was discovered that Navarro had invented the character of Ron Vara, presented for almost two decades as his legitimate and reliable source of economic wisdom. Ron Vara was not a real person, but an anagram of the surname “Navarro” that the author used as a literary alter ego in at least five of his thirteen books. That invention, which was presented to the public without any clarification, was Discovered by Tessa Morris-SuzukiEmerita Professor of the National University of Australia, who, when investigating Navarro’s claims about China, noticed the recurrence of this alleged expert, of which there was no verifiable record.

Evolution of the fictional character. I counted then The Times that Ron Vara first appeared in 2001, in the book If it’s raining in Brazil, Buy Starbuckswhere he describes him as a veteran of the Gulf War with Economics Formation by Harvard, exactly as Navarro himself. Since then, the character was summoned as a source in later books, always with sharp, ironic or scathing phrases, which seemed to provide color and popular authority to the author’s argument.

Over time, even ideas that Navarro had signed as their own were attributed retroactively to rod in later books, Like the warning “Don’t Play Checkers in A Chess World”, which appears under the voice of the character in The Well-Timed Strategy (2006) and Always to Winner (2009). As Navarro focused his attention on The conflict with ChinaVara also acquired an increasingly nationalist and alarmist tone, participating rhetorically in attacks against the Chinese productive and consumption system, and serving as a narrative bridge between academic discourse and a pseudocomic voice of common sense loaded with slogans.

Vara as spokesman for truth. As Navarro’s writings became more ideological, Vara became a resource to reinforce ideas that bordered the conspiracy. In The Coming China Warsfor example, counted the times that cited him in a chapter dedicated to the alleged toxicity of the Chinese food chain, With phrases like “You’ve Got To Be Nuts To Eat Chinese Food.” In Death by Chinathe book and documentary that consolidated the image of Navarro as the great ideologist of the “Chinese danger” within the Trump administration, Vara appears with sentences that seem to synthesize the general thesis, as (Times appointment): “The manufacturing dragon is voracious.the colonial dragon is rementless. The American Eagle is Asleep at The Wheel.”

Apparently, this stylization of the character not only sought to simplify complex messages, but also provide them with a varnish of popular authenticity. Instead of invoking studies or external sources, Navarro created its own voice that functioned as a catalyst for its arguments, disguising a personal opinion as an alien and validated observation.

The reactions. When the truth was uncovered a few years ago, that Ron Vara was simply an invention, he not only caused reactions in the academic world, where the legitimacy of an author who hid fiction under the clothing of the dissemination would be, but also Among the colleagues themselves from Navarro. Glenn Hubbard, former presidential advisor and co -author of Seeds of Destructionhe declared that he totally ignored the fictitious nature of the character. Michael Pillsbury, expert in Chinese politics of the Hudson Institute and personal friend of Navarro, also SHe showed surprised: “I always knew that Peter was creative and imaginative, but I underestimated it seriously.”

For its part, the University of California in Irvine, where Navarro worked as a professor before assuming his role in the White House, He demarcated of the matter indicating that the author no longer represents the institution, and declined to comment.

Navarro’s response. Faced with the discovery, Navarro showed no regret or offered justifications. In statements To The Chronicle of Higher Educationcompared Ron Vara with Alfred Hitchcock’s cameos in his films, qualifying him as A “private joke” Finally discovered. Even in a later message Sent to New York Timeshe invoke his alter ego again: “As Ron Vara would say, ‘Relax and have fun reading the books.”

Between fiction and reality. This carefree reaction contrasted with the seriousness of the act in the context in which it occurred: books presented as serious, often academic works, and with strong impact on the formulation of public policies.

The line between the informative essay and the satire It never markedwhich makes the use of rum vara not a simple creative license, but a Manipulation tool discursive that hid the real authorship and reinforced ideological positions under a mask of apparent external consensus. Plus: years later, Navarro not only became the Trump advisor, he became the hand behind tariffs that have impacted the markets … with a rod again among the “sources” that endorsed the plans.

Rod and tariffs. By citing the fictional character as if he were an external and independent economist, Navarro managed to strengthen his approaches with an artificial voice that simulated consensus or technical supportwhen it really was an extension of himself. In other words: the discursive maneuver not only evaded the ethical standards of academic argumentation, but also I cheated the reader intentionally, presenting a fiction as a factual support.

The fact that No one will detect The absence of Ron Vara for years, neither in media, nor in politics, not even among collaborators, highlights how notice the platforms that disseminate influential ideas without basic verification of the sources can be.

If you want also, the “figure” of Vara reinforces the idea that the economic story of the Trump administration is closer to a Premeditated distortion With real consequences. That one of the main architects of that narrative has needed to invent an “expert” to sustain it illustrates a little more and with relative clarity the fragility of a policy built on artifice, ideology and The show.

Image | Trump White, White House

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