Leadership Quote by Fernando Flores

The line does the classic political trick of sounding moderate while drawing a bright boundary. “I don’t have anything against it” is the verbal airbag: it cushions the impact of what follows, letting Flores reject Halloween without having to wear the costume of outright intolerance. The real engine is “defend our traditions a little,” where “defend” quietly militarizes culture. Traditions aren’t just cherished; they’re under threat, requiring protection, vigilance, and a rallying “we.”

The subtext is less about candy and costumes than about who gets to define belonging. By framing Halloween as “not our tradition,” Flores turns a globalized, commercial holiday into a proxy for outside influence: Americanization, consumer culture, secular habits, maybe even shifts in how children and families gather. The word “our” does heavy work, implying a shared heritage that’s stable, homogeneous, and administrable - something a politician can guard. It invites listeners to feel like members of a coherent in-group, and it offers a low-stakes target that can stand in for bigger anxieties about immigration, cultural change, or losing control of public space.

Context matters because Halloween is rarely debated on its own merits; it becomes a symbolic skirmish in larger culture wars. Flores positions his side as reasonable custodians rather than scolds: not banning fun, just “defending” identity “a little.” That “little” is strategic, too - it normalizes restriction as modest, commonsense care, making the boundary feel natural instead of political.