Latin America GrowingDeaf to Washington
The Summit of the Americas, recently held in Cartagena, Colombia, demonstrated how Washington has lost its foothold in Latin America. The Latin American countries and the U.S. disagreed most strongly on two subjects in particular: the war against drugs and the exclusion of Cuba from the multilateral summit. According to witnesses, these issues were the subject of much lively discussion between the attending countries.
Observers were surprised that the majority of opposition to Washington did not come from the radical left-wing leaders of South America, though Hugo Chavez's illness-induced absence had little to do with that. Bolivia, home of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, was rather low-profile, while the conservative leaders traditionally allied with the U.S. were more vocal: At his opening address, Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia and host of the summit, called on his colleagues to “overcome the paradigms of the past.”
He described the embargo against Cuba as anachronistic and ineffective: “Isolation, embargo, indifference, looking the other way, have already demonstrated their ineffectiveness …. It is an anachronism that keeps us anchored to a Cold War era which was left behind several decades ago.” The Colombian president declared the unlikelihood of Cuba's absence at the next summit (to be held in Panama). President Santos did not, however, limit his indictment of the United States’ Latin American policies to just Cuba.
A far more serious charge against Washington was the allegation of the catastrophic effects its “war on drugs” has had in Latin America. Since its implementation, only one third of the drugs attempting to be trafficked to the U.S. have been thwarted and violence has raged in Central America, with more than 50,000 in Mexico alone dead after five years.
“Colombia, and many other countries of the region, believes that an in-depth discussion around this topic is needed – without any biases or dogmas -- taking into consideration the different scenarios and possible alternatives to more effectively face this challenge. It must be an open discussion, without ideological or political biases, rigorous, based on evidence regarding the costs and benefits of each alternative .… In spite of all the efforts, the illicit drug business is still buoyant, drug addiction in all countries is a serious public health issue, and drug trafficking is still the main provider of funding for violence and terrorism.”
A few months ago, President Santos said that he would be receptive to the idea of legalizing marijuana, if all the countries agreed on the issue. No final joint decision was reached due to the great differences of opinion between Washington and the Latin American countries.
Several factors account for the fiasco at the summit. For one, Washington is unable to move on from the Monroe Doctrine mentality, a nineteenth-century policy that reduced the southern hemisphere to a protectorate of the United States. Washington has not fully understood the significant change in these countries over the past twenty years. The image of corrupt and unstable nations led by incompetent generals no longer has any basis in reality.
Stability and tolerance have arisen in government institutions and policies due to the democratization of these countries. Latin America rose up in June 2009 to prevent the past from repeating itself, heading off a coup in Honduras. This general political stability has permitted enviable economic development, with the last major crisis having taken place in Argentina in 2001. Three Latin American countries now belong to the G20: Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
This economic progress relies on commercial trade with China and other Asian nations, providing the raw materials necessary to fuel the latter countries' rapid growth. Brazil is currently building a cross-continental route to the Pacific through Peru and Bolivia. The United States is no longer the bestower of either rain or shine (though more often rain) in the Latin subcontinent.
Observers were surprised that the majority of opposition to Washington did not come from the radical left-wing leaders of South America, though Hugo Chavez's illness-induced absence had little to do with that. Bolivia, home of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, was rather low-profile, while the conservative leaders traditionally allied with the U.S. were more vocal: At his opening address, Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia and host of the summit, called on his colleagues to “overcome the paradigms of the past.”
He described the embargo against Cuba as anachronistic and ineffective: “Isolation, embargo, indifference, looking the other way, have already demonstrated their ineffectiveness …. It is an anachronism that keeps us anchored to a Cold War era which was left behind several decades ago.” The Colombian president declared the unlikelihood of Cuba's absence at the next summit (to be held in Panama). President Santos did not, however, limit his indictment of the United States’ Latin American policies to just Cuba.
A far more serious charge against Washington was the allegation of the catastrophic effects its “war on drugs” has had in Latin America. Since its implementation, only one third of the drugs attempting to be trafficked to the U.S. have been thwarted and violence has raged in Central America, with more than 50,000 in Mexico alone dead after five years.
“Colombia, and many other countries of the region, believes that an in-depth discussion around this topic is needed – without any biases or dogmas -- taking into consideration the different scenarios and possible alternatives to more effectively face this challenge. It must be an open discussion, without ideological or political biases, rigorous, based on evidence regarding the costs and benefits of each alternative .… In spite of all the efforts, the illicit drug business is still buoyant, drug addiction in all countries is a serious public health issue, and drug trafficking is still the main provider of funding for violence and terrorism.”
A few months ago, President Santos said that he would be receptive to the idea of legalizing marijuana, if all the countries agreed on the issue. No final joint decision was reached due to the great differences of opinion between Washington and the Latin American countries.
Several factors account for the fiasco at the summit. For one, Washington is unable to move on from the Monroe Doctrine mentality, a nineteenth-century policy that reduced the southern hemisphere to a protectorate of the United States. Washington has not fully understood the significant change in these countries over the past twenty years. The image of corrupt and unstable nations led by incompetent generals no longer has any basis in reality.
Stability and tolerance have arisen in government institutions and policies due to the democratization of these countries. Latin America rose up in June 2009 to prevent the past from repeating itself, heading off a coup in Honduras. This general political stability has permitted enviable economic development, with the last major crisis having taken place in Argentina in 2001. Three Latin American countries now belong to the G20: Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
This economic progress relies on commercial trade with China and other Asian nations, providing the raw materials necessary to fuel the latter countries' rapid growth. Brazil is currently building a cross-continental route to the Pacific through Peru and Bolivia. The United States is no longer the bestower of either rain or shine (though more often rain) in the Latin subcontinent.
Latin America is growing deaf to the US – better late than never.
Cuba and the war on drugs are two stupid and self-defeating consequences of K-Street’s power and Congressional serfdom.
Very rich Cuban Americans, former Cuban capitalists dispossessed by Fidel’s communists, will stop financing the elections of anyone who attempts to go through with the long-overdue settling of the US grudge against Cuba.
As for the drug war, there are far too many Americans kept wealthy by keeping drugs illegal and expensive. Their money is also crucial to the re-election of many Congressmen.
It would be nice if Latin America could just make its own laws with respect to both issues. But, fact is the 4th fleet is cruising around in the region just waiting for a good excuse to do some Latin American regime change.