Goodbye to Uncle Sam?

The fact that once again the delegations of the 35 countries present in Panama’s seventh Summit of the Americas, which concluded last Saturday, were unable to reach an agreement that would lead to a final statement should not undermine the importance of an event that this time, as many voices have already pointed out, transcended the formal sphere beyond expectation.

This is attested by the historic postcard left behind by the event: the meeting between Barack Obama and Raul Castro. This face-to-face, instead of a tense, casual and isolated handshake between leaders of antagonist nations for over 50 years, like so many that have occurred during these summits under the Spanish saying “courtesy does not detract from courage,” is the symbol of strong winds of change that have arrived to the region and whose direction and intensity began largely to be defined, but even more so, revealed during the summit. The summit was also the setting in which Colombia renewed, just in time, the support of the peace process, and in which it managed to set in motion the ambitious and laudable initiative of an inter-American educational system.

The mentioned winds have to do with two fundamental aspects: the economic and, to a lesser degree, political uncertainty experienced today in the region, which coincides with the northern country’s obvious interest in reformulating its relationship with Latin America, just when its economy seems to have overcome the inertia and, little by little, is starting to get back on track.

Regarding the first, we must remember the end of the commodities boom under whose shadow the region showed staggering growth figures in recent years: A situation that calls into question the significant achievements applauded by the entire planet on reducing poverty and promote middle class growth.

The forecasts recently revealed by the [U.N.] Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, which point to an increase of the regional gross domestic product by only 1 percent for 2015 – after this same figure was 2.2 percent – only boost the climate of anxiety and the evident pessimism. In politics, there is Venezuela’s critical situation, which adds up to the instability present in the political sphere of Brazil, Argentina and Chile, due to scandals of diverse nature. Two more factors must be mentioned: the signs of withdrawal in China and the projected increase in the interest rates of the Federal Reserve, which will most likely affect the foreign investment in this part of the world.

And it is in this context – that includes, as has been mentioned already in these lines, the ever-fading role of Brazil as a regional leader – that the U.S. has wanted to reformulate its relationship with the region, a path on which it started to take its first official steps last week in Panama. Judging by Barack Obama’s words, the intention is to bury the ghosts of the Cold War – for which this continent was a stage for a big part of its moves – which includes, at least in theory, setting aside any interventionist tone, finally issuing a death certificate to Uncle Sam.

At least this is what can be read between lines in Obama’s speech when he talks about the new order that leaves behind the “ideologies of the past.”* To distance themselves from the[se ideologies], with actions more than with speeches, will be the next challenge. The expectation is huge.

*Editor’s note: This quote, accurately translated, could not be verified.