By Mehdi S. Shariati
A
New Dawn in Latin America has begun. Enormous challenges and opportunities
confront the region in the Face of a crushing and vengeful neo-liberalism of
global capitalism and all of its supportive economic, military and political
institutions. This paper examines those challenges and opportunities
particularly as they are related to the possible loss of U.S. hegemony and the
attempts at containing democratic aspirations and strategies in Latin America.
Latin America
Contemporary challenges faced by Latin countries are no less determining than
what they were confronted with in the decades following their independence. From
the rise of Bolivarian ethos to the struggles for liberation and autonomy waged
by guerrilla leaders such as Che, Castro and the Sandinista of Nicaragua to
democratically elected Socialists such as Arbenz of Guatemala, Allende of Chile,
to the contemporary democratically elected governments in Venezuela, Bolivia,
Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and the quasi-populist De Silva of Brazil, the
struggle remains not just a political and an economic one, but rather an
existential one.
The Latin people for most of their history have
struggled for democracy and had they been free of imperialistic interventions
aided by domestic comprador, they would have achieved much more in the social,
economic and political arena. This has been a very long and sordid history. Any
attempt at liberation and autonomy has been forcefully confronted and
decapitated. Peron was discredited, Che was murdered, the Cuban revolution has
been effectively contained within its shores, Arbenz was overthrown and
murdered, so was democratically elected President of Chile, Salvatore Allende,
the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega was overthrown through a bloody
Contra group carved out of the body of Sandinista revolutionaries and aided by
some of the Latin governments (Argentina, Honduras, and El Salvador among others
involved in the "dirty war"), various organs of the United States governments,
Christian Fundamentalist, World Anti-Communist League and Omega 7 (Armony,
1977).
Since independence, Latin America as a region had
experienced over 160 coups, and during the same period their powerful neighbor
to the north often presenting itself as a benevolent imperial protector of its
backyard by intervening when its interests warranted. In the words of former
United States Senator George P. McLean, it is an "imperialism of science, peace,
and justice (Congressional Records, 1927, cited in Smith 1981:66). United
States has maintained its hegemonic control through regional treaties,
agreements and support of the elite dominated regimes nourished through social,
economic and military means. Today those countries which have opted for
democratic socialism or are struggling against globalization, and neo-liberalism
are engaged in a desperate struggle to sustain themselves in the face of a very
destructive and dangerous form of terrorism -monetary terrorism.
Drawing on historical
parallel may not be as significant in conveying much about the future, but
historical experiences ought not to be readily discarded, particularly if the
motives and reasons for the past experiences are as valid today as they were
then. There may be a lesson if anyone cares to learn. What do the learned Latin
Americans think of the Monroe Doctrine, Clark Memorandum, The Platt Amendment,
Roosevelt Corolary, The Panama Canal (1), Venezuela, the Big Stick Policy, the
Good Neighbor Policy, Mexico, the Rio Treaty, The Alliance for Progress, Kennedy
Round, Dominican Republic, Che Guevera , The "Banana Republic", The School of
the Americas, Arbenz, Allende, Contras, El Salvador, Haiti, Caribbean Basin
initiative, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), The Summit of the
Americas, Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),and Free Trade Areas of
the Americas (FTAA)? In the mind of the Latin American masses, there is no
ambiguity with regards to the cultural disdain towards them. In their view the
technologically advanced, militarily strong, and economically imperial North has
always had a fear of true democracy and the people consciousness about their
condition as prelude to revolution. They do recite the struggles of their
forefathers and the consequences of those struggles and in the end speculate as
to what went wrong and how not to repeat the mistakes that brought them defeat.
Social scientists theorize about them, theologians reoriented eschatological
tenor, philosophers debated ontological concerns and the Latin masses for the
most part (except for some segment of the Church) remained outside of the
discourse. Today, Latin America has entered a new phase of existence and is
attempting to forge a new identity. They are proving that they do understand and
that realization is being communicated through democratic process and alliances.
What do North Americans by and large think of the history of United States/
Latin America relations and/or the contemporary issues regarding that
relationship? Is there sufficient number of people with the knowledge and
concerns for their country's relationship with Latin America to warrant such
question? And to what extent can one conclude that the United States foreign
policy is governed by the democratic process if the answer to the first question
is "very few"? How many of them can identify countries to the south of Mexico
and how many of them bother to ask pertinent questions? Much is done in the name
of the American people and yet we are constantly reminded that not many of them
know or care to know about the very regions their political, economic and social
elites are operating either in the form of war or exploitation. How many of
them understand that under the despotic regime of global capitalism, all of the
developing countries are forced to compete for foreign investments, effectively
relinquishing their control over their economies to the agents of global
finance. And that accumulation is the modus operandi, the alpha and the omega of
the dynamics of global capitalism. Accumulation on a global scale does not allow
prosperity for the majority including North American masses. It endorses and
breeds dispossession. It effectively lowers wages and reduces or eliminates
social services as part of the crushing austerity measures administered by one
of its powerful agents-the IMF. Accumulation and privatization are symbiotic
processes in the global capitalist system. Long term hegemonic plans are
designed to reinvent themselves in each specific historical period. Accordingly,
the socio-economic and political control in each specific period demands
specific means. But what remain constant is the common practice of privatizing
the gains and socializing the cost associated with global capitalist
transactions from free trade to all aspects of globalization. Thus, it is
imperative that imperialism both in its external dimension and its internal
dimension (social imperialism) is successful.
A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF US/LATIN AMERICA
RELATIONSHIPS:
From
the early part of the nineteenth century, the United States has considered Latin
America all its own-the backyard. It was declared an area off limits to foreign
intervention by the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 (which has been invoked many times
since its inception). It was reinforced by President James Buchanan (1857-61),
who believed that the U.S. should take on the role of a policeman in the region.
Police actions against Latin America continued to define the "big stick" policy
of Theodore Roosevelt (inspired by Kipling's "White man's burdern") through
which Latin America suffered covert and overt military, economic and social
intervention in order to "civilize" the "uncivilized" produced a frightening
Yankee image. With certain modifications the "big stick Policy" evolved into the
"good neighbor" policy of Franklin D. Roosevelt (2), but Military intervention
and economic imperialism along with racism, and cultural disdain embedded in
Social Darwinism continued. Irrespective of the political party in control of
Washington and/or historical period, independent Latin governments were to be
monitored, contained or removed. All nationalists, Leftists and radicals who
oppose domination of their economies by the hegemonic powers, were and are
viewed as instances of political instability and "uncivilized behavior." The
wrath of intervention and the brutality of the encounters between the mighty
North and the impoverished South is a story well told in Latin America. Gabriel
García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude eloquently narrates
the suffocating socio-economic and political influences on Latin American
countries as exemplified by the slaughter and devastation brought to the
fictional town of Macondo, Colombia.
The
long term hegemonic plan is manifested in the draft and implementation of
various historically specific treaties and alliances sponsored by capital. In
particular, in the Post World War Two era, the United States foreign policy
towards Latin America was formulated primarily in the context of the Cold War,
Soviet "expansionism" and the internal socio-economic and political conditions
in Latin America. The Truman administration sought to convince the Latin
countries that there was an imminent danger of Communist infiltration and
subversion. Therefore, it was necessary to replace "Axis Credo" with the "U.S.
Credo" in Latin America (Gil, 1971). The Rio Treaty is one such treaty.
Article VI of the Treaty dealt with dictatorial regime in Latin America. An
important component of Article VI, the Committee of Political Defense (CPD) was
to be an anti-dictatorial alliance in the upcoming Rio Treaty, a number of
dictatorial regimes in Latin America opposed it, and the U.S. supported them. To
Dean Acheson and most of his colleagues democratic ideals were expendable when
it came to U.S interests. Both Articles VI and IX, made it clear that internal
political conformity was the key concern of the United States and that
aggressive behavior (armed or otherwise) were to be challenged head on.
In
post WWII, particularly during the Cold war, the push for reproducible and
dependent capitalist economies on the part of the American political and
economic class had the aim of containing Soviet Communism while at the same time
containing homegrown democratic movements all for the purpose of making sure
that the American penetration and domination of Latin economies proceeded
without challenge. Soviet style Communism however was not to be feared by the
Anglo American capitalism. It was to be used as a label for democratic,
independent and nationalistic governments in the peripheral world of Africa,
Asia and Latin America. That label implied a malignancy which had to be excised
while in its infancy. The biggest fear of all however was the fear of "loosing"
Latin America to its own people, a fear that today as did then, dictates United
States' policy in Latin America. In 1923, the United States sponsored the
Treaty of Peace and Amity with Central American governments for the sole purpose
of discouraging and preventing revolutions either by the nationalists or the
Communists (4). All political appointments, organizations (specifically labor)
and individual leaders were to be monitored. Faced with challenges from radical
nationalists and leftists who perceived their governments as being American
puppets, the ruling elites espoused the doctrine of Modernization in order to
legitimize their control of state apparatus. Even when the Economic Commission
for Latin America (ACLA), (a United Nations' Commission) introduce the idea of a
Central American Common Market (ACLAC) without any structural change, the
Kennedy Administration made an offer of $100 million in aid trying to alter the
final draft. It effectively distorted the mechanism by removing segments on
regional planning and balanced growth in favor of free trade (Pearce, 1982:47).
Then and now the compradors are taken care off through the rewarding
capitalistic institutions of kick backs and corruption disguised as bidding,
competition and mediation.
THE 1980S: CAPITAL
ACCUMULATION, STRUCTURAL ADJSUTMENTS AND NEOLIBERALISM:
Various strategies in the 1960s
and 70 emphasized Import-substitution industrialization as a solution to
economic malaise. In 1961, The Alliance for Progress was formulated, precisely
for facilitating a shift in United States' investment strategy which involved
moving away from solely cash crop based economies of Latin America to import
substitution Industrialization. Invariably these policies had an eye on the
North as the provider of technology and capital, thereby creating a new form of
dependence.
Whereas from the 1950s to late 1970s, public sector
grew rapidly, from the 1980s, privatization of major industries accelerated.
That is before the onslaught of neoliberalism and rush to shedding off the
"inefficient" public sector enterprises, the private sector was for the most
part national and local. Privatization opened up the economy to foreign
investors mostly from the North and with it comes the concentration, and
centralization of resources in the hands of a few. "Between 1985 and 1992, more
than 2,000 publicly owned firms, including public utilities, banks, insurance
companies, highways, ports, airlines, and retail shops, were privatized
throughout the region" (Edwards, 1995: 170). Privatization is a neoliberal
strategy of denationalizing the state, invites and creates profitable
investments for foreign owners and removing any credible regulation from the
economic life.
With the expansion of neoliberalism and the
internationalization of capital came the devaluation of currency, indebtedness
and privatization initiatives. Just to illustrate take the case of Mexico when
it was the recipient of the largest increase of maquiladoras in 1982, following
devaluation of its currency. During the same period, privatization of the
economy started thereby allowing more foreign ownership (globalization) of the
Mexican economy. . In less than a decade, Mexico was forced to privatize 886
state enterprises out of a total of 1,155 with U.S. monopolies gaining control
over telecommunications, airlines, banking, mining, steel and other sectors.
From the early 1980s a
deliberate depopulation of rural areas for the purpose of aiding the expansion
of maquiladoras began. The Mexican government allowed the U.S. to dump millions
of tons of corn into Mexico. This policy along with greater mechanization of
rural areas, forced more of the rural population to seek life in the cities and
off course migrate North. Once NAFTA was signed by the three participating
governments, the cheerleading section of US media cheered the neoliberal coup as
the solution to the economic ills of the three nations. The reality of the
global capitalist class alliance as exemplified by NAFTA is parallel to the
forced absence of any class alliance on the part of international working class.
Not only is there no alliance between workers of the World, there is plenty of
antagonism as exemplified by one of the consequences of effective social
imperialism by the belief on the part of US workers that their plight is caused
by the hords of great unwashed crossing the borders. NAFTA has cost the US
workers over one million jobs.
Following NAFTA, Mexico reduced funding for farm
programs from $2 billion in 1994 to $500 million by 2000 (Chessnof, 2004). Real
wages in Mexico are lower today than before NAFTA and 31 percent of Mexicans
currently live below the poverty line while the rich have got richer. Both
NAFTA and CAFTA are benefiting a well to-do segment of participating countries
and are expanding corporate rights over some of the poorest countries in the
region. With a population of 44 million and a per capita income raging from
$370.00 in Nicaragua to $1750 in Guatemala, to $4000 in Costa Rica, Central
America is increasing scarcity of food and medicine primarily because if
intellectual property rights and higher prices (Weisman, 2004:13). General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) considers "dumping" or selling commodities
below the cost of production illegal. Yet, in 2001, "the average export price
for US corn was 33 percent below the full costs of production and
transportation. For rice, it was 22 percent" (Ricker, 2004). The loss of jobs in
Guatemala alone would be about 80,000 in five years. Prices of basic food items
(corn) would increase dramatically and increased for Mexico (Oxfam America cited
in Ricker). Mexico losses of jobs of 1.7 million in agricultural sector due to
the influx of US corn and a drastic reduction in the income of 15 million small
farmers (Ricker. 2004:11).
The profitability and the security of foreign
investments are the reasons for their investment in an area. The security aspect
is always a matter of concern for transnational corporations because of the fact
that transnational are the cause of the problem. The role of the state,
therefore must be negotiated and while privatization invites in the foreign
capital, often in alliance with local capital. Once, the profit is realized, it
is not reinvest it in the area where the profit was made. They take off for
other areas and the process leaves battered people and an abused environment
behind. This also clearly transcends political party affiliations in the United
States. It is a mistake to consider systemic imperatives and contradiction with
political party and individuals occupying a particular office. For the most part
the people in the United States and people outside of it who are observers of
political events mistakenly believe that there are two distinct and
diametrically opposed political parties in the US. The reality is that in all
respect particularly with respect to the power of the business class and US
based transnationals there are no differences. It is within this view that the
Democratic Party somehow has managed to appear as the Party of the working
class. Here is an example of the Democratic Party's appeasement of
multinationals in all industries so as keep the trough accessible;
in its "Four Reasons to Support
CAFTA" (increase exports for the U.S., national security/strategic U.S
Interests, peace and prosperity, and peaceful internationalism) states that,
CAFTA's passage is in the national interest and deserves Democratic support and
involvement. But the reasoning suggests anything but national interests. For
CAFTA is the embodiment of reckless disregard for human life, the environment,
democracy and even the honest and legitimate US national interests.
Current reality of North/South relationship points to an arrangement in which
one or a handful of powerful members decide all of the rules and even then not
all of them play by those very rules. And it is within this context that strong
member (s) decides everything in secret and unilaterally and then act as if
everyone with complete knowledge has accepted the terms -the absence of
democratic consensus will prevail. The problem is even more serious because the
public knows almost nothing about these regional and bilateral treaties, as they
are frequently negotiated in secret and even when the text is made public, the
very technical language of these treaties make them incomprehensible.
As all other neoliberal agreements, CAFTA's nine rounds of negotiations were
held in secret. A key component of free trade agreement is the push toward an
immediate or future plans for privatization of public services. Similar to all
other multilateral agreement, CAFTA is forcing greater privatization of state
run health care, education, electrical generation, and water systems. And it is
within this context that the common practice of privatizing the gains and
socializing the cost associated with global capitalist transactions from free
trade to all aspects of globalization become the norm.
Privatization is a serious threat to the biologically diverse Central America
and it is beginning to devastate small farmers whose condition is already a dire
one. Loss of income and the threat of poverty would force millions to migrate to
urban areas or they would risk their lives trying to reach the North amid its
increasingly hostile mood.
Privatization permanently makes the Latin economies
vulnerable to transnationals and benefits only a tiny political and economic
elite at the expense of the general public. Privatization makes the countries
struggling on the peripheries of global capitalism much more vulnerable to
chaotic market conditions and accumulation crises of the center. With
privatization comes kick backs and corruption often disguised as bidding,
competition and mediation. Privatization has produced higher prices, poorer
service, union busting, worsened working conditions and has strengthened the
hands of comprador allied with international capital. It is a grotesque
socialization of the cost associated with accumulation of capital. Privatizing
state enterprises has lead to the creation of a new class of rich and parasitic
people whose connection to the privatizing state and its military institutions
is a symbiotic one. Once that old and/or new class finds its economic power, it
is to their advantage to ally themselves with the political establishment,
international capital and the others. Ultimately the alliance works against the
public through privatization of the gains and socialization of the cost. It is
important to note that long before, the attempt at wholesale privatization is
made, the propaganda that anything public is inefficient, corrupt and often
referred to as "socialistic", prepares the stage for theft of public
enterprises.
A
supportive political umbrella is absolutely essential for the maintenance of
such a parasitic system. True democracies by their very nature do not support
such a system and therefore, from the point of view of global capitalism, are
not to be tolerated anywhere. For truly democratic system ensures economic
democracy and economic democracy is antithetical to the pursuit of capitalistic
profit margins, the size of which is determined by Greed and favorable
accumulation conditions. Economic democracy is antithetical to a condition in
which people are denied access to basic necessities and being forced to
relinquish the very basic resources such as water to private sector. The demand
to abandon the condition that degrades humanity is the demand to abolish the
system which imposes such degradation. For almost two centuries now, Latin
America except for a few countries and for a short period of time has been at
the mercy of Anglo-American capitalism and its domestic comprador group. The end
results are the absence of democracy, decent living conditions and national
pride. The situation is becoming so tenuous that even the comprador groups began
wondering how long they will last. Then comes the rescue package of "democratic"
elections and self determination and democracy and freedom. How do you preempt
the rising demand for economic and political democracy and what form does it
take? What form other than a fabricated handed down package of rhetoric and
selection of heads independent of the grass roots? Therefore, it is time to stop
further damage to the national pride and regional possibilities by talking
regional self sufficiency and alliances with the realization that they are being
watched.
Today as the "War on Terror", is fought on a global scale, we see a most refined
and developed version of that strategy implemented by the agents of the
empire---the supranational and international agencies such the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund among others. The return of speculative finance
capital revived indebtedness as an instrument of control. Colonial empires of 19th
century notably the British, French and German empires used debt trap as a
mechanism of reproducible hegemony and informal empire. Debt trap justifies
austerity measures and austerity measures guarantee higher profit margins. By
2001, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean owed $787 billion to U.S.
and international bankers and were paying more than $150 billion/year in debt
service (see U.S Commerce Department's "Survey of Current Business," September
2002). With indebtedness comes the massive auctioning off of public assets as a
precondition to satisfy the creditors.
Central and South American, workers and farmers are at the mercy of this regime
while the leaders, activists, and organizers for the cause of human rights,
environment and labor are arrested, tortured and in some cases assassinated. Are
US workers in a better position than those of Latin America? For the time
being, the impact of job and opportunity losses are not as severe in the North
as are in the Central and South America. In the North, the institutional
arrangements (increasingly becoming obsolete) provide temporary relief for laid
off workers. But the conditions in the South are increasingly tense and
potentially explosive.
The
current crises of the American empire both at home and abroad are viewed by most
Americans as reflections of American authorities' involvement with bad
characters abroad and the incompetence of not dealing with "them" forcefully. It
is equally misguided when it comes to the views expressed by people outside of
the United States that only individual leaders are viewed as the culprit. But
what is the implication of such a view? Are we to believe that anyone else as
President, would have taken the American Empire in a direction other than what
has been the case? Are we to assume that militarism, globalization and global
accumulation are the policy mechanisms of a particular party or individual in
office? Are we to believe that systemic contradictions are either dissolved in
the cult of personality of the leader and the party or that they will come to
surface as major crises? At a glance, the United States' history shows no
credible connection between militarism, imperialism and accumulation to a
particular political party. Although there are minor variations in approach, the
ultimate goal remains the maintenance of hegemonic control over the vulnerable
world.
Hunger, poverty induced violence, degradation,
hopelessness, despair, political and economic exclusions will be met head on
with force. Imperialism of trade impoverishes it victims and will lead to social
upheaval. Colonial history and the history of imperialism are histories of
plunder, exploitation and mass murder. Competition, efficiency, deregulation
among others are nothing but disguised components of Social Darwinism (survival
of the fittest) as a guiding ideology. Under this kind of so-called free trade
all is controlled, contrived and manipulated to serve the interest of the most
powerful groups in member countries. What did free trade do for the Indians
under the British mandated and sponsored free trade and what are the
similarities? Karl Polanyi documents that under the British system of free
trade, millions (particularly in India and China) perished of hunger. The
shocking reality of Chinese parents swapping their children for other people's
children as food occurred for the first time under the British mandated free
trade. These "free" trade agreements are modern Mercantilism at best. Now as
then, the most powerful sets the rule and enforces them according to their own
interest.
Today resistance to these
realities are met with force again. Today, incentives are by far much greater
to subvert any attempt at unity against free market capitalism and global
accumulation. Now they have to use much more sophisticated and more brutal
mechanisms to maintain control. Let's allow some ideologues to assume that we
have reached "the end of history" --the struggle is over. But the good news is
that a new chapter in the history of resistance has begun and crushing of the
struggle in all likelihood will not materialize. The consequences of
neoliberalism for the general public worldwide are becoming increasingly
unbearable and any attempt at cooptation without credible changes in the
material conditions will not be effective. At the same time any attempt at
radicalization on a mass scale will be "punished" as the term has been used
repeatedly throughout the history of United States/Latin America relationship.
So what is the best strategy for dealing with that possible reaction? It is
imperative that Latin America and indeed all of the nation-states seeking to
free themselves from the global capitalism, begin by establishing and
strengthening national democratic institutions and intraregional collaboration
at the level of these institutions. And Latin America is in a very good position
to begin to develop such a model for regional integration and development.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE LONG TERM HEGEMONIC PLANS:
HOMEGROWN REMEDIES
What are the alternatives to capital's sponsored
regional agreement? Latin America has been struggling to find its way out of
what I call backyardness syndrome-a condition akin to an inferiority complex,
and self doubt. Backyardness is the reproduction of a material reality
characterized by alienation, powerlessness and apathy. It is history at a stand
still. By viewing Latin America as its backyard, United States is deciding
whatever reality they find themselves in and today we witness serious trouble in
the "backyard". There are signs that the Latin Masses have begun to recognize
the disease and now pursues radical eradication of the causes of backyardness.
Food insecurity and hunger are closely associated with extreme poverty in Latin
America. Meanwhile, the continent's income disparity, already the world's
largest has widened and millions of people have become poor. Today more than a
third of South Americans live in poverty and, in many countries, the richest 10
per cent control more than half of all income. As a direct consequence of these
measures imposed on Latin people many armed insurgent groups have emerged. The
previously unknown April 13 Revolutionary Movement staged a press conference in
Caracas, where the group's hooded leader declared that it would defend Mr.
Chavez's "Bolivarian Revolution." And no one ought to be under the illusion that
the current democratically elected leaders are immune to accountability. If For
instance Chavez or any other elected officials become too comfortable in their
position and disregard public opinion, there is no doubt they will face the same
fate as those ruling their countries with an iron fist. The proposed common
market could be used to guarantee not only democratic practices between the
participating states, but within the states also.
Trade between participating
members is not an economic transaction and exchange, with losers and winners,
but a social, cultural and political one. The ultimate goal of ALBA is to
promote peace and international cooperation, to eradicate poverty and
illiteracy, the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge, provide
access to medicine as one of the basic rights, integrate Latin and the Caribbean
(the great Antilies) economies into one viable common market while at the same
time promoting solidarity and respecting cultural indentities in all respect. As
an example, in Bolivia with the aid of Cuban teachers four main languages of
Spanish, Aymara, Quechua and Guarani are taught to the Bolivians as component of
literacy campaign. After the signing ceremony for ALBA, Fidel Castro said one
day, all [Latin American] countries will be members; Not too long after,
Paraguayans elected Fernando Lugo (A Roman Catholic Priest referred to as the
"Red Bishop" the opponents and "Bishop of the Poor" by supporters).
Evo Morales said the meeting
was an "historic gathering of three generations and three revolutions." Morales
called for the return of Latin reserves from the North and Daniel Ortega echoed
the sentiment that "speculative capital" ought not to be able to ruin people's
lives for the sake of profit and in the name of free trade. Morales denounced
U.S. aid policy as a hegemonic tool and divisive. The leaders noted that it was
no coincidence that just at the time of the ALBA Summit, Condoleezza Rice was
visiting neighboring Colombia to promote a U.S.-Colombia Free Trade pact. Alba
has as its basis and philosophy the empowerment of the economically less
articulated and industrially less diversified members while at the same time
according them dignity by respecting what they can contribute (i.e., Bolivian
and Cuba's knowledge in certain area that could be used by other members. Such
capabilities as having a wealth of knowledge in "natural medicine" on the part
of Bolivia and in the case of Cuba having the modern medical know how. One
significant step is the cancellation of Bolivia's "unjust" debt as a necessary
condition in alleviating poverty. Therein lies its seduction.
What is crucial for any embryonic
alliance with a behemoth as enemy to strengthen itself through "social movements
from throughout the hemisphere," said Joel Suarez of Cuba's Martin Luther King
Center. "Governments may be pressured not to join, but the social movements are
anxious to be part of an alliance that promotes fair trade over free trade."
Indeed, the proposal is to even include social movements from the United States.
ALBA negates competition as a mechanism of economic relationship, and considers
trade as a means toward the realization of greater good for society and not as
an end in itself and the rejection of Social Darwinism and trickle down theory
promoted by the "historical block" and in the context of mainstream economics.
Within international arena, economic competition coupled with economic
incentives to gain, have worked to produce what Ruy Mauro Marini has called "SUBIMPERIALISM."
SUBIMPERIALIST-exploits others while at the same time it is subject to control
from the center. It plays a role in the hegemonic structure. Almost a scavenging
existence and neuroticism commonly found in any pecking order. It is within
capital sponsored common market that one can find subimperialism. Take the case
of Brazil in the context of Mercosur. Although it has come along way from the
decades of military governments and repressive economic system, as shown by
Flynn (2007) that "instead of representing a new form of social
justice ....the country's foreign policy initiatives are structured
more by the regional orientation of Brazilian elites interested in
reproducing their class position in a globalized capitalist economy."
As an alternative, could ALBA pull other agreements such as Mercosur in its own
direction? The South American trading block, Mercosur now constitutes 75% of
South America's economic activity, holds 65% of the continent's population, and
contains some of the largest reserves of water and hydrocarbons on the planet.
The potential for Mercosur to be a catalyst for ALBA is very good. ALBA in the
word of one of its founder, Hugo Chavez, is "integration" and an "historic
moment." Given the "....indisputable failure of the neoliberal policies imposed on
our countries, the Latinamerican and Caribbean peoples find themselves on the
road to their second and true independence, the birth of the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas..." (3)
What frightens the Washington block is the formation and reproduction of a
philosophy that puts people before profit. In the context of home grown regional
integration the preoccupation with high profit margins cease to exist. By the
very definition, regional integration strategies would eliminate intraregional
competition and expensive solicitation for foreign investment from the
imperialist zones. Indeed economic democracy is possible only when deregulation
(regulation favoring big business) is replaced with long term regional planning
at the national level and in conjunction and association with long term regional
planning predicated on cooperation rather than competition. Within the context
of regional common market in which each member is an equal player, elimination
of tariff and other barriers are appropriate. In this context an arrangement by
which all members decide all the rules and they all play by the same set of
rules, then development and growth (as measured by all the indices of social
inclusion) are possible and both the gains and if need be all losses are
socialized.
It
is within a vibrant regional association that in addition to economic
integration, a political as well as military (defensive) integration is
possible. The task of establishing a regional economic power house in Latin
America ought to be much easier than any other geographic region For one, there
are very strong cultural ties (though diverse in ethnic and racial identities)
between the countries of the region and second the impulse of building a common
market much stronger since they have collectively experienced outside
intervention and still feel very vulnerable. The struggle to create a common
market of truly independent members operating on the basis of a charter which
puts human dignity, social development, economic democracy, and political
accountability, has been, is and will be challenged by the powerful
politico-military establishment that serves the transnationals.
MECHANISM OF US INTERVENTION IN LATIN AMERICA IN
POST ALBA
The business elite dictates what it wants, political establishment strategizes
and packages those interests as legitimate "national interests" ("national
security") and if and when necessary the military carries out the orders. To
accomplish the goals, a successful social imperialism is essential.
On the one hand there is the question of
conventional military power of the United States particularly in its ability to
invade and occupy more countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. Certainly the
outcomes in Afghanistan and Iraq will determine the viability of more reliance
on military, but the question is to what extent it is a systemic imperative.
The belief that there has been a decline in the power of the United States in
terms of its militarism that once it exercised in Latin America and indeed
around the World is primarily based on the social, and economic costs rather
than the actual preponderance of power and the proclivity to use force.
Although the United States military has been designed to fight two and half
major wars and a few small ones simultaneously, dire condition at the present on
the grounds of Iraq and Afghanistan along with overwhelming internal
contradictions would make a high intensity military confrontation in Latin
America unlikely and unnecessary. There are several reasons for this contention;
first the cost of undertaking another major conflict would be so astronomical
that no amount of additional tax revenue for a highly taxed American working
class and Chinese lending can provide for the war efforts. Second, no European
ally with the possible exception of Britain and Israel (which has a history of
military involvement in Latin America) would join in any credible way for a war
against any Latin government.
Therefore, the likelihood of an additional front
would not at the present be an option. Yet under different circumstances, the
United States would not as its history shows be reluctant to use force. Even if
the capability exists, given the financial meltdown in the global North, the
idea of selling a new war to the American public at the present would be
difficult. But in the arsenal of the empire there are many other weapons which
could be employed to safeguard the interests of the corporate elite. Fostering
Internal disintegration on the basis of ethnicity and irredentist tendencies,
potential intraregional conflict as was witnessed by Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru among others, Mercenaries, Drug Lords with a promise of better
harvest (as in during the counterrevolutionary activities in Nicaragua),
Colombia, Peru, Bolivia. There is a very long history of divide and conquer and
as long as there is no regional integration it will continue to be the least
expensive of all methods.
Direct military intervention now would render
Latin America a very troubling backyard. The United States military strategists
of the yesteryear know well the potential for a Latin backlash against overt and
direct military involvement. Even if the U.S. has the conventional capabilities
of pre-Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, it would be very difficult to justify an
invasion. But the "national security" argument remains one of the most potent
invocations that the US has used and it can identify just anything as a threat
to its national security including an island nation such as Granada which was
invaded just to "rescue American medical students". "Plan Colombia" is
primarily a militarization plan for the Andes and for now directed against
Venezuela and Bolivia, FARC, and similar groups. As shown by Nieto (2007) after
September 11, 2001, the war on drugs in Colombia soon became a war on terror
fought on the Colombian soil. Also, Colombian oil is now more than ever a reason
for the United States to broaden its presence and try to eliminate rivals. With
Colombia being the seventh largest oil supplier to the United States, and with
Venezuela and Ecuador combined, the US imports more oil from South America than
from the Persian Gulf (Soltani and Keonig, 2004:12).
Even though militarily the United States is not as likely to intervene in Latin
America, its power to implement neo-liberal economic policy as part of
"Washington Consensus" and through international agencies such as the IMF and
the World Bank remains intact. This option is perhaps the most likely option to
be considered. Financial strangulation would definitely lead to political
upheaval and the only way to avert this scenario is to create a common market
with its own currency.
Another possible option that the United States would entertain would be the
exploitation of ethnic differences in the region which has already beginning to
rear its ugly head. There is no doubt that if necessary powers that aim at
maintaining the status quo in Latin America would not stop at using minor ethnic
differences to bread disintegration first within and then between countries.
Bolivia began noticing heightened ethnic tension immediately after the election
of Evo Morales. There are historical precedents for supporting irredentist and
separatist movements in post-Colonial history. In Latin America, Colombia is
illustrative of the approach to non-conformist behavior. A portion of Colombia's
territory was carved out and became what is now Panama in 1903. United States
was the first country to recognize the new country and sent troops to protect
its economic interests. It occurred again in the 1980s. Other option for which
there are historical precedents are the aiding of mercenaries such as William
Walker who declared himself President of Honduras and the gang of corporate
mercenaries (i.e., Vanderbilt's gang) hired to assassinate, burn and bribe. And
it is within this context that strong members decide unilaterally and then act
as if everyone with complete knowledge has accepted the terms which are often
deceptively technical -the absence of democratic consensus will prevail.
WHAT IS TO BE DONE: THE PROGRESS
TOWARD RADICAL DEMOCRACY
However, it must be made abundantly
clear that the production of real economy can not take place with rhetoric. It
must be backed by very real and tangible measures. It must transcend utopianism
and enter the realm of possibilities and as reality is moved toward utopia
(ideal), it must be understood that the road toward emancipation is full of
traps, detours, sharp curves and bumps and bandits that could move it toward an
immediate dystopia. Equipped with knowledge of reality, energized with the
absence of dogma on all fronts and a clear understanding of possibilities,
various groups in Latin America could map out a new integration strategy. The
left must be seen as a collection of groups opposing global capitalism and its
neoliberalism. A common ground and common goal must be forged in the struggle.
In Latin America as elsewhere, religious groups and movements (liberation
theology), environmental groups, trade union, native people, as well as the
radical intelligentsia, nationalists and Marxists can succeed only when working
in concert toward emancipation and development. It is also necessary for the
totality of these groups to join international forces particularly the regional
groups sharing the same aspirations. Also important is to show the high
opportunity cost their alliance with outsiders with selfish interests and at the
expense of regional integration and development
Liberation Theology began its
effort at raising awareness (conscientization) many decades ago. In the process
it has allied itself with academics, labor and environmental organizations among
others. It is critical that their tradition of grass root mobilization is
incorporated into broader strategy of change through social mobilization in all
levels. In the context of Latin America, faith and religion on one hand and
Socialism and Communism on the other have not been antithetical as they have
been in other context. Liberation theologians have for the most part been at the
forefront of the struggle, even though their institution historically was a
component of the oppressive structure. As one of the founders of Latin American
communism, José Carlos Mariátegui (Lowy, 2008) sees much convergence
between faith and communism. Jose Miranda of Mexico sees "Communism in the
Bible" (the title of his book). The method of Liberation theology predicated
on "conscientization" and the dependency/imperialism
centered analysis have contributed to
the creation of a new church, a self sustaining community and grass roots
movements composed of landless peasants, workers and the poor struggling for
social, cultural, economic and political rights by opposing privatization,
accumulation and exploitation (Keucker, 2007; Issa 2007; Webber, 2007) and the
power of the indigenous people to oppose giant oil companies and multinational
as documented by Soltani and Keonig (2004), the power of Zapatistas as the most
effective indigenous groups in struggle against privatization, globalization and
neoliberalism (Stahler-Sholk, 2007). It is promising that the
struggle against global exploitation is very widespread and in particular it is
the working class that is the avanguard and at the forefront of the struggle
(Almeida, 2007), Why should communism, religious values and national identity
collide if each is viewed as a method and means toward emancipation and not an
end in itself? As hegemony is context dependent, modes of resistance must also
be context dependent and while each context is different, within each context
the manifestations of hegemony may requires a combination of modes of resistance
(i.e., radical democracy, socialism, passive resistance, religious values, and
in cases where resistance to hegemony has been confronted with structural
violence, armed struggle became a tactic of choice).
The "standard" and "appropriate" conduct for the
non-European peoples and governments set by the West including such expectations
as acting "with reasonable efficiency and decency"...keeping "order" and meeting
debt "obligations" and the responsibility on the part of the West led by the
U.S. to "prevent chaos and anarchy", to "democratize", to "civilize", to bring
"freedom", to make them "prosper", to inculcate them with "Our values", to
"assist them", to "fight terrorism", to get rid of "dictator", and that U.S has
the moral authority and a providential duty to "administer government among
savages and senile people", continues to justify imperial interventions.
The United States ought not to be expected to abandon its long history of
imperialistic intervention in Latin America. It will never happen. But Latin
America can close that chapter of its history through greater regional
integration, "radical" socio-economic and political democratization and a form
of socialism suitable for its own reality.
While Latin America moves toward radical democracy,
it is imperative to move as far away as possible from any idea of
denationalization of the state In favor of internationalization of the economy
and in the image of neoliberal elites. On the other hand, within Latin America,
national and ethnic identity, rising expectations, demographic changes, and
overwhelming problems associated with scarcity, class structure and class divide
are creating new opportunities may hasten its unraveling further. Today, few
make decision for many and the fate of the planet is in their hands. Imagining a
world in which not a few make decision for millions, but millions make
collective decisions for collective goods, is becoming easier. As more and more
people in various regions of the world consider an alternative to the existing
reality, those in control of the current reality will do their utmost to destroy
the movement. It is this historical trajectory that is pregnant with significant
challenge both within and without Latin America as well as in other areas
struggling to overcome both internal and external hegemony. As described by
Francisco Garcia Calderon (1913), nearly a century ago, "Warning, advice,
distrust, invasion of capital, plans of financial hegemony -all these justify
the anxiety of the Southern peoples....neither irony nor grace nor skepticism,
gifts of the old civilization, can make way against the plebeian brutality, the
excessive optimism, the violent individualism...." (cited in Smith, 1981:61-62).
Indications are that the new century will be at least for the first half as
anxiety ridden as the old century was and United States once more is failing to
reverse the tide against itself. There is a very solid history of revolt in
Latin America as indeed there are in every part of the planet subject to
plunder. Arriving at a future mapped as an independent Latin America seems
overwhelming and that for the most part is due to the experience of Latin
countries mostly as subjugated dependencies. Today, the masses of people in the
core capitalist countries are as much a victim of "accumulation by
dispossession" (as the current meltdown shows) as are masses of people in the
global South. To defend the rights of the masses in the core is tantamount to
defending the rights of masses in the developing world and it must begin with
opposition to imperialism and militarism. The real and long term American
progress requires progressive policies and responsible politics. And as long as
people in the Global North do not ask hard questions and take part in the
process of self governance, they will continue to erode the basis of their own
"democracy." Within the existing structure the election of individuals to the
highest office, irrespective of the progressive slogans, will do very little to
resolve the structural contradictions.
Democracy in Latin America is being rejuvenated and
it is within this context that winning or losing the progressive parties and
their officials get the credit. Recent challenges to Chavez, if indeed homegrown
and reflective of the aspiration of the Venezuelan masses, must be supported
inside and outside of the region. Hamas' election victory in the occupied Gaza
strip was according to all observers an authentic and genuine election, and the
degree of opposition to that group by the Israeli and American officials and its
dismissal as an "Iranian terror group," is a good indication of its
authenticity. After all a "Democracy" in the mainstream Western social, and
particularly political science, is a "Democracy" only if corresponds to a vision
of a society based on a free enterprise system and election of heads, and it is
in this regard that they view not all "democracies" as standard "Democracy."
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ENDNOTES
For a survey of energy sector
privatization In Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe see http://www-old.itcilo.org/actrav/actrav-english/telearn/global/ilo/frame/energyce.htm
1) In November 1903, Phillipe Bunau-Varilla-a
French citizen who was not authorized to sign any treaties on behalf of Panama
without the review of the Panamanians-unilaterally signed the Hay-Bunau Varilla
Treaty which granted rights to the United States to build and administer
indefinitely the Panama Canal, which was opened in 1914.
2) Half of century later Roosevelt's grandson,
Kermit Roosevelt engineered a coup against the democratically elected government
of M. Mossadegh of Iran in 1953. The theater of subversion and "regime change"
was conducted from the basement of the United States Embassy in Tehran. A bit of
that bitter history is sorely missing from the public discourse regarding Iran.
3) The Congress of Panama was
organized by Simón Bolívar in 1826 so as to create a united Latin towards Spain
while promoting integration and development. It proposed creating a league of
American republics, with a common military, a mutual defense pact, and a
supranational parliamentary assembly.
Acknowledgement: Many
thanks to my colleagues Charles Reitz, Stephen Spartan and Tamela Ice for their
comments and suggestions.
The author is Associate
Professor of Economics and Sociology at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
mshariati@kckcc.edu
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