Nowhere might hopes have been so high around the world outside of U.S. African American communities after Barack Obama’s election than in Latin America.
The region has had the geographical misfortune of being U.S. imperialism’s “backyard” for two centuries. The Bush administration gloated in the imperial cloak. For example, it gleefully welcomed the 2002 coup attempt against Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.
As OAS summit convenes,
progress continues to sweep across the
continent. Above, Bolivian workers
celebrate new pro-Indigenous election law,
April 14.
But what will be the Obama administration’s approach to Latin America, especially at a time when the hopes for an independent course—in many cases, the hopes for a socialist course—reach wider than ever in the region?
These questions take center stage with the upcoming April 17-19 Summit of the Americas, a meeting of most of the region’s heads of state which is set to take place on the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The Obama administration is aiming to use the summit as a chance to provide a new face for U.S. imperialism in the region.
“All Latin America is looking with great hope and great expectancy at how President Obama and his administration work together with the region,” Chilean president Michelle Bachelet told the April 2 Miami Herald.
“The Summit of the Americas will be an important moment to, I would say, revitalize the relationship between the United States and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Socialist Party member Bachelet represents a social democratic wing of the Chilean ruling class that seeks to ease class conflict while maintaining a relationship with U.S. imperialism.
All eyes on Cuba
Nevertheless, in the weeks leading up to the summit, all attention focused on the region’s other political pole: socialist Cuba.
Cuban President Raúl Castro was not invited to the summit because it is being hosted under the auspices of the Organization of American States. The U.S. government orchestrated Cuba’s ouster from the OAS in 1962. Since then, the organization has been primarily a talk shop for U.S. imperialism and its puppets in the hemisphere. Anticipating a popular call for Cuba’s inclusion in the OAS, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement opposing Cuba’s entrance.
But signs of resistance are growing among other member states.
Since the 1959 Cuban revolution, the socialist country has been a beacon for independence and social justice in Latin America. Despite U.S. efforts to strangle the island economically and politically, today Cuba has more support than ever.
The Venezuelan revolution led by Hugo Chávez has emerged as a key ally for Cuba. The Bolivian government under President Evo Morales is more and more breaking away from the grips of U.S. imperialism and has joined Cuba and Venezuela in what is known in Latin America as the “Axis of Good.” Both Nicaragua and El Salvador have recently-elected governments that are traditional allies of Cuba.
For that reason, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega broke with standard political protocol and released the Summit’s draft final declaration to the world on April 3—by means of Cuban former President Fidel Castro.
All these forces, led by Chávez, plan to use the summit as a forum to call for an end to the isolation of Cuba, including its re-admittance to the OAS and an end to the U.S. economic blockade of the island.
New U.S. policies on Cuba
The pressure has already had some effect. On April 13, Obama announced changes in U.S. travel policies, allowing Cuban Americans unlimited travel access to the island, instead of the previous once-per-year limit. He also allowed an end to the $75-per-month limit on cash allowed to be sent by family members to Cuba.
In making the announcement, Obama made it clear that the economic blockade remains, and that other U.S. citizens are still banned from free travel to Cuba.
Both partial measures have been supported by the Cuban government.
Of course, despite the howls by some ultra-right U.S. politicians, these measures do not reflect any backing off of U.S. efforts to undermine Cuba’s socialist economy. On the contrary, it represents an effort to create a kind of dual economy in Cuba that might increase social privileges—the basis for potential social unrest and counterrevolution.
Resistance deepens
While Obama hopes to give U.S. imperialism a new face, the summit is proving to be a greater show of force for the new progressive winds blowing across the continent. Venezuela is hosting a “counter-summit” of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) today, April 16, in Caracas.
Commenting on the Trinidad summit, Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote on April 13: “Cuba does not applaud the ill-named Summits of the Americas, where our nations do not debate on equal footing. If they were of any use, it would be to make critical analyses of policies that divide our peoples, plunder our resources and hinder our development. Now, the only thing left is for Obama to try to persuade all of the Latin American presidents attending the conference that the blockade is harmless.”
Within Trinidad, progressive forces are convening the Fourth People’s Summit of the Americas. The Trinidadian Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Nongovernmental Organizations, one of the People’s Summit sponsors, applied for permits to demonstrate at the summit. Police denied the permit.
