Berta Joubert-Ceci, New York
Amid protests restricted by the government and a heavy police presence, the Americas Summit was held on January 12-13 in Monterrey, Mexico. Many protesting groups had signed a statement declaring US President George Bush "persona non grata".
In the US, with rare exceptions, it was called the Americas Summit. But outside the US, particularly in Latin America, it was called the "Extraordinary" Americas Summit, meaning unusual, unscheduled. It was a meeting imposed by the US, which had requested it through the Organisation of American States (OAS) to "discuss common economic, social and political themes among all the heads of governments of the region". All, that is, except Cuba, which since the 1960s has been barred from the OAS by US veto.
In 1994, when the Americas Summit first met in Miami, the result was the so-called "Washington Consensus". At the time, the governments south of the Rio Grande were pro-US and pro-market economy, headed by right-wingers like Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada of Bolivia, Alberto Fujimori of Peru, Carlos Menem of Argentina and Ernesto Samper of Colombia. That summit announced the Free Trade Area of the Americas — the FTAA, or ALCA in Spanish.
The FTAA begins officially in 2005, but the neoliberal process has already begun to be imposed on the region. In order to get loans from the international banks controlled by imperialism, these countries must open their markets to US finance capital and privatise their most profitable national enterprises. They have to open their borders and remove duties on US goods. At the same time they must lower or completely eliminate any subsidies to their own manufacturing and agricultural industries. They also must lower or eliminate their budgets for social programs, health care, housing, education and so on.
Poverty
It is not surprising that this policy has resulted in a terrible devastation of the region and the intensification of poverty. At the summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez referred to the FTAA as a model for inequality, not for integration, that has doubled the number of poor in Latin America from 110 million to 227 million.
This acute erosion of the basic standard of living, of the people's ability to feed and house their families and have access to education and health care, has caused an increase of political consciousness. The masses identify their misery with neoliberalism, the FTAA and capitalism.
The upsurge of resistance to capitalism, even if not expressed as such, is evident in their slogans and actions. Mobilisations against neoliberalism and its visible symbol, the FTAA, have been organised in almost every country of the region. This goes along with a very appropriate anti-US sentiment.
This is very different from 1994. The mobilisation of the masses has changed the balance of forces to the detriment of those who automatically support every US move.
The actions of the people have resulted in the election of heads of government who are paying more attention to the needs of the masses than to the wishes of the US. These new heads of government, with some exceptions, are very aware that the people could oust them if they passively accept US demands.
A prime example of this was the ousting of the pro-US Bolivian president, Sanchez de Lozada, last October by huge militant protests and strikes by the Indigenous masses and others.
In Ecuador a year ago, Lucio Gutierrez was elected by popular vote on a very progressive political platform. Now he has aligned with the US against the masses. The people are now trying to oust him, too, and several actions are organised for the coming weeks.
Popular governments have been elected in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala and Paraguay, and the forces of the Bolivarian Revolution keep growing stronger in Venezuela.
In Uruguay, the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) is likely to win the October 2004 general elections.
Even in Colombia, where the right-wing government aligned with the US abets assassinations of union leaders and progressives, the masses defeated a devastating referendum pushed by President Alvaro Uribe. The following day, a left-wing candidate was elected mayor of Bogota, the second most important government post in the country.
Also, there has been tremendous opposition in Latin America to the US war against Iraq.
The growing recognition that the real terrorism comes from the US is accompanied by an increase in acceptance, friendship and cooperation with Cuba.
This change of the political spectrum has correctly made the Bush administration think that the goal of achieving the FTAA by the year 2005 is at risk. They were hoping that the talks towards that goal would be wrapped up this year. That is why this "extraordinary" summit took place.
Chavez: 'FTAA is a cadaver'
Bush and the US ruling class did not get what they wanted. The final statement vaguely mentioned continuing discussions in the spirit of the Miami 2003 ministerial meeting, where the US insistence on continuing agricultural subsidies almost stopped the FTAA negotiations in their tracks. As Chavez said, "The FTAA is a cadaver".
The other main issue pushed by Washington was the exclusion of "corrupt governments" from the negotiations. The opposition to this was equally strong, since the US gave no definition of what it meant by "corruption". It was perceived as a plot to exclude any government that the US deemed problematic.
The most significant outcome of the summit was the emergence of two poles — on one hand, the US, Canada and Mexico with a few others; on the other, for the first time in history, a bloc of countries opposed to the neoliberal policy of the US in the region.
Cuba, which has resisted imperialism for 45 years, is of course part of this bloc, even though it is not part of the OAS. The bloc also includes Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and the majority of the CARICOM countries of the Caribbean.
In desperation to dismiss the growing stature and respect for Cuba and Venezuela in the region because of their stand for dignity and sovereignty, the US mounted an attack on both countries before and during the summit.
US undersecretary of state for hemispheric affairs Roger Noriega, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell and President Bush all generated a verbal blitzkrieg against both countries, accusing them of being undemocratic and destabilizing the region. Bush also accused President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina of being a friend of Fidel Castro, to which Kirchner responded that Argentina is a sovereign country and not the USA's backyard.
Similar arrogance was displayed against Brazil. But the fiercest attack was against Chavez, whose audio was even cut off during his speech to the summit. Chavez was the head of state most opposed to the FTAA and the summit in general.
After Bush criticised Cuba, Chavez spoke in its support. He mentioned the Robinson Mission, in which 100,000 Cuban teachers have brought literacy to 1 million Venezuelans, and the Barrio Adentro (inside the neighbourhood) Mission, in which 10,000 Cuban healthcare providers have helped the poorest of the poor in Venezuela's most desperate neighbourhoods.
With the deliberate aim of dividing to rule, Bush held a press conference before the summit with Mexican President Vicente Fox, announcing, among other things, that Mexico was going to be involved in Venezuela's referendum to recall President Chavez.
Mexico will give US$10,000 to an OAS organisation to be an observer during the referendum. But there may not even be a recall referendum, since Venezuela's constitution states that one can be held only if there are a required number of valid signatures — something the country's National Election Council must decide.
What makes the US rulers so desperate? Their dreams of hegemony in the hemisphere are vanishing along with control over the resources. South America is a very wealthy region with precious metals, fertile lands, oil, gas and great biodiversity.
The market of "southern cone" countries, Mercosur, which encompasses Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, is planning to include Venezuela, which is in the north.
The Latin American and Caribbean countries are forming economic associations to challenge the US, dealing a major blow to Wall Street's plans for the region.
To secure its domination of the region, the US is fast militarising the hemisphere. But a popular slogan now is, "Beware, imperialists, Bolivar's sword is moving throughout Latin America".
[Abridged from Workers World, weekly paper of the US Workers World Party. Visit <http://www.workers.org/>.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 4, 2004.
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