In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
The meeting of South American leaders this past weekend revealed quite a bit about the evolving nature of Latin American politics since the economic crisis late last year. The gathering, officially convened under the umbrella of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), showcased the emerging fault lines in the continent’s international relations, and indicated that the pendulum of power may be swinging from left to right more forcefully than previously thought.
The central issue around which the various Latin leaders tussled was the recent accord between Colombia and the United States which allows Washington to increase its military presence throughout the region. The agreement, which only recently came to light through leaks uncovered by the Colombian press, seem to confirm the suspicions of some that the American Empire is creeping back through the continent, and posing a threat to regional stability.
Predictably leading the attack against the US-Colombian deal were Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa. Chavez was particularly vocal in the lead-up to the summit, claiming to feel the gusting “winds of war” nearing the Venezuelan border, and arguing that the US-Colombia accord was a de facto initiation of hostilities against his country. “These seven Yankee bases are a declaration of war against the Bolivarian Revolution,” Chavez said Tuesday, noting that the United States had plans to take over Venezuela’s oil.
But Chavez’s grandstanding with Correa’s side-kicking support only served to embarrass him in front of his regional counterparts at the UNASUR summit. First, after Chavez and Correa demanded that copies of the US-Colombia accord be made public for all to see, Colobia’s Alvaro Uribe informed them that the agreement is available online. Then, reminding Chavez of his assertion that the accord was a Trojan Horse designed to pave the way for Washington’s intention to seize Venezuela’s oil, Peru’s Alan Garcia highlighted his hypocrisy. “Man, why are they going to dominate the petroleum if you already sell it all to the United States?,” a barbed reference to the fact that, even during the lowest ebb of US-Venezuelan relations during the Bush era, Chavez has consistently maintained Washington’s sweetheart deal with Caracas that allows the former to import oil from the latter at fire sale prices.
Despite the vitriol, warnings of war, and expressed opposition to both Colombia and its partners in Washington, the conference produced a final document that, well, endorsed Colombia and its partners in Washington. Uribe has steadfastly maintained that the deal brokered with Washington aids his country in its fight against narcoterrorism and international organized crime, a position echoed in the final document’s affirmation of the continent’s commitment to “fight terrorism and transnational organized crime.” Moreover, no prohibitions against foreign military presence in the region were mentioned, but instead the document determines that foreign militaries must not “threaten the sovereignty or integrity of any South American nation,” whatever that means.
The UNASUR meeting in Argentina enjoyed scant coverage in the United States, but should have grabbed the attention of policymakers in Washington. Aside from the fact that the summit demonstrated that the continent continues to cohere politically through increased multilateral cooperation, it also shined a spotlight on the increasingly apparent weaknesses of the region’s supposed revolutionary left — a contingent that looks less revolutionary and leftist, not to mention less meaningful, by the day.
The summit points out what may become the shape of South American politics in the decade to come. Without the means and legitimacy enjoyed even a few years back, it looks as if leaders like Chavez and Correa will have to content themselves with expressions of bluster and blistering rhetoric. Because when all is said and done, and the time for action arrives, it seems they’ll be forced to line up behind whatever decisions are taken by the actual leaders in Latin America — Brazil and Chile now, with others likely to emerge — which will only further diminish their standing at home, and abroad. After all, actions speak louder than even the loudest, scariest words.
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