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after decades--indeed, more than a century--of egregiously unfair and unfree U.S. corporate domination and exploitation of this region.
This huge and historic change for the better has come about entirely because of election victories by the LEFT all across South America and up into Central America, giving the countries with real representation of their peoples' interest sufficient clout to implement a new policy: south-south and "global south" trade, on a more "level playing field."
U.S. corporations have never wanted a "level playing field" on which contracts with LatAm governments are negotiated for mutual benefit. They want ALL the profits. And they have used sometimes brutal and always unfair powermongering to ravage these countries, to enslave their workers, to steal their resources, to loot public services with "privatization," to destroy social programs, to bust labor unions, to silence dissent and to buy or install governments that do their bidding--all, of course, with U.S. government assistance, using U.S. taxpayer money to destroy democracy and social justice movements.
Latin Americans have been smart in a way that we have not been--they have worked hard on their election systems, starting with honest, transparent vote counting (which we have now lost). They, too, have putrid corporate media--even worse than ours--and infusions of putrid money into rightwing candidates and causes (a lot of it our money, through the USAID and other agencies). The difference is the vote counting systems themselves, and the energy and commitment that honest vote counting inspires in grass roots groups. Invariably, the countries that have been able to elect Leftist governments are the ones that have done the most work on honest elections and have the best election systems.
Three of these countries in trade talks with India have LEFTIST governments-- Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Mexico along for the ride (rightwing government). LatAm countries with rightwing governments are benefitting from this leftist democracy revolution and the cooperation and unity that it has brought about. Even Colombia--the worst ravaged country of them all--is coming around to this view. Being a U.S. client state is a loser. Joining together with other LatAm countries benefits all--and creating a powerful, independent trade block committed to "raising all boats" will make this Latin America's century, whereas domination by the U.S. will guarantee continued poverty and powerlessness.
Peru just recently elected a Leftist government, finally joining the Leftist consensus in the region--partly because U.S. "free trade for the rich" has not benefited the poor but also because the Leftist trend in the region benefits all countries. "South-south" cooperation, peace, regional financial/economic policy (strong banking regs, for instance, and regional financing of projects), mutually beneficial development, mutually beneficial trade and commitment to social justice are working miracles actually. Argentina--the U.S.-ravaged "basketcase" of "neo-liberalism-had 8% economic growth last year and 10% this year. All the Leftist countries are doing well, in spite of the Bushwhack worldwide crash.
Paraguay is an interesting case, too. They elected a leftist government in 2008. But before they did so, the long entrenched rightwing government had begun to satisfy leftist requirements for joining new leftist-inspired institutions, such as rescinding their non-extradition law and laws giving immunity to U.S. military personnel. Uruguay has been part of the leftist consensus for quite a while and recently elected a former leftist guerrilla as president. (So did Brazil.) These are leaders who fought brutal U.S.-supported dictatorships. They have had repeated lessons (in the case of both Brazil's and Uruguay's presidents, imprisonment and torture) on what U.S. domination means.
Mexico--the outlier in this group (rightwing government)--came within a hair's breadth (0.05%) of electing a leftist government in 2005, but the right won, in what was widely believed to be a fraudulent count (--fiddled at the top by electronic tabulators, probably with Bush junta assistance). But, as with Colombia, Paraguay and Peru, the political/economic establishment may be finally realizing the great opportunity that the Left has created for Latin America, and the advantages to Mexico.
When U.S. corps began outsourcing jobs to Mexico, if Mexican workers got uppity and demanded, say, $3 an hour instead of $2 an hour, the U.S. corps would move the operation to, say, Cambodia, where they could get away with 25 cents/hr. Mexico is just a footstool for the rich getting richer, at the expense of the poor, by shopping for the cheapest, most unprotected labor. It is also boiling with potential revolution and has a history of social/political revolution. And the Bushwhack "war on drugs" strategy of starting a huge gang war in the border areas--with the ATF even infusing it with weaponry--and all the unnecessary murder and mayhem that that has provoked, has also angered and alarmed Mexico's political establishment. A group of former presidents of Mexico recently called for the legalization of marijuana and ending the "war on drugs."
Mexican politicians cannot ignore their people the way ours do--even if they can occasionally pull off election fraud (which is no longer typical of LatAm countries, and is basically not possible in most of South America these days). One of the rightwing president's assignments (from the Bush Junta) was to privatize Mexico's oil. He has not been able to do it. The people of Mexico are too opposed to it. I also noticed, way back in 2006, when Bush Jr visited Mexico, that Mexico's rightwing president (Felipe Calderon) felt obliged to lecture Junior in public on the sovereignty of LatAm countries, using Venezuela as his example. I was amazed. Whatever his sincerity, he had to at least pretend to salute LatAm independence. The times were already a-changing even then.
Also, in Central America, four of the seven major countries have elected Leftist governments (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua), with a U.S.-supported coup in Honduras (in mid-2009) to change left to right. (Right = U.S. domination.) But the reaction to the U.S. coup in Honduras has been unprecedented. Led by Brazil, the once-U.S. dominated OAS threw Honduras out. Diplomatic relations cut off. Trade cut off. Recently a compromise was finally reached with the ousted president returned to the country (but not to his rightful, elected office) and constitutional reform agreed to by the U.S.-installed rightwing government. Brazil led this fight for all--for the Leftist consensus. Their purpose was not to destroy Honduras, rather to ensure democratic reform, which they have done (or have at least got off the ground). (Zelaya was ousted because he supported constitutional reform.)
ALL LatAm countries now have maneuvering room to act in their own interests, to defy U.S. dictates and to seek trade that is mutually beneficial. That is the background for this four-country trade negotiation with India. A region that the U.S. considers its "back yard" and that has been ruled by the "Monroe Doctrine" (exclusive U.S. corporate plundering rights) is now "open for business" with partners that must compete on LatAm terms: respect, equality, social responsibility, benefit to all.
Many other countries have entered this truly free market. Indeed, other countries around the world are flocking to it. LatAm has never seen so many trade deals and has almost never seen trade deals on a "level playing field" where they get to set some of the terms--for instance, percentage of profits to social justice programs, or requirement of local manufacturing and jobs. It is a wonder to behold. (Note: Venezuela was the pioneer in creating this new "level playing field," in its dealings with Exxon Mobil. That opened the path for others--Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and others followed suit, in similar kinds of negotiations, and the consensus was born.)
Our kind of predatory capitalism is not really capitalism. It is monopolistic and irresponsible. Capitalism, at bottom, is just people getting together and pooling their resources to accomplish some good for society. It is a tool for human progress but if you let it become a weapon of the rich for exploiting, rather than contributing to, society, it becomes very destructive. As with democracy itself, Latin America is showing us the real thing--not the corrupted, fake versions of democracy and capitalism, in our corporate-ravaged system--but the fresher essence of these things, and how they are really supposed to work.
And I should say that this has not been a easy thing for Latin America to achieve and it is still in-progress (with Central America the current battleground between U.S. domination and democracy). But if Latin Americans--who have suffered so much--can turn things around like this, so can we.
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