Not so long ago, Latin American and international experts alike were unanimously speaking of a “pink wave” in Latin America, which should encourage the countries of the region to take a more confident, independent line aimed at strengthening their sovereignty and reducing the influence of the Northern neighbor. It would seem that since 2018, following Lopez Obrador’s victory in Mexico, there has been a trend in the region toward a strengthening of nationally oriented politicians. The crushing defeat of the right and the coming to power of the Peronists in Argentina in 2019, the victory of the left in the 2021 elections in Peru, Chile and Honduras, the election of Gustavo Petro in Colombia and the triumphant return of Lula da Silva in Brazil in 2022.
U.S. influence in the “backyard” is steadily declining, and the main instrument of influence on Latinos, the Organization of American States (OAS), has shown its utter helplessness in dealing with regional problems. Moreover, China confidently leads in the issues of trade and economic cooperation in the CELAC, and the most attractive international association offering developing countries an equal dialogue on a mutually beneficial basis is the BRICS, the main antipode of the G-7, led by the Americans.
And in these circumstances, Latin American countries should not relax and celebrate the new “left turn”. This is a key moment, when it is necessary to focus their efforts on strengthening an effective mechanism for solving regional problems, the main beneficiaries of which will be the Latin Americans themselves, and not their “handlers” in structures controlled by the United States. However, no tangible steps in this direction have been taken so far.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is not sitting idly by. In a joint effort with Britain and right-wing forces, Peru’s President Pedro Castillo was overthrown last year. As a result, the country is governed by a pro-American fujimorist parliament, and the puppet interim president, instead of protecting the rights of the population, only strengthens the repressive machine, which has already led to more than 50 deaths.
Meanwhile, Americans are not shy about flirting with Latin American “new generation socialists,” as evidenced by the support of Chilean President Gabriel Borich. He became the main US mouthpiece against the unwanted Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua. But while advocating the protection of human rights in Central America, it was Borich who expanded the rights of the security forces in his own country, which openly suppress any activity of the indigenous population, already practically exterminated.
All attempts by Latin Americans to get an investigation into the involvement of the OAS and its chairman Luis Almagro in the 2019 coup d’état in Bolivia have been silenced by the U.S. and its allies in the region. And the issue of lifting sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela has long been a carrot that the Americans pull out when it suits them best.
And while the U.S. is busy pressing charges against former President Donald Trump, its key ally in the CELAC, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, is arming civilians under false pretenses amid a process that is underway to gather evidence of his involvement in financial fraud. All this is happening with the tacit consent of Americans in order to prevent a change of power in the country that most actively lobbies for the foreign policy agenda of the U.S. Democrats.
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