A UNITED STATES OF LATIN AMERICA?

Latin America’s new left wing leaders believe they can create a United States of Latin America that will lead to the rise of an economic power block to rival the European Union and China.
That was just one of the claims made during a two-day conference in Bolivia in December attended by the leaders of twelve Latin American nations, including the presidents of Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Nicaragua. In a fiery speech, Evo Morales, the socialist president of Bolivia, said the leftward trend on the continent was unparalleled and it would banish a history of subjugation and injustice. Brazils’ president, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, agreed and said the time for integration had come and that South America, if not all of Latin America could one day see a unity parliament sitting in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba. He added that South America remained one of the last regions of the planet that had not fully asserted itself politically by striving for integration. Now was the time to change that, he pointed out.
Most of the two-day conference, which was held in Cochabamba, was devoted to trade issues as well as financial ties to the dollar. Each of the leaders present had at one time or other been critical of the US link, especially where it related to free trade agreements. In the opening day of the conference, there was unanimous agreement that economic unity was an important element of the way forward in Latin America. That was a central feature in an address given by the Peruvian president, Alan Garcia. He stressed the rarely publicized fact that South America regularly produced more than China. However, he felt that China benefited from having its own currency whereas Latin America was tied to the dollar and therefore vulnerable to American political and financial pressures.
That issue was seized on by the recently elected president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa who trained as an economist in the United States. He said he would not sign a free trade agreement with the US but would seek instead to have extended trade preferences under a drug eradication agreement. As for the dollar, to which his country was tied, he told the other leaders he would maintain it as Ecuador’s currency for the next four years. He also expressed dissatisfaction with the free trade agreements Peru and Colombia have with the US pointing out that such agreements could cause Ecuador “incalculable” harm.
Center stage at the conference, as many expected he would be, was George Bush’s nemesis in Latin America, the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez. The White House sees him as the lighting rod for the “pink tide revolution” throughout South America and the catalyst for anti-America feeling in the region. In one of his typically flamboyant speeches, he talked about how the region needed “political Viagra,” because too many Latin American nations were making decision “without the power to execute them.” In his opinion, it was time to the unstuck from the bureaucratic morass and “these pyramids of paper.”
In part of his speech, he attacked US plans for free market prescriptions in Latin America and claimed that the leftward movement across the continent had effectively crushed a plan initiated a decade ago by Washington to put in place a hemispheric free trade agreement.
Chavez used humor in his speech and at one point had his audience laughing when he told them nations had to be careful in their dealings with Washington because those that signed free trade agreements were later “flooded with chickens’ hind quarters.” He made sure his audience was reminded of his generosity, especially his latest offer to help Ecuador’s economy by supplying it with oil. In return, all Ecuador would have to do would be to pay for refining the oil. In the past couple of years Chavez has entered into similar agreements with his neighbors, cleverly using his country’s oil surplus to enhance his reputation in the region and internationally. Venezuela is the world fifth largest producer of oil, a fact that irritates Washington because oil is not just about wealth but also about power and influence.
On the second day of the conference, Peruvian leader, Rafael Correa received applause when he called for a “land and river” trade route, linking Brazil’s Amazon forest region with Ecuador’s Pacific coastline. He claimed it would provide the region with an alternative to the Panama Canal.
The Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet tried to sound a note of moderation, pointing out that globalization was not all bad, as demonstrated by her country’s trade agreement with the US. She admitted however that globalization also had an ugly and “potentially very destructive” side.
Before the end of the summit, Brazilian president, Lula da Silva, a former metal worker, told his fellow leaders that they would need patience to resolve many of the “delicate” issues they had discussed.
“The solutions are difficult. We’re not just simple workers talking about a strike at the factory,” he warned.
While the summit was taking place, there were streets disturbances between supporters of Bolivian president, Morales and people opposed to his plan to re-write an important clause in the country’s constitution. It was an illustration of the fragile character of new regimes springing up across the continent in the rising “pink tide.”