Is Washington Losing Latin America to Democracy?

[kliljedahl]

By Ed Nelson
Jan 9, 2006, 19:45

Is Washington Losing Latin America? This is the title of an article from the Jan. / Feb. 2006 issue of Foreign Affairs, an important journal for policy wonks around the world. But the real title should have been: Is Washington Losing Latin America to Democracy?

The basic contradiction which confronts the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean is the antagonism between the spread of democracy and the adherence to the pro U.S. neo-liberal policies. As democracy spreads in the region, the democratic regimes, in accordance with the wishes of the people entitled to vote, tend to abandon neo-liberal policy, which often suffer from these policies. The U.S. imperialist who are anxious about this process must choose between real democracy in the region, or its neo-liberal policies. So far, U.S. imperialism has tried to peruse both democracy and neo-liberal policy, but the bottom line for U.S. Imperialism is that neo-liberal policy has always trumped democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Alarmed at the possibility that democracy, as reflected by recent events in Latin America, is undermining neo-liberal policies in the region, bourgeois neo-liberal policy wonks are pointing their fingers at George W. Bush and wondering how the U.S. capitalist class can put the preverbal Jennie back into the “U.S. hegemonic” bottle; they are not encouraged by the prospects.

In order to make Latin America and the Caribbean safe for U.S. capitalist exploitation, U.S. imperialism must confront the fact that democracy in Latin American is contrary to U.S. corporate interest in North America. The Latin American democratic dominos are falling fast, and there is no Soviet Union bug-a-bear to scare the folks at home, so the imperialist apologists must deal with the issue head on. That is what Peter Hakim, the author of the above cited Foreign Affairs article, has tried to do. Hakim is President of the Inter-American Dialogue, a neo-liberal organization and think-tank that promotes free trade (sic) in the Latin America region.

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Keith’s Barbeque Central

[malaise]

1. Great article

Thanks for that.

[Selatius]

2. We can make them accept neo-liberalism. That is easy.

Just take over their main sources of information and slowly choke off, over a course of several years or decades, salient pieces of information that may contradict the efforts of those willing to push pure unregulated free trade and pure capitalism.

It works the same in any country.

The solution is obvious then. Just break their grip on the news media or prevent them from ever gaining consolidated control over it.

[DiverDave]

3. Yep, they are all Terrorists!

They wont let the corporations rape and loot their countries?

Send in the marines, how DARE them not let bechtel, Kellogg,brown and root make an honest buck???

The threat, as I see it, is the runaway corporate power that feels they are ENTITLED to usurp the power of the people.
And it's our government that backs them.

[Sequoia]

4. Dublicate post.

Self delete.

[Sequoia]

5. Thanks. This is very interesting.

Ha, ha, ha DC you can't control everyone. Communisim is oh so 20th Century.

[BrotherBuzz]

6. We still got Paraguay, don't forget Paraguay

[kliljedahl]

8. Damn, I forgot Paraguay

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[applegrove]

7. I think neo-liberalism is a philosophy born out of a lack of control.

And the middle of the 20th Century was a horrid example of that. But that last half has been a lesson in that if people do not have a chance to participate - they often go nutty & extremist. So you must make sure real democracy becomes the norm everywhere - even if it means a leftist sometimes gets into power (from the point of view of cons) and all roads no longer lead to Rome.

[mantrid]

9. Hakim certainly sounds like a delightful fellow...

But it's always startling how poor the neo-liberals/neo-cons are at disguising their contempt for the democratic ideals they try to use a fig-leaf for their only real interest, US-led corporate capitalism.

[rman]

10. US foreign policy: Democracy bad, Dictatorship good

Or more accurately: Democracy bad if it does not have US interests at heart, Dictatorship good if it does have US interests at heart.