[News] The Conservative Counter-Attack in Latin America

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.counterpunch.org/salas08072009.html

August 7 - 9, 2009


Honduras is Only Part of the Story

The Conservative Counter-Attack in Latin America

By MIGUEL TINKER SALAS

I would submit that events in Honduras are not 
isolated, but rather part of a conservative 
counterattack taking shape in Latin America. For 
some time, the right has been rebuilding in Latin 
America; hosting conferences, sharing 
experiences, refining their message, working with 
the media, and building ties with allies in the 
United States. This is not the lunatic right 
fringe, but rather the mainstream right with 
powerful allies in the middle class that used to 
consider themselves center, but have been 
frightened by recent left electoral victories and 
the rise of social movements. With Obama in the 
White House and Clinton in the State Department 
they have now decided to act. Bush/Cheney and 
company did not give them any coverage and had 
become of little use to them. A "liberal" in the 
White House, gives conservative forces the kind 
of coverage they had hoped for. It is no 
coincidence that Venezuelan opposition 
commentators applauded the naming of Clinton to 
the State Department claiming that they now had 
an ally in the administration. The old 
cold-warrior axiom that the best antidote against 
the left is a liberal government in Washington 
gains new meaning under Obama with Clinton at the State Department.

Coup leaders in Honduras and their allies 
continue to play for time. Washington's 
continuing vacillation is allowing them to 
exhaust this option, but so are right-wing 
governments in Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Peru. 
After all, this coup is not just about Honduras 
but also about left success in Latin America, of 
which Honduras was the weakest link. It is 
increasingly becoming obvious that there is no 
scenario under which elites in Honduras will 
accept Zelaya back. I do not think that they have 
a plan "B" on this matter and this speaks to the 
kind of advice they are getting from forces in 
the U.S. and the region. If Zelaya comes back, 
the Supreme Court, the Congress, the military and 
the church all-loose credibility and it opens the 
door for the social and political movements in 
Honduras to push for radical change that 
conservative forces would find more difficult to resist.

But Honduras is only part of the equation. 
Colombia's decision to accept as many as 7 new 
U.S. military bases (3 airbases, including 
Palanquero, 2 army bases, and 2 naval bases one 
on the Pacific and one on the Caribbean), 
dramatically expands the U.S. military's role in 
the country and throughout the region. The 
Pentagon has been eyeing the airbase at 
Palanquero with its complex infrastructure and 
extensive runway for some time. This is a very 
troubling sign that will alter the balance of 
forces in the region, and speaks volumes about 
how the Obama administration plans to respond to 
change in Latin America. A possible base on the 
Caribbean coast of Colombia would also offer the 
recently reactivated U.S. Fourth Fleet, a 
convenient harbor on the South American mainland. 
In short, Venezuela would be literally encircled. 
However, Venezuela is not the only objective. It 
also places the Brazilian Amazon and all its 
resources within striking distance of the U.S. 
military, as well as the much sought after 
Guarani watershed. After public criticism from 
Bachalet of Chile, Lula of Brazil and Chávez of 
Venezuela, Uribe refused to attend the 10 August 
meeting of UNASUR, the South American Union, 
where he would be expected to explain the 
presence of the U.S. bases. The meeting of the 
UNASUR security council was scheduled to take up 
the issue of the bases and Bolivia's suggestion 
for a unified South American response to drug 
trafficking. Instead, Uribe has launched his own 
personal diplomacy traveling to 5 different 
countries in the region to explain his actions. 
In addition, Obama's National Security Advisor 
James Jones is in Brazil trying to justify the U.S. position on the bases.

The recent media war launched by Uribe against 
Ecuador and Correa once again claiming financing 
of the FARC and the more recent offensive against 
Venezuela concerning 30 year old Swedish 
missiles, that like, the Reyes computers, cannot 
be independently verified, have filled the 
airwaves in Venezuela, Colombia and the region. 
The current Colombian media campaign was preceded 
by Washington's own efforts to condemn Venezuela 
for supposed non-compliance in the war against 
drug trafficking. In addition, Israel's foreign 
minister Avigdor Liberman also travelled 
throughout Latin America in July claiming that 
Venezuela is a destabilizing force in the region and in the Middle East.

Lost in all this, is the fact that Uribe is still 
considering a third term in office and his party 
has indicated it will push for a constitutional 
reform. So conflicts with Ecuador and Venezuela 
serves to silence critics in Colombia and keep 
Uribe's electoral competitors at bay. All we need 
now is for Uribe to ask the Interpol to verify 
the missiles origins and director Ron Noble to 
give another press conference in Bogota. Déjà vu all over again!

The right and its allies in the U.S. are also 
emboldened by the electoral victory in Panama and 
the very real prospects of leftist defeats this 
year in Chile and even Uruguay. Obviously they 
are also encouraged by the humiliating defeat of 
the Fernández / Kirchner's in Argentina. These 
developments could begin to redraw the political 
map of the region. Correa of Ecuador has already 
expressed concern about being the target of a 
coup and Bolivia will undoubtedly come under 
intense pressure as they are also preparing for an election later this year.

All this is occurring with an increased U.S. 
military commitment in Mexico with Plan Mérida 
which seeks to build on the lessons of Colombia; 
maintain in power a president whose economic and 
social policy are highly unpopular, but who 
relies on conflict, in this case the so-called 
war on the drug cartels, to maintain popularity. 
Parts of Mexico are literally under siege 
including, Michoacán, Ciudad Juarez, and Tijuana. 
The backdrop for this is a divided left, the PRD 
was the biggest looser in recent midterm 
elections, and social movements remains localized 
and unable to mount a national challenge.

None of these developments are forgone 
conclusions, but they nonetheless speak to the 
fact that conservative forces in Latin America 
and their allies in the U.S. are mounting a 
concerted counter offensive that could increase 
the potential for conflict in the region.

Miguel Tinker Salas is Professor of History at 
Pomona College. He is the author of 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/082234419X/counterpunchmaga>The 
Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture and Society in Venezuela.




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