[News] CELAC vs OAS, the Rebirth of Anti-imperialist Thinking

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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CELAC vs OAS, the Rebirth of Anti-imperialist Thinking
By Marcos Roitman Rosennman on January 22, 2023

Simon Bolivar

The dreams of those who fought for political independence in Latin America
at the beginning of the 19th century not only sought to put an end to the
domination of the Spanish empire, but were also the bearers of a proposal
for regional integration. However, their hopes clashed with a reality: the
birth of imperialism. This was a much more sophisticated form of control,
articulated under the process of internationalization of production,
markets and labor. Its purpose, the submission of the young nations,
establishing puppet States; pliable governments, with plutocracies far
removed from a national-popular proposal.

Imperialism focused its efforts on appropriating natural resources, flora,
fauna and subsoil wealth. The territories of Latin America were prey to
plunder. The gold and silver of the conquest were followed by raw materials
indispensable to accelerate the industrial revolution: petroleum, nitrate,
copper, guano, wheat, rubber, sugar, cocoa, etc. Great Britain and France
took the lead. They were a century ahead in the development of capitalism.
Behind them was an emerging player, the United States. The division of the
world into areas of influence sharpened the contradictions and conflicts
between the imperialist powers. Latin America became a continent in
dispute. But this also required an inter-imperialist pact, to derail any
project of unity whose banner was the anti-imperialist struggle. In the
20th century, this dilemma was repeated in Asia and Africa. Contemporary
history is plagued by plans that have ended up breaking up regional unity
and integration projects. In Latin America, the Monroe Doctrine marked the
beginning of hostilities. Since 1823, the United States has sought to
prevent the intervention of extra-continental actors in the exploitation
and control of the subcontinent. The slogan, “America for the Americans”
defines U.S. foreign policy for the region. If in the 19th century its
threat was France and Great Britain, after World War II it was the Soviet
Union and, in the 21st century, its place is taken by China.

The United States has always wanted the whole pie and is not willing, far
from it, to let other international players have a prominent presence in
the region. Today, its loss of influence is making it more belligerent.
Latin America is vital for it to maintain its power on a global scale. Not
only as a supplier of raw materials, but also as a guarantor of hemispheric
security on its southern flank. Thus, it will always hatch destabilizing
plans to break integration attempts where it has no representation, no
voice and no vote. It conspired against the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama
in 1826, whose objective was to create a confederation of Latin American
countries from Mexico to Chile. Simón Bolívar, its promoter, saw his hopes
frustrated by the treason and the Manichean intervention of the United
States. His phrase pronounced in 1829: “The USA, which seems destined by
Providence to plague America with miseries in the name of freedom” is
engraved in the conscience of the peoples of the region and is the history
of Yankee imperialism in Latin America. In its two centuries of
interventions, it has created an ideology and developed institutions from
which to carry out its proposals for domination. It has woven networks,
mutating its policies time and again under different acronyms. Its greatest
success was the creation in 1948 of two pillars of its imperialist policy:
the Treaty of Reciprocal Defense (TIAR) and the Organization of American
States. Both organizations, with the complicity of the pliable governments,
allow it to legitimize spurious wars, invasions, coups d’état,
assassinations, violation of human rights and countless threats. Gregorio
Selser documented them in a monumental work entitled Chronology of Foreign
Interventions in Latin America, published by the Autonomous University of
Mexico City and UNAM.

Their control of the OAS transforms the organization into a pillar of their
imperialist policies. Suffice it to point out two examples: the expulsion
of Cuba and the recognition of Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela. Nor
should we forget that its secretaries general end up behaving like harlots.
Chile’s José Miguel Insulza and Uruguay’s Luis Almagro Lemes have
demonstrated a follower-ship bordering on impudence. Their actions can only
be justified under the indignity of traitors. Their acquiescence to the
coups d’état in Bolivia and their support to the current president of Peru
are proof of their attitude.

This January 24, the Celac summit will be held in Argentina. It is a key
moment to regain protagonist position and be a counterweight to the
policies of the OAS, the TIAR. To be a dike of containment to U.S.
interventionism in the region. It is an opportunity that cannot be missed.
It must be the cradle of an emancipating, revitalized thought, the basis
for a regional integration proposal. The call opens a door to subtract
power and raise the foundations of a great homeland, the dream of Simón
Bolívar, Augusto Sandino, Lázaro Cárdenas, Fidel Castro, Salvador Allende
or Hugo Chávez. It is time for change and to pick up the baton. The
presidents of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela and
Bolivia must assume responsibilities and lead a new Latin American
integration project. The future of democracy in our America depends on
their determination and anti-imperialist commitment.

Source: La Pupilia Insomne
<https://lapupilainsomne.wordpress.com/2023/01/22/celac-vs-oea-el-renacer-del-pensamiento-antimperialista-por-marcos-roitman-rosennman/#respond>.
Translation Resumen Latinoamericano – US
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