Pay Attention

“Thousands of Venezuelans have received free surgery through the program, and thousands of Cuban doctors are working in Venezuela.”

While we're off fighting in Iraq and bartering with China and sending nickels to Africa, Latin America has been changing. To those unaware of politics south of the border, a trend has emerged and will continue: a giant leap leftward. While this is a small step for Marxism and one giant leap for the poor, the ramification will be long and deep. If you don’t believe me, then let’s talk in 2010 after you take your sweet spring break trip to Cancun and let me know if it was as killer as your trip was this year.

Do yourself a favor and read every word of this essay by Gavin Esler. The issues he raises may not sound the alarm bells now, but again, in 2010, the South American political landscape will look very unfamiliar. Or maybe familiar again:

• Daniel Ortega, the Sandanista who was deposed under the Reagan administration by American-funded Contras (although he was technically succeeded by a democratically elected president) may very well get democratically elected again. Talk about a comeback.
• While Hugo Chavez may not be buddies with Pat Robertson, he continues to get high ratings from Venezuelans and is now expanding his goodwill missions to 11 other countries via medical campaigns to the rural and indigenous poor. Something like that makes me want to vote socialist. (FYI: The program in Mexico may be connected to a socialist candidate for that country’s next presidency.)
• Mr. Chavez has also ordered 15 helicopters (3 of which have been delivered) in order to “protect against an American invasion.”
• AND, Mr. Chavez continues to declare some privately foreign owned oil fields illegal, and then take them into state control, trying to grow Venezuela into the world’s largest oil producer. AND OPEC is having their annual meeting in Caracas (that’s the capital of Venezuela, for those of you who didn’t take Spanish I).
• Chile elected its first female president in January, Michelle Bachelet, who was considered the left-of-center candidate.
• Peru could very well elect Ollanta Humala on Sunday, who is campaigning on a platform to restrict foreign investment in Peru.
• Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, wants to both legalize the crop that is the main ingredient in cocaine and nationalize the country’s natural resources.

During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, while we were trying to show Russia that communism stopped at their borders, citizens south of us were getting shafted. There were guerilla warfare and kidnappings. For a better understanding of the ramifications of US involvement to get rid of governments we didn’t like, read Gustavo Gutierrez’s A Theology of Liberation.

While many economies have been roaring ahead in Latin America, there is still a giant leap of a divide between the rich and the poor. Politicians, like those above (with the exception of Chile’s president), rally their support by blaming American involvement and investment on their soil. It’s no mystery that blaming someone is an easy way to be popular.

State ownership and allocation of resources will only continue and who knows how elections in Peru, Nicaragua, and Mexico will turn out. But, if they happen like those of Venezuela and Bolivia, America needs to watch out. What if there were a Latin American Union with a shared set of ideals that closes doors on US businesses and profits? Latin American has been a faithful trading partner and sphere of influence since we stole part of Mexico and called it Texas. Losing it as such an ally would have further reaches than my semi-educated self can discuss in this essay. Just because it can’t commit billions of dollars and thousands of troops to a war on terror is no reason to ignore it.

We clearly don’t need to launch preemptive strikes on countries like Uruguay or invade Venezuela and its 15 Russian helicopters to make sure everyone stays our friend. The people have voted in fair and democratic elections. The poor have come from the slums and the mountains and voted for the candidate who promises to help them, even if that candidate pointed his or her finger northward in accusation. I’m not saying we need to send secret marketers to those countries either, spreading the gospel of capitalism like Mormons on bikes. But, we do need to take notice and be able to remain in peaceful coexistence with those who think differently.

While we were sleeping, a revolution was stirring…