Now that almost all of Latin America has formed the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States – without the United States – what will be the fate of the Organization of American States?
Continuing with our coverage of reaction to the new alliance from around the region, this editorial from La Razon of Bolivia casts a surprisingly skeptical eye on the new grouping.
The La Razon editorial says in part:
The creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Cancun, Mexico, can be seen as a diplomatic triumph for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, even though its birth wasn’t entirely free of friction between the leaders of Colombia and Venezuela. While this is obviously a “Bolivarian” victory – unexpectedly assisted by Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Felipe Calderón of México – one has to ask what fate awaits the new Community and what purpose it will serve? … Supposedly, the OAS will continue. But what functions will it retain if the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States contains 33 nations, except for the United States and Canada? It’s clear that the major issues in Latin America and the Caribbean will be addressed by this new regional body, and the OAS will lose what little-exercised leadership it still possessed. Of course, the United States won’t be interested in staying in a marginalized OAS to which, moreover, it is the largest financial contributor. If the OAS has been a dying body, it must now inexorably die, regardless of what some people say.
The goal of excluding the United States from the dialog in Latin American and Caribbean has been achieved. But what now? Will the nations of our continent have to relate with the world’s leading power only bilaterally? Won’t this be more complicated? Or are we going to ignore the U.S.? And why has Canada been excluded? Is it because it is imperialist or because it’s a highly developed country and, as such, doesn’t fit in well with the third world? With this decision the American hemisphere has been cut in two, leaving the wealthy countries outside, so as, in the words of President Lula, to achieve our “personality as a region.”
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