Now that Latin American and the Caribbean nations have formed a new alliance that pointedly excludes the United States and Canada, what can we expect? Earlier we posted an article from Brazil headlined Latin American Unity Cannot Be Dependent on Excluding the U.S..
Now, providing an overview about what was and was not agreed to at the launch of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Mexico last week, La Jornada columnist Raul Zibechi writes that while the final declaration contains ‘no deadlines,’ it marks a major step forward for the region:
The creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is part of a global and continental shift, characterized by the decline of U.S. hegemony and the rise of a group of regional blocs, and which is part of a new global balance. Preparations for the creation of a body without the participation of Canada and the United States have been in the works for some time, but they began to more actively take shape a few months after the notable failure of the OAS (Organization of American States) to resolve the crisis sparked by the coup in Honduras.
Signed by 32 presidents (with only Honduras absent), the Cancun Declaration notes that the goals of the new organization are “to deepen the political, economic, social and cultural integration of our region,” defend “multilateralism” and “speak out on the great issues and events on the global agenda.”
In the short term, this puts a break on the repositioning of the United States in Colombia and Panama with plans for 11 military bases, but also Honduras and Haiti. Let’s keep in mind that when Colombia’s attack on Ecuador occurred in March 2008, with the bombing of the camp of [FARC leader] Raúl Reyes, the process of creating UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) and the South American Defense Council accelerated. The second issue is long term: the formation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States concludes a long cycle of seeking autonomy from the imperial center.
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