US strategy in Latin America was wrong

[CHIMO]

Three years ago I wrote an article arguing that the political changes sweeping across Latin America were epoch-making and probably irreversible, and that they would fundamentally alter the relationship between the region and the United States. Some of the most important economic causes of the region's shift to the left – including the unprecedented long-term growth failure since 1980 – were unrecognised then and remain mostly unacknowledged to this day.

At the time, Washington's stated strategy was to isolate Venezuela from its neighbours. This was before the election of additional left governments in Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Paraguay and El Salvador. I argued that this strategy was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what was happening in the region, and that it would only succeed in isolating the United States from its southern neighbours.

All this has come to pass, but more interestingly, for the first time we have an acknowledgement of this failure from the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. At a press conference last Friday, she said in response to a question about Venezuela:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/may/05/obama-clinton-latin-america

[ShortnFiery]

1. Ya think?!?

"Another song inspired by Dubya" -David Rovics.

The President got on TV and there was nary a dry eye, he said he loved his country and mom and apple pie
He said he was a proud man and he liked his home fries grilled, and as for countries harboring terrorists, those people should be killed
He said we'd send our bombers to deal with rogue states and all those evil people would have to meet their fates
So it was with some trepidation that I looked up to the skies, 'cause I was driving past Fort Benning when I came to realize

That I guess we're gonna have to bomb Columbus, Georgia, home of the infamous SOA
'Cause they train the death squads of Colombia who commit a massacre every day
Civilians are their targets, folks just like you and me
I guess that makes them terrorists, any idiot must agree

And I was heading further south for a vacation to spend some time hanging on the beach
Soaking up some sun and playing volleyball with all my troubles out of reach
And then I saw Brothers to the Rescue flying in the clouds above my head
And I thought this trip might not be too restful if tomorrow I am dead

'Cause I guess we're gonna have to bomb Miami, with all those insurgents running loose
Killing Cubans at the Bay of Pigs and elsewhere, they say they've got some kind of excuse
But isn't terror terror irregardless if your victim is a fan of Karl Marx
So let's bring on the cluster bombs and napalm, kill off some people, fish and sharks

Well I thought I would head north, go someplace where I might feel safe
These thoughts all seemed a bit unsettling, I was feeling a bit like a lost waif
It was then I thought I'd move to Costa Rica, though such a thing seemed terribly uncouth
Because I suddenly realized with horror, the terrifying clear and present truth

I guess we're gonna have to bomb Washington, DC, 'cause terrorists are lurking all around
Sending soldiers, guns and money wherever death squads and dictators may be found
So let's appreciate the situation, take your Orwell off the shelves
If we are to listen to our President then we're going to have to bomb ourselves