For four long decades in Latin America, the Caribbean island of Cuba thread a lonely socialist path through a capitalist quagmire. With the exception of the Sandinistas progressive yet turbulent rule in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, Communist Cuba was isolated and treated as a pariah state by the rest of Latin American countries. The latter were backed to the hilt by the United States and force fed a strict Washington Consensus diet of privatisation, neo-liberalism and free-market capitalism – euphemisms for greed, exploitation and oppression. North American dollars flowed to prop up right-wing dictators and their paramilitaries to quell popular left wing revolts. Now, with a left-tide engulfing Latin America, the political landscape has been transformed and the future of the continent’s 520 million citizens looks much brighter and full of hope.
The catalyst for Latin America’s recent surge to the left was unquestionably the 1998 election of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Not only has Chávez radically transformed the domestic situation in his own country, by channelling massive profits from the country’s vast oil wealth to education, health and subsidised food programmes, but he has also been instrumental in the whole region. Chávez has injected vibrancy into and brought the concept of “Socialism of the 21st Century” to life. Chávez has introduced a viable and workable alternative to capitalism. With the assistance of Latin American leftist presidents he has boldly stated that “we are creating the axis of good, the new axis of the century”.
From San Salvador down to Buenos Aires, the people have reacted to the rapacious capitalist system that has wreaked havoc in the region and have voted into office one leftist president after another. In 2003 Brazil elected Lula, a founding member of the Brazilian Workers Party. Although he has proven to be one of the more circumspect leaders, he has been re-elected by an electorate who admire his more humane leadership, with his opposition to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and his Zero Hunger programme. In 2005 Uruguay elected its first left-wing president in its entire history, Tabaré Vasquez. Although he has moderated his socialism as a member of the centre-left Frente Amplio (Broad Front) he remains committed to social justice, wealth redistribution and against privatisation. The following year in 2006, left-leaning Michelle Bachelet beat her centre-right billionaire businessman opponent in Chile’s Presidential race. The same year also witnessed the election, for the second time, of Sandinista ex-guerrilla Daniel Ortega as President of Nicaragua. Although Ortega receives much criticism from the left over alleged corruption and a watering down of his previous firebrand Marxism, there are still progressive elements in the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front).
In neighbouring Honduras President Manuel Zelaya, who was recently the victim of a reactionary right-wing coup d’état, sparked an about-turn in his country by shifting it from an unbending pro-US stance towards Latin America’s anti-imperialist crusade headed by Chavismo. Zelaya angered his country’s oligarchs with his social programmes for the poor; by raising the minimum wage by 60 percent; providing free school meals and pensions for the elderly; reducing the cost of public transport and by signing up to an alternative to the Free Trade Agreements.
More significant were the elections of Bolivia’s first indigenous President Evo Morales and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa in 2005 and 2006 respectively. These two Presidents are staunch allies of Chávez and are firmly positioned in his socialist camp. Morales has proven a fearless advocate of “Socialism in the 21st century”. When he took over he pledged that “the looting of our natural resources by foreign enterprises is over” and he has not disappointed. He has given the country’s indigenous minority, for so long trampled on, more power and dignity. He has also carried out land redistribution and renegotiated and nationalised contracts for the country’s vast gas wealth, which he is using to fund social projects for the people. His Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS – Movement towards Socialism) grew out of the highly-organised organic social movements that brought down previous presidents over the highly unpopular and unjust attempts to privatise water in 2000, more commonly referred to as the ‘water wars’.
In Ecuador outspoken Socialist Rafael Correa has also tackled multinationals head on and has kept his promise of ensuring that the country’s natural resources will benefit its citizens. He wants to build a “more just, fair, and dignified country”. Ecuador’s recently approved new constitution is one of the world’s most progressive and Correa, ironically an economist who studied in the United States, has proven another Latin American thorn in the side of the US Imperialist Empire.
In 2008, Fernando Lugo, Paraguay’s “Bishop of the Poor” or “Red Bishop” broke the 60 year presidential stranglehold of the right and emerged victorious. He is renowned within liberation theology circles, believing that capitalism is exploitative and a sin and that through political action social justice can be achieved for the poor and oppressed. Most recently, El Salvador’s Mauricio Funes of the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front), former left-wing guerrillas, won his country’s presidential race. He has pledged to end the privilege of the few who have amassed their wealth at the expense of the rest and champions social justice and solidarity.
Due to these developments, all democratic and peaceful, Latin America is no longer merely an annex of the United States. The continent has suffered untold poverty, misery and exploitation at the imperialist hands of the US and its bloody military dictators and proxies. Multinational corporations no longer have as free a reign to exploit and plunder natural resources. The Washington Consensus is no longer as prevalent. Privatisations are being reversed on a frequent basis. Dignity is being handed back to citizens. The masses are being politicised and are taking their destiny into their own hands, opting for progressive change through the ballot box. With their numerous referenda, presidential and recall electoral victories, Latin America has never known such democratic Presidents as Chávez, Morales and Correa, much to the chagrin of the capitalist democratic pretenders.
Latin America socialism is not mere rhetoric. ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance for Latin America, is proving a genuine alternative to capitalism. ALBA grew out of an original agreement between Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 and has huge potential. Now it has nine members including Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Honduras. It is a direct opponent of the Free Trade Agreements. ALBA puts people before profit. It is a system of mutual economic aid, akin to a socialist bartering system. The perfect example is in return for daily cheap Venezuelan oil, Cuba provides doctors and health care workers. Operación Milagro (Operation Miracle) is another example of a purely socialist economic exchange at work, and has provided over 1.5 million free eye operations. There is no exploitation, no pillage of natural resources. Citizens from both countries enjoy mutual benefit. Daniel Ortega summed ALBA up stating that it “represents the American peoples’ aspirations for independence and their rejection of the policies promoted by the United States, which have created a social emergency in Latin America”. It is fitting that ALBA translates as ‘dawn’ in Spanish.
Chávez has been pivotal in expanding his 21st century socialism. He is heavily influenced by his hero Simón Bolívar, Latin America’s great revolutionary who fought for Latin American independence and unity. Through new companies and organisations, the level of Latin American integration is unprecedented. Petrosur is attempting to integrate the region’s energy industries while Petrocaribe supplies oil at preferential prices for impoverished Caribbean nations. Codesur promotes regional defence collaboration. Telesur is a network that broadcasts an alternative message to that of the right-wing capitalist dominated media. Bancosur is a creation that could see the replacement of the neo-liberal IMF in the region, by supplying loans to countries for social projects without the stringent privatisation stipulations associated with the IMF.
Unquestionably Latin America is turning red. However there is no room for complacency and the left must remain vigilant. This became all too apparent recently when Honduran troops seized President Manuel Zelaya from his bed and flew him to Costa Rica under arrest. Despite the inauguration of US President Barack Obama initially signalling new hope for the region of Latin America, the US government’s lack of action and condemnation has been striking. Despite Obama’s charm, intellect and sophisticated articulation, the United States remains a capitalist superpower committed to imperialism. They continue to send millions of dollars of aid to Honduras, have not recognised what happened as a coup and continue to maintain diplomatic ties with the illegitimate Honduran government. Evo Morales has directly accused the US of being behind the coup which is certainly not unbelievable. He stated that “the imperial structure remains in force”. Hugo Chávez has blamed the US for “giving oxygen” to the illegitimate Honduran government.
The coup’s organiser was General Vasquez, the head of the Armed Forces and graduate of the infamous School of the Americas, euphemism for the School of death squads and coups. Many former right-wing military dictators and their generals were trained by US personnel here, including Panama’s former corrupt dictator Manuel Noriega, anti-Castro terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, former army officers of Augusto Pincohet and Guatemalan general José Montt who was responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Guatemalans. If the Honduran coup is allowed to succeed then it could prove an inspiration to those who want to return to the dark days of military dictatorships and halt the spread of Latin American socialism.
The right will always react, violently if needs must, to the threat posed from the left. The US attempted to invade Cuba in 1962 at ‘the Bay of Pigs’ because it was fearful of its Socialist revolution and ideals. How dare the Cubans offer healthcare and education free to its citizens, surely these should be commodities available only to those who can afford them? In 1973 Chile’s democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende was viciously overthrown, with CIA connivance, by notorious human rights abuser General Augusto Pinochet who went on to rule Chile with an iron fist under a ruthless dictatorship. After the successful Sandinista revolution which overthrew corrupt dictator Anastasio Somosa in 1979, the US backed the Honduran-based ‘contras’ to fight against the Sandinistas in a civil war to prevent the spread of progressive socialist programmes and reforms. The US also funded ruthless right-wing regimes in El Salvador and Guatemala in the 1980s and 1990s to extinguish the threat from left-wing guerrillas in the popular rebellions. In 2002, the CIA was directly involved in the coup d’état that threatened to unseat Hugo Chávez from power.
The right only accept true democracy when it favours them and facilitates them to exploit the masses and hold onto their privileges. A defeat for the left in one country is a defeat for the international left. Solidarity is crucial. Not just words but actions. As the global economic system implodes, Latin American Socialism of the 21st Century provides a shining beacon to progressive people throughout the world and must be protected at all costs. Viva el socialismo del siglo 21!
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