What´s With the Brouhaha In Latin America, Anyhow?
By Paul Kendall

What is going on in Latin America? It appears to be a mess. Unfriendly social democracies are negotiating trade deals with China and nationalizing foreign companies. They have blocked our global trade negotiations and thwarted our will in the Organization of American States and at the United Nations. Hugo Chavez preaches anti-Americanism to great applause; ¨Fidelism¨ seems to be gaining momentum; and the Sandinistas are back in Nicaragua.

These things are what we hear and read. But what is really going on in Latin America is that the region is passing through a wave of popular democracy that has deeply ambivalent feelings about the United States.

The United States supported the nineteenth century wars of independence that freed the region from European monarchs and that brought to power the American-born heirs of the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors. The U.S. then moved into the geopolitical vacuum to exploit much of the region´s vast resources. Our banks got control of Cuba; our mining interests got Chile's copper; Exxon got Venezuela's oil; and the United Fruit Company got Guatemala.

During the twentieth century, various reform movements sought to replace the region's military dictatorships and ruling elites with popularly elected governments and to reassert national sovereignty over natural resources. This process was, at times, aided, resisted, or ignored by the United States. The high points of our assistance were the "Good Neighbor" policies of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt and the "Alliance for Progress" of President Kennedy. The low points of our resistance were President Wilson's use of the marines in Central America, Eisenhower's and Nixon's use of the CIA to topple the Guatemalan and Chilean governments, and Reagan's illegal support of the Nicaraguan Contras.

For the people of Latin America, the ultimate triumph of elected governments opened the door to the current wave of popular democracy, one in which elected officials are expected to address the longstanding demands for land reform, economic opportunity, human rights, and personal security. After a decade or two of trying to improve their situation through the electoral process, however, the promised benefits of democracy seem small, inadequate, and too slow in coming, especially to many in the vast non-land-owning rural and non-business-owning urban populations.

Hence, throughout the region the door is now open to those who would use the electoral process to promote misguided populist solutions. President Kirchner has renounced Argentina's burdensome foreign debt. President Morales is seeking control over Bolivia's gas reserves. President Correa has plunged Ecuador into a constitutional crisis. And of course, President Chavez is using Venezuela' great oil wealth to cheer everybody on.

From the earliest days of our nation, our security has been tied to Latin America. As our neighbors to the south, control over Latin America's political allegiances and access to its natural resources and markets have long been focal points of our foreign policy. Latin America, on the other hand, has always been proud, fiercely independent, and wary of the great power to its north.

Now, with a geopolitically weakened United States and with the growing strength of the region's oil, gas, and industrial economies, some Latin American leaders believe their nations have the power to achieve greater diplomatic independence from the U.S. and to better balance its economic relationships with Washington. In addition, many in the region see some of our longstanding policies as irrelevant or inimical to the realities confronting their governments.

Latin America's political concerns focus upon human security issues, like dealing with natural disasters and poverty; and upon global security issues, like maintaining national sovereignty and protecting small-scale agriculture in the face of globalization. From this perspective, our militaristic and combative policies, like fighting a drug war in Colombia, illegal immigration through Mexico, global terrorism, and Fidel Castro, appear to be out-dated, self-defeating, and hostile.

It would be wrong to conclude from recent news stories, however, that the current upswelling of national sentiment and anti-Americanism need threatened either our security or our economic well-being. Despite the noise they make, the few populist demagogues can be contained, and the more numerous moderate leaders can be kept as our friends.

Latin America is our natural ally. All that we need do to retain its friendship is to respect the legitimate aspirations of its peoples and to demonstrate the practical utility of our liberal, democratic way of life. Opportunity for your children to have a better life and pride in your nation are desires with which we should be able to easily identify.

Instead of militarizing our relationships and viewing social movements as agents of terrorism, we could balance our trade policy with better administered economic adjustment programs, adopt a realistic immigration policy, and support the region's desire for a greater voice in world affairs. Patience, restraint, generosity, and understanding are our best strategies.