From Castro to Ortega: Latin America fights US influence http://www.irna.ir/ENNewsShow.aspx?NID=30678092&SRCH=1 The emergence of national governments with leftist sentiments in Latin America has virtually ended the traditional American influence in the region.However, the hatred of Latin American nations towards the US is making it real difficult for Washington to regain its foothold in the continent.The US obsession with plans to increase its power in other parts of the world made it neglect the Latin America which was once regarded as its private backyard. Particularly, following the 9/11 incident, the US focused on policies which concentrated on the event in their hard cores which naturally provided the chance for Latin American nations to have a breathe of relief. Also, the US expansionist foreign policies in the Middle East and its aggressive and hegemonic operations in the region not only received no support from Latin American countries but caused the US loose its control over the continent. The national awakening wave triggered in the region is one of the major elements in the political developments in Latin America. When Americans realized their power was fading, they started to take measures. The first thing to do for them was to fight the socialist axis in Latin America and then try to expand its economic role in the continent by making new investments there. The third step was to consolidate and increase military and security cooperation with Latin American states. After socialists gained ground in the Latin American politics and administrations in past few decades, now nations are witnessing the emergence of populist governments which are coming to power from inside ballot boxes. These newly-emerging governments like the ones in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Argentina have explicit anti-American views and oppose the neo-liberalist policies of the United States. These now-socialist countries embarked on nationalizing their countries’ main infra-structures. Now, the US was alarmed with loosing its private backyard so it decided to amend its faulty policies towards the continent by promising to invest 5.2 billions of dollars annually for the next ten years on poverty-eliminating projects. The US officials are also seeking to increase their military and security presence in the continent by offering free-of-charge trainings to the army in a number of Latin American countries. Since the late 1980s, the world has been witnessing the downward trend of America’s neo-liberalist policies in the Latin America. At present, two-third of countries in the continent is run by leaders who manifest leftist political affiliations. Venezuela is number one in the list of these progressive governments which heralds campaign against the US. In 1948, the US established an organization in Latin America to reinforce its own policies there but now the leftist countries are building another structure which is not going to entail either the US or Canada. On the other hand, the presence of other countries like Iran, China and Russia in Latin America has had a great impact on the form and content of the relations between the continental states and America. Iran and China play an economic role there while Russia has portrayed a military picture of itself. Though the US is taking great efforts to restore its old role and position in Latin America, experts believe that the sad stories nations there retain in their minds from an American strong presence will certainly stop Washington from fulfilling its dream. The proof is that any reliance on an American economic pattern or receiving any kind of support from the US is now considered as negative point for political parties in elections.
No comments:
Post a Comment