Latin America declared its independence from the hemispheric dominix, and in some cases from the global financial system. Declarations of independence can easily be missed, the moreso if they are not reported, or their significance is not appreciated.
Leaders of Latin America and the Carribean had a meeting in Brazil last week, which was notable from who were not and who were invited. The backyard seems to have disappeared from American political consciousness as it is drawn into the Central Asian money quagmire, less of Uncle Scrooge, more Uncle Stupid, or more simply the financial profligacy of a drunken sailor. The lesser people decided they could hold a conference without imperialists, past or present, and the report would have it to be significant that neither Spain or Portugal was invited, but Raul Castro was.
Raymond Colitt reported in Reuters (via Truthdig):
The global crisis, which has cut off credit lines and hit demand for the commodity exports of many countries, has threatened to undo years of economic and social progress in the region, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.
“Crises like the current one reveal the perversities of the current economic system,” Lula said.
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, who defaulted on a foreign debt payment this week, said emerging market economies didn’t cause the crisis but would end up paying a high price for it.
He said Latin American countries should pool their international reserves and speed up the creation of a regional development bank to help overcome the global credit crunch.
“The answer is integration,” said Correa.
. . . Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo said he was studying the legality of his country’s foreign debt, echoing the arguments made by Ecuador this week and raising the possibility of another default that would reinforce doubts about Latin America’s investment climate.
Rhetoric is a start, but the practical measures, according to the same report were less than impressive:
But behind the scenes, the show of unity looked fragile.
The newly-formed South American Union failed on Tuesday to agree on a secretary-general to lead it, and the regional customs union Mercosur failed to eliminate double taxation on imports that have held up negotiations with other trade blocs.
Still, you would have to believe that the sources of lack of social and economic development in Latin America are primarily structural, and their solution might be in developing better government and social integration. The political change seems to be happening, with the weakening of the imperial grip. It is a great pity that the globe faces a atmospheric and environmental crisis, because Latin America seems to have taken large steps toward independence, only to brought short by our increased interdependence.