Latin America Takes a Step Away from the U.S.
America's favorite foreign foe, Hugo Chavez has announced the creation of a new continental block called the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Spanish abbreviation CELAC). The president of Venezuela played host to other regional leaders who elected Chile's president as the first chair of the new bureaucracy. The summit ended with a roaring show of camaraderie by the regional leaders. The block aims to draw a contrast with the other better known continental organization of American States, the OAS. CELAC does not include the United States or Canada. The exclusion of these two countries has prompted the Time magazine to ask if Latin America is slowly shedding the influence of North America.
But many people are wondering if this organization is a real commitment of the region or if it is simply a ploy by Chavez to shore up the anti-American vote for next year's elections. Others think Hugo Chavez is trying to diffuse the recent questions about his health. He recently declared himself cancer free after several months of chemo therapy in Cuba. A blow to Chavez's story of a clean bill of health was dealt by the President of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner. The columnist Ana Julia Jatar reported that Kirchner declared she felt sad and broken hearted because of Chavez’s health and apparently told someone in her staff that there was sadness in the air during the sessions which suggests something serious is still going on.
The United States, through Hillary Clinton, has already said that the OAS is a critical organization for the region's develpment and that it will not support CELAC. Other leaders are motivated by OAS' behavior towards them. Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa has talked about being oppressed by it. In the end the interests of Latin America and the Caribbean are tied (although not always aligned) to the hemispheric giant that is the United States and although regional cooperation may be achieved within CELAC, the broader issues of the continent must include the United States and Canada.
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