Hugo
Chavez: with the formation of the U.S.-free Community of
Latin American and Caribbean States, are his geopolitical plans
for the region finally coming to fruition?
El Espectador, Colombia
Not All CELAC Nations
Agree with Anti-Imperialist Chavez
"The
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States came about as a result of an
intention to integrate Latin America without the intervention of the U.S. … But
doubts have been sown about whether the region can actually achieve
independence without the United States. What is true is that Latin America has placed
great importance on the search for autonomy."
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez appears pleased at the opening session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, in Caracas, Venezuela, Nov. 2.
Last Saturday in Caracas, the
summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States [CELAC]
took place. The event brought into existence this new organization, which will
attempt, according to the Venezuelan chief executive and host of the event [Hugo
Chavez], to "integrate the region politically, economically and socially,"
and replace the "worn out" Organization of American States [OAS].
CELAC emerged out of the age-old intention of integrating Latin America without the intervention of the U.S.
(which, along with Canada, has been excluded from the summit). The idea was
finally implemented by the Rio
Group, which was created in the 1980s. According to Frédéric Masse, professor
of international relations at the Universidad
Externado de Colombia, there is still no shortage of doubt about the
viability and future of this new organization. And how it will coordinate with,
supplement or replace the OAS is anything but clear.
Chávez described the summit
as, "the most important political reality in the Americas in the last 100
years or more.” The event includes the formation of a joint reserve economic
fund to cope with financial turmoil, and the creation of a human rights body
that will serve as an alternative to the OAS.
However, not everyone agrees
with Chávez' address about CELAC. Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Inter-American
Dialogue, doubts that CELAC will amount to anything more than a symbolic
reunion similar to previous initiatives (Mercosur, Unasur [Union of South American
Nations], CAN
[the Andean Community of Nations], ALBA
[Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America]) to unify a region where
anti-U.S. opinion (Venezuela, Cuba) converge with countries in search of
greater autonomy (Mexico, Brazil) and those that have good relations with the United
States (Colombia, Chile).
[From left to right] Ecuador President Rafael Correa, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez, and Cuba President Raul Castro, ay the
inauguration of the Latin American and Caribbean States
Whether CELAC was established
against or simply without the United States isn't quite clear. Eugenio Yáńez, a
reporter with Cuba Encuentro,
points out that the exclusion of the country to the north “has a distinctly anti-imperial
purpose."
Doubts have been sown about whether
the region can actually achieve independence without the United States. What is
true is that Latin America has placed great importance on the search for autonomy.
Those attending the summit agreed to consider “a step” toward integration - one
of many to come. In the words of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos - who
is convinced Latin America will be the continent of the decade: “The more we
integrate, the more prepared we will be to face this global economic hurricane
and instability on the rest of the planet.”
