The imperial counteroffensive in Latin America
Trying
to recover what it lost?
The
imperial counteroffensive in Latin America
By
Eduardo Dimas Read Spanish Version
How
strange! It now turns out that most of the Cuban ambassadors and
diplomatic officers are intelligence agents or officials. That’s what
El Nuevo Herald and The Miami Herald say. Could it be that they’re
trying to blame Cuba for what they’ve always done?
All
intelligence services used diplomatic posts to obtain information.
They regularly place them in low-ranking positions dealing with the
press, culture, consular affairs, etc.
Here
in Cuba we keep a long list of diplomatic functionaries in all
embassies who are or were intelligence agents in their countries. The
U.S. Interests Office in Havana wins the prize. An old definition of
diplomacy says it is "authorized espionage."
Anyone
who has lived for a while in that "world" — whose main
"art" is "to talk for hours without saying anything,"
"to give minor information in exchange for similarly minor or
major information," "to leak a bit of information that the
government wants spread" and, above all, "to not make a
fool of oneself" — knows that’s a fact.
That
is why one is drawn by the articles — and the media that publish
them — that mention the links or involvement of some Cuban
functionaries with intelligence. It is a foolish campaign to
discredit the Cuban Revolution, one more effort to create concern
among people who don’t know the ins and outs of that difficult
profession.
Let
me remind you that the U.S. Department of State has its own
intelligence service, linked to the rest of U.S. intelligence
agencies, which number 16. No small number.
But
that foolish campaign cannot be separated from other events that
happen (without apparent connection) as part of the White House
counterattack on the process of change occurring in Latin America.
We
could point to the campaign against Hugo Chávez and the
Bolivarian Revolution in most of the media in the U.S. and Europe,
especially in Spain. Also the campaign waged against Evo Morales and
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, particularly after the incident
in which the Colombian Army violated the sovereignty of Ecuador and
massacred 26 people, among them an Ecuadorean and four Mexican
citizens.
Those
campaigns are waged, above all, because the three presidents have
placed their national interests above those of the transnational
corporations; because the three have taken anti-neoliberal stances
and are against the free-trade treaties and for Latin American
integration, a naughty word for the power elites in the U.S. and
Europe.
The
U.S. attempt to turn Álvaro Uribe’s government in Colombia as
the point of the spear of the counterattack, in military terms, is
part of the game. After the Rio Group and the Organization of
American States (OAS) condemned the violation of Ecuador’s
sovereignty, the Colombian defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, has
continued to make bellicose and threatening statements against
Ecuador.
Santos
has told President Correa to not make a mistake and has declared that
Colombia’s violation of Ecuadorean sovereignty was an "act of
legitimate defense," in perfect harmony with the official
statements of the U.S. government.
In
addition, the government in Bogotá has refused to pay
indemnification, requested by the Mexican government, to the Mexican
victims of the massacre, five sociology students at Mexico’s
Autonomous National University (UNAM). It looks like cheap bullying
— and it is — but it is also part of a game of provocation.
Latin
American media last week pointed out that, beginning in 2007, the
Plan Colombia entered a new phase (Plan Colombia II) that must last
until 2013, with an investment by the U.S. government of more than
$10 billion, a sum that could rise to $43 billion in 2017.
The
objective is clear: to terminate the Colombian guerrilla movement and
make big investments in infrastructure as part of the Puebla-Panama
Plan and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which, all
together, signify the United States’ total domination over Latin
America.
Parallel
to the Plan Colombia are the constant visits by high-ranking U.S.
military officers to various countries, their statements against what
they call "populism" and the "danger" it
represents for the region’s stability.
What
they call "populism" are the plans for social benefit and
justice that are being made in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador; the
nationalist policies in Argentina and Brazil; the processes of
regional integration. To Washington, "populism" is the
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which has returned
their eyesight to more than a million visually impaired people and
has saved hundreds of thousands of lives through Operation Miracle.
In
other words, "populism" to them is any endeavor that
benefits the poor, that changes the structure of wealth distribution,
and "populists" are all those politicians who don’t play
the same game as the imperial interests.
There
is a systematic rapprochement between U.S. military leaders and Latin
American military chieftains, many of whom were educated in U.S.
academies. Plans for the training of new officers have increased.
For
example, the State Department last year suspended the regulation that
prohibited military officers from countries that had not granted
immunity (impunity) to U.S. soldiers and functionaries to attend
courses in U.S. military schools.
At
the same time, the White House, with the aid of the local
oligarchies, proceeds with the campaigns to destabilize the
governments of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and also
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The objective is to create all
possible difficulties, to keep them on the defensive, to wear them
down. In other words, to not let them govern.
It
is known, for example, that Colombian paramilitaries are in Venezuela
and Bolivia, with the apparent mission to train and prepare native
groups for possible military coups, attacks, sabotage, or — as some
observers point out — low-intensity conflicts, such as happened in
Nicaragua in the 1980s. Everything is on the table.
There
are also secessionists attempts, especially in Bolivia, where the
so-called Half Moon formed by the departments of Santa Cruz, Tarija,
Pando and Beni aspire to the total autonomy of La Paz. The current
U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, Philip Goldberg, is a well-known
specialist in dismembering countries.
There
have been similar efforts in Zulia, the richest oil-producing state
in Venezuela, and in Guayaquil, the department with the greatest
development in Ecuador. So much "happenstance" is not
possible.
There’s
a reason why the International Federation for Regional Autonomies
(CONFILAR), a recently created organization backed by the
intelligence services of several countries, met three years ago in
Guayaquil and why its headquarters is in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Many of its leaders are members of the Ecuadorean and Bolivian
oligarchies.
As
we can see, the White House counteroffensive is developing along
several fronts, simultaneously. However, although we must acknowledge
partial successes on its part, it has not achieved its objective.
Perhaps for that reason it has appealed for help to the old rightist
organizations in Europe, which have ideological links to numerous
Latin American parties and politicians.
Thus,
a very interesting event took place in Rosario, Argentina, March
26-28, presided by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, president of
the Liberty Foundation, with the participation (among others) of
former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar; Buenos
Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri; U.S. Under Secretary for Hemispheric
Affairs Roger Noriega; former Mexican President Vicente Fox; former
presidents Julio María Sanguinetti and Luis Alberto Lacalle of
Uruguay; Jorge Quiroga, current leader in Bolivia of the opposition
to President Evo Morales; Osvaldo Hurtado of Ecuador and Francisco
Flores of El Salvador, known as "the breath of fresh air."
As
Argentine journalist Miguel Bonasso pointed out, the ultrarightist
event was sponsored by several neoliberal think tanks, such as the
Foundation for Social Analysis and Studies, founded by Aznar; the
Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Atlas Economic Research
Foundation, and — representing Europe — the Friedrich-Nauman
Stiftung.
Also
present were figures of the Cuban counterrevolution, such as Carlos
Alberto Montaner and Armando Ribas; former Mexican Foreign Minister
Jorge Castañeda, and a former minister in the Cabinet of
Augusto Pinochet, Hernán Büchi.
The
Bolivian right sent two prominent enemies of Evo Morales: Senate
president Oscar Ortiz and the prefect of Cochabamba, Manfred Reyes
Villa. To represent Venezuela, the organizers invited "student
leader" Yon Goicoechea and Marcel Granier, president of RCTV,
the company that promoted the coup d’état of April 2002 and
whose license, expired and not renewed, was the source of an intense
worldwide campaign about "abuses against freedom of expression"
in Venezuela.
In general, the attendees included
representatives of the rabid right from all Latin American countries,
allies of U.S. interests and fanatical defenders of neoliberalism.
The topic of the meeting was "The challenges of Latin America";
the subtitle was "Between institutional bankruptcy and
opportunities for development."
It
struck me that the seminar, encounter, or whatever you want to call
it received greater coverage by the alternative media than by the
official press of the Latin American and U.S. oligarchies. It may be
due to my "bankruptcy" in computers, but I couldn’t find
any news about the meeting. Maybe they didn’t want much publicity, so
the people wouldn’t learn about their conspiracy against the peoples’
interests.
Anyway,
the objective was obvious. Particularly if we go back in time and
remember that the Center-Democratic International, the old
Christian-Democratic International, and its Latin American branch,
the Christian-Democratic Organization for the Americas (ODCA), which
comprises 32 political parties in the region, about two years ago
defined its intentions regarding the region.
According
to Manuel Espino — former president of the National Action Party
(the ruling party) of Mexico, and now president of the ODCA — the
basic objective of his organization was to terminate the Cuban
Revolution and the political processes that are taking place in
Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, and later continue with Brazil,
Argentina and Uruguay. And, I would say, Nicaragua.
In
other words, to terminate the progressive governments of Latin
America and replace them with governments that are sympathetic to
neoliberalism and the interests of the United States. Of course, the
ODCA’s vice president for political action is Mauricio Miralles, a
member of Brigade 2506 and the Council for Cuban Liberty, which
shelters the far-right Cuban-Americans in Miami.
Closing
the event were José María Aznar and Mauricio Macri of
Argentina, a political enemy of that country’s current government.
Remarkably, the meeting of the neoliberal right was held in Rosario,
Argentina, the birthplace of Ernesto Che Guevara. A rightist taunt?
Both
the city and province of Rosario are governed by social democrats. I
don’t mean anything by this. I just point out the fact. A
demonstration by more than 20,000 people protested the presence of
this numerous group of the world’s most rabid rightists, including
fascists.
It
is obvious that the White House will receive the unconditional
support of this political sector, which sees in the changes occurring
in Latin America a danger to their interests. Europe’s
Christian-Democratic organizations, led by Aznar, will get more
involved in the White House counteroffensive, to reverse the process
of changes in Latin America.
Is
that why the U.S. government is considering diverting part of the
funds dedicated to subversion in Cuba to several European
organizations and countries? I have not heard of any reaction from
the Cuban-American right to the loss of that money. Let us wait.
Here
in Cuba, the empire’s minions complain that they receive very little
of the money that presumably is sent to "cover their costs of
subversion." Most of it remains in Florida. If the funds are
reduced, it is likely that these people will get less. Will they
protest? Who knows? Maybe they’re used to the whims of the empire —
and of their bosses in Miami.
