Latin America Breaks Free

(L-R) Paraguay's President Fernando Lugo, Bolivia's President Evo Morales, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez attend the 2009 World Social Forum near the mouth of the Amazon River in the city of Belem January 29, 2009. REUTERS/Raimundo Pacco (BRAZIL)

By Benjamin Dangl

The Progressive

February 2009

Five years ago, when Evo Morales was a rising political star as a congressman and coca farmer, I met him in his office in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He was drinking orange juice and sifting through the morning newspapers when I asked him about a meeting he just had with Brazilian President Lula. “The main issue that we spoke about was how we can construct a political instrument of liberation and unity for Latin America,” Morales told me.

Now President Morales is one of many left-leaning South American leaders playing that instrument. This unified bloc is effectively replacing Washington’s presence in the region, from military training grounds to diplomatic meetings. In varying degrees, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Venezuela are demonstrating that the days of U.S.-backed coups, gunship diplomacy, and Chicago Boys’ neoliberalism may very well be over for South America. The election of Barack Obama also gave hope for a less cowboy approach from Washington...

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