LATIN AMERICA and the Middle East

The withdrawal of Carlos Menem from the presidential race in Argentina allowed Néstor Kirchner, the obscure governor of an obscure Patagonian province, to become president by default. He arouses little enthusiasm, and he seemed almost a secondary figure at his inauguration, which was held in the congress building rather than in the presidential palace as in the past. While the US was obviously but inconspicuously represented, the inauguration was really a Latin American conclave, with thirteen heads of state present. Spain was represented discreetly by Prince Felipe. The most newsworthy guests were Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and above all Fidel Castro. They were seen together and both got big hugs, but Castro enjoyed the bright spotlight. The whole thing hsd clearly been staged to mark a reconciliation between Argentina and Cuba, which had traded insults.

Castro dedicated a bust of the poet José Martí, in the hope of making him him the anti-gringo voice of all Latin America. Less ceremoniously, Castro was mobbed first in the streets, where a crowd of admirers milled around him, and then in the university, where his talk attracted an extraordinary crowd. There must have been critics of his visit, but they were not in evidence. He had nothing new to say--just the usual denunciations of the US. While his notoriety was a factor in attracting crowds, there were two additional elements. The first was that Castro had resisted the US, which has a history of rivalry with Argentina. More important was the feeling that Castro was at least trying to change the system which had reduced Argentina to poverty. In sum, the whole show was an expression of hostility toward the US by countries which feel powerless in comparison.

Latin America has close ties, not with Israel, which is tied to the US, but with the Arab countries, which are represented by colonies knows generically as "turcos", but are mostly Syrian-Lebanese. There is a parallel between Latin America and the Middle East. Under the pretext of freeing Cuba from a tyrant, the US fought the war of 1898. made Cuba a virtual protectorate and seized many of its natural resources. A similar scenario is playing out in Iraq. Latin American countries feel a solidarity with Cuba even after they have become democracies. We should therefore realize that we should not assume that Arab democracies will be friendly to the US. After all, France is a democracy. However, once the theater of the Argentine presidential inauguration is over, the day after begins. it is not certain that the students will sober up. After all, students everywhere are power crazy: everywhere, but not in Cuba. Is there something going on there we are unaware of?

Man's hope lies in women. Imitating the Argentine "mothers of the Plaza de Mayo", Cuban women, the wives and mothers of imprisoned dissidents, had taken to dressing in white and assembling in the Church of Santa Rita, who for some reason is regarded as their hope. Castro made it clear that he would not tolerate the church meetings, so the women simply walk around dressed in white. What can Castro do about that? Clearly he has an insoluble problem. The US wisely is proclaiming "Women of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but the anti-Americanism of your men".

Ronald Hilton - 5/27/03