Latin America and Asia are at last breaking free of Washington's grip

The US-dominated world order is being challenged by a new spirit of independence
in the
global south

Noam Chomsky
Wednesday March 15, 2006
The Guardian

The prospect that Europe and Asia might move towards greater independence has
troubled US planners since the second world war. The concerns have only risen as
the
"tripolar order" - Europe, North America and Asia - has continued to evolve.
Every day Latin America, too, is becoming more independent. Now Asia and the
Americas
are strengthening their ties while the reigning superpower, the odd man out,
consumes
itself in misadventures in the Middle East.

Regional integration in Asia and Latin America is a crucial and increasingly
important issue
that, from Washington's perspective, betokens a defiant world gone out of
control. Energy,
of course, remains a defining factor - the object of contention - everywhere.
China, unlike Europe, refuses to be intimidated by Washington, a primary reason
for the
fear of China by US planners, which presents a dilemma: steps toward
confrontation are
inhibited by US corporate reliance on China as an export platform and growing
market, as
well as by China's financial reserves - reported to be approaching Japan's in
scale.
In January, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah visited Beijing, which is expected to
lead to a
Sino-Saudi memorandum of understanding calling for "increased cooperation and
investment between the two countries in oil, natural gas and investment", the
Wall Street
Journal reports.
Already much of Iran's oil goes to China, and China is providing Iran with
weapons that
both states presumably regard as deterrent to US designs. India also has
options. India
may choose to be a US client, or it may prefer to join the more independent
Asian bloc that
is taking shape, with ever more ties to Middle East oil producers. Siddharth
Varadarjan, the
deputy editor of the Hindu, observes that "if the 21st century is to be an
'Asian century,'
Asia's passivity in the energy sector has to end".
The key is India-China cooperation. In January, an agreement signed in Beijing
"cleared the
way for India and China to collaborate not only in technology but also in
hydrocarbon
exploration and production, a partnership that could eventually alter
fundamental
equations in the world's oil and natural gas sector", Varadarjan points out.
An additional step, already being contemplated, is an Asian oil market trading
in euros.
The impact on the international financial system and the balance of global power
could be
significant. It should be no surprise that President Bush paid a recent visit to
try to keep
India in the fold, offering nuclear cooperation and other inducements as a lure.
Meanwhile, in Latin America left-centre governments prevail from Venezuela to
Argentina.
The indigenous populations have become much more active and influential,
particularly in
Bolivia and Ecuador, where they either want oil and gas to be domestically
controlled or, in
some cases, oppose production altogether.
Many indigenous people apparently do not see any reason why their lives,
societies and
cultures should be disrupted or destroyed so that New Yorkers can sit in their
SUVs in
traffic gridlock.
Venezuela, the leading oil exporter in the hemisphere, has forged probably the
closest
relations with China of any Latin American country, and is planning to sell
increasing
amounts of oil to China as part of its effort to reduce dependence on the openly
hostile US
government.
Venezuela has joined Mercosur, the South American customs union - a move
described by
Nestor Kirchner, the Argentinian president, as "a milestone" in the development
of this
trading bloc, and welcomed as a "new chapter in our integration" by Luiz Inacio
Lula da
Silva, the Brazilian president.
Venezuela, apart from supplying Argentina with fuel oil, bought almost a third
of
Argentinian debt issued in 2005, one element of a region-wide effort to free the
countries
from the controls of the IMF after two decades of disastrous conformity to the
rules
imposed by the US-dominated international financial institutions.
Steps toward Southern Cone [the southern states of South America] integration
advanced
further in December with the election in Bolivia of Evo Morales, the country's
first
indigenous president. Morales moved quickly to reach a series of energy accords
with
Venezuela. The Financial Times reported that these "are expected to underpin
forthcoming
radical reforms to Bolivia's economy and energy sector" with its huge gas
reserves, second
only to Venezuela's in South America.
Cuba-Venezuela relations are becoming ever closer, each relying on its
comparative
advantage. Venezuela is providing low-cost oil, while in return Cuba organises
literacy and
health programmes, sending thousands of highly skilled professionals, teachers
and
doctors, who work in the poorest and most neglected areas, as they do elsewhere
in the
third world.
Cuban medical assistance is also being welcomed elsewhere. One of the most
horrendous
tragedies of recent years was the earthquake in Pakistan last October. Besides
the huge
death toll, unknown numbers of survivors have to face brutal winter weather with
little
shelter, food or medical assistance.
"Cuba has provided the largest contingent of doctors and paramedics to
Pakistan," paying
all the costs (perhaps with Venezuelan funding), writes John Cherian in India's
Frontline
magazine, citing Dawn, a leading Pakistan daily.
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan expressed his "deep gratitude" to Fidel
Castro for
the "spirit and compassion" of the Cuban medical teams - reported to comprise
more than
1,000 trained personnel, 44% of them women, who remained to work in remote
mountain
villages, "living in tents in freezing weather and in an alien culture", after
western aid
teams had been withdrawn.
Growing popular movements, primarily in the south but with increasing
participation in
the rich industrial countries, are serving as the bases for many of these
developments
towards more independence and concern for the needs of the great majority of the
population.
© Noam Chomsky