A glance at the current issue of the International Socialist Review: Noam Chomsky on Latin America. I don't know what authority Chomsky possess beyond that of any ordinary blogger, but these comments aren't his usual loony rants.
(The article, "Latin America at the Tipping Point," is not online. Information about the magazine is available on its Web site.)
Challenges from Latin America are "bubbling up" for policy makers in Washington, writes Noam Chomsky, the controversial author and professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Countries across South America are growing "completely out of control, with left-center governments" that are increasing their trade with China and the European Union, he says. Even in Central America, he says, "the lid is barely on." Indeed, writes Mr. Chomsky, "the noisy protests during President Bush's trip in November 2005 to the Summit of the Americas, in Argentina, amplify the dilemma."
Washington's thorniest problem at the moment, he writes, is Venezuela, which provides almost 15 percent of the oil imported by the United States and whose president, Hugo Chávez, has accused the United States of supporting a 2002 military coup to oust him. Venezuela already has a closer relationship to China than does any country south of the United States, he says, "and is planning to sell increasing amounts of oil to China as part of its effort to reduce dependence on a hostile U.S. government."
Compounding matters, he writes, is the close relationship that the Venezuelan government is establishing with Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba. The two nations have arranged a barter system whereby Venezuela provides Cuba with low-cost oil in exchange for help with literacy and health programs. "Joint Cuba-Venezuela projects are also having a considerable impact in the Caribbean," Mr. Chomsky writes. He mentions as an example a program under which "Cuban doctors are providing health care to people who had no hope of receiving it, with Venezuelan funding."
According to Mr. Chomsky, "Washington's Latin American policies are only enhancing U.S. isolation." One example that he cites is the United States' trade embargo against Cuba, which the United Nations recently voted to condemn for the 14th straight year. The vote on the resolution was 182 to 4, he notes.
