South America, Again, Leads Fight Against Neoliberalism — Pepe Escober

Across the West, usual suspects have been trying to impose the narrative that protests from Barcelona to Santiago have been inspired by Hong Kong. That’s nonsense. Hong Kong is a complex, very specific situation, which I have analyzed, for instance, here, mixing anger against political non-representation with a ghostly image of China.

Each of the outbursts – Catalonia, Lebanon, Iraq, the Gilets Jaunes/Yellow Vests for nearly a year now – are due to very specific reasons. Lebanese and Iraqis are not specifically targeting neoliberalism, but they do target a crucial subplot: political corruption.

ConsortiumNews
South America, Again, Leads Fight Against Neoliberalism

Pepe Escober

Burn, Neoliberalism, Burn — Pepe Escobar

Neoliberalism is – literally – burning. And from Ecuador to Chile, South America, once again, is showing the way, Pepe Escobar writes.

Strategic Culture Foundation
Burn, Neoliberalism, Burn

Pepe Escobar

James Petras — US ‘Regime Changes’: The Historical Record

As the US strives to overthrow the democratic and independent Venezuelan government, the historical record regarding the short, middle and long-term consequences are mixed. We will proceed to examine the consequences and impact of US intervention in Venezuela over the past half century. We will then turn to examine the success and failure of US ‘regime changes’ throughout Latin America and the Caribbean….

US ‘Regime Changes’: The Historical Record
James Petras

Matias Vernengo — Middle Income Trap or the Return of US Hegemony

Short essay in Spanish for the special (40 year anniversary of the journal Coyuntura y Desarrollo, published by the Fundación de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo, FIDE). It is essentially a critique of the concept of middle-income trap and the idea of how the demographic transitions (discussed herebefore) affect the process of development. It suggests that the deindustrialization of the Latin American periphery results as much from the decisions in the hegemonic country to open up China, as from the decisions of the local elites to adopt neoliberal policies to punish its labor class. It is also noted that the deindustrialization of the central countries (particularly the US) should be taken with a certain degree of skepticism (see this old post), since manufacturing output went up (even if manufacturing employment has gone down, at least since the entry of China in the WTO), and the US maintains a significant leadership in key industrial sectors (let alone the military; see also this more recent post).

Naked Keynesianism
Middle Income Trap or the Return of US Hegemony
Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

Duncan Green — Why is Latin America Going Backwards?

Increasingly, however, academics and development practitioners are looking at a less visible and tangible obstacle – the capture of the State by economic and political elites. The extreme concentration of economic and political power reinforces the ability to unduly co-opt, corrupt and divert the democratic process, and influence the role of the State, perpetuating measures that reinforce privilege on the one hand and inequality and exclusion on the other. This elite capture is manifested in the ability to influence public policies, fiscal systems (regressive rather than progressive), and keep wages low (one in six workers with formal employment in the region live in poverty). It also leads to corruption and an erosion of democratic process, principle and institutions.

The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) call it “the culture of privilege.” Latinobarometro in its 2017 report “Decline in Democracy”, refers to a ‘democratic diabetes’, an invisible illness that isn´t alarming in itself but slowly kills you. 75% of Latin Americans believe they are governed by an elite that rules for its own benefit.

There you have it.

Neoliberalism is a political theory based on elite capture of the state and using the state apparatus to further elite interests. It is a form of oligarchy (rule by a few) called "plutonomy," literally "the rule of wealth." "The culture of privilege" summarizes it aptly in sociological terms as a manifestation of downward causation in a system of networks, with the upper nodes controlling lower nodes.

What about "the failure of socialism"? Socialism was doing fine in the commodity boom, even with elite opposition support from abroad. When that boom ended and the economic situation shifted, elite interest saw a chance to regain control and the result has been destabilization, again with foreign support.

Oxfam Blogs — From Poverty to Power
Why is Latin America Going Backwards?

Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam GB

US Interventions in Latin America Continue and Intensify — Greg Wilpert interviews Mark Weisbrot

Most US citizens don't realize it, but the US government has continued and even intensified its regime change agenda in Latin America and successfully helped reverse the so-called "pink tide" of left-of-center governments over the past ten years, says CEPR's Mark Weisbrot....

TRNN
US Interventions in Latin America Continue and Intensify

Greg Wilpert interviews Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

William Craddick — The Southwestern Hemisphere Is Sliding Towards Its Own “Arab Spring”

Detailed.

Disobedient Media
The Southwestern Hemisphere Is Sliding Towards Its Own “Arab Spring”

William Craddick, attorney, investigative journalist, and founder of Disobedient Media

Pepe Escobar — China’s ‘New Silk Roads’ reach Latin America

Beijing is turbo-charging its infrastructure connectivity across the region and the Caribbean.

"Who lost Latin America?"

Asia Times
China’s ‘New Silk Roads’ reach Latin America
Pepe Escobar

See also

Talk of four nation-led ‘alternative’ to Belt and Road picks up steam

Asia Times Staff

See also

Australia, the United States, India and Japan are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijing’s spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday, citing a senior US official.

The Asian Age
India, US, Japan, Aus form ‘quad’ to compete with China’s BRI: report

Reuters

Matias Vernengo — The Latin American Crisis

Matias Verengo sums up the Latin American crises, present and past. Manufactured.

Naked Keynesianism
The Latin American Crisis
Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

Daniel Margrain — Venezuela: History repeating itself?

The corporate media is deliberately giving readers the false impression that Venezuela is ‘flirting with dictatorship’. In reality, these claims couldn’t be further from the truth. But majority support for a Constituents Assembly, and the fact that the Governing United Socialist Party won 17 out of 23 governor races is irrelevant to Washington’s nefarious objectives. US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson is threatening to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is he doesn’t leave of his own accord.” The country is being “softened up” through the press as a precursor to its subsequent destruction.…

The politics of Chavez were founded on two very simple tenets:

1) People ought not to be starving in dreadful slums in the world’s most oil rich state.

2) The CIA ought not to control Venezuela....

Renegade Inc.
Venezuela: History repeating itself?
Daniel Margrain

Matias Vernengo — Why Latin American Nations Fail

Book has finally been published. I just got my copies. And yes it is a critique of New Institutionalist views and the title a play with the Acemoglu and Robinson's book title. From the back cover.

"The question of development is a major topic in courses across the social sciences and history, particularly those focused on Latin America. Many scholars and instructors have tried to pinpoint, explain, and define the problem of underdevelopment in the region. With new ideas have come new strategies that by and large have failed to explain or reduce income disparity and relieve poverty in the region. Why Latin American Nations Fail brings together leading Latin Americanists from several disciplines to address the topic of how and why contemporary development strategies have failed to curb rampant poverty and underdevelopment throughout the region. Given the dramatic political turns in contemporary Latin America, this book offers a much-needed explanation and analysis of the factors that are key to making sense of development today."

You can get it here.

Naked Keynesianism
Why Latin American Nations Fail
Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

China comes to aid of Cuba

New kid on the block.

China.org.cn
Chinese aircraft delivers humanitarian aid in Cuba after Hurricane Irma

Xinhua

Latin America is an important region with a concentration of developing countries, said Wang. The development and revitalization of the region is an important part of the endeavors to revitalize the emerging markets and developing countries as a whole.
China-Latin America comprehensive cooperation is facing new opportunities, he noted.

Ecns.cn

China, Cuba vow to enhance cooperation

Xinhua

telesur — US Vice President Meets Venezuelan Opposition and Promises More Sanctions

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has been in Florida to meet Venezuelan opposition leaders, capping off his tour of Latin America last week where he sought support against the government of President Nicolas Maduro....

Pence, for his part, continued to repeat the White House position that the democratically-elected government in Caracas resembled a “dictatorship,” and that there was “more to come” in terms of sanctions.

Soon after visiting the house of worship, Pence also made his presence felt at the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command, which is located in Doral as well.

The US interpretation of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

telesur
US Vice President Meets Venezuelan Opposition and Promises More Sanctions

Hazel Marsh — Venezuela’s long history of racism is coming back to haunt it

The back story. 

Similar in Brazil and other Latin American countries. In Brazil the Carnival queen was deposed for being too black.

Defend Democracy
Venezuela’s long history of racism is coming back to haunt it

Hazel Marsh

Lee Fang — Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics

The libertarian network, which has reshaped political power in country after country, has also operated as a quiet extension of U.S. foreign policy, with Atlas-associated think tanks receiving quiet funding from the State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy, a critical arm of American soft power.

Though recent investigations have shed light on the role of powerful conservative billionaires, such as the Koch brothers, in developing a business-friendly version of libertarian thought, the Atlas Network, which receives funding from Koch foundations, has recreated methods honed in the Western world for developing countries.

The network is expansive, currently boasting loose partnerships with 450 think tanks around the world. Atlas says it dispensed over $5 million to its partners in 2016 alone.
Over the years, Atlas and its affiliated charitable foundations have provided hundreds of grants to conservative and free-market think tanks in Latin America,…

Must-read. It's in-depth and therefore longish, so save it for the weekend if you don't have time to get to it now.

The Intercept
Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics

Lee Fang

It's is becoming pretty clear that a right-left divide is emerging in the capitalist world that will ultimately lead to irreconcilable differences that will end either in socialism or transnational corporate totalitarianism prevailing. Presently, transnational corporate totalitarianism is taking the lead and pulling ahead as the market state eclipses the welfare state. 

Sputnik — Xi Jinping Heads to Latin America to 'Fill Vacuum Left By New US Politics'

As the new US President promises a more distant relationship with Washington's Latin American neighbors, China is keep to develop its economic links with the region, Petr Yakovlev of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Latin America told Sputnik.

Sputnik International
Xi Jinping Heads to Latin America to 'Fill Vacuum Left By New US Politics'

James Petras — China’s Pivot to World Markets, Washington’s Pivot to World Wars, and the Debacle of the Latin American Left

The Chinese model is winning. How long can the US continue to convince its allies to stay on board as the best bet in the global economy?

Introduction: China and the United States are moving in polar opposite directions: Beijing is rapidly becoming the center of overseas investments in high tech industries, including robotics, nuclear energy and advanced machinery with collaboration from centers of technological excellence, like Germany.

In contrast, Washington is pursuing a predatory military pivot to the least productive regions with collaboration from its most barbaric allies, like Saudi Arabia.

James Petras Website
China’s Pivot to World Markets, Washington’s Pivot to World Wars, and the Debacle of the Latin American Left
James Petras | Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Pepe Escobar — Kill List: Smashing the 'B' in BRICS

Pepe Escobar parses the opaque situation in Brazil.

In the process, he offers this summary of neoliberalism:

Neoliberalism may have failed, as even the IMF research wing has concluded. But its rotten corpse still encumbers the whole planet. Neoliberalism is not only an economic model; it surreptitiously takes over the juridical realm as well. In another perverse facet of shock doctrine, neoliberalism cannot prevail without a juridical framework. 

When constitutional attributions are redirected to Congress that keeps the Executive under control while generating a culture of political corruption. Politics is subordinated to economics. Companies engage in campaign financing and buy politicians to be able to influence the political powers that be.…

Where the US fits in:

And that brings us once again to The Big Picture, as we proceed in parallel with an analysis by Rafael Bautista, the head of a decolonization study group in La Paz, Bolivia. He’s one of the best and brightest in South America who’s very much alert to the fact that whatever happens in Brazil in the next few months will drive the future not only of South America but the whole Global South.

Exceptionalistan’s project for Brazil is no less than the imposition of a remixed Monroe doctrine. The main target of a planned neoliberal restoration is to cut off South America from the BRICS – as in, essentially, the Russia-China strategic partnership.…

This article is must-read in its entirety to grasp the geopolitical significance of what is happening in Latin America — and by implication also in Africa, were the US, China, and Russia are all involved also.

The Empire is on the move. Divide and conquer is still the imperial agenda.

Sputnik

Kill List: Smashing the 'B' in BRICS

Pepe Escobar

Nadia Prupis — Evo Morales: Latin America Must Fight US Coups with 'Democratic Revolution'

Bolivian President Evo Morales called on leftist governments in South America to counter U.S. plans to control the region with a "democratic revolution."

"In some countries it should be like a wake-up call where [governments] must start permanent conferences to relaunch democratic and cultural revolutions for Latin America and the Caribbean [region]," Morales said during an interview in Cuba on Monday night with the program Cubavisión, according to TeleSUR.

"It is the plan of the American empire that wants to regain control of Latin America and the Caribbean, and especially in South America, and there surely is an ambition to establish a United States presence in these countries and recover subservient governments as a model, as a system," he continued.…

"When the right wing returns to power they will remove the socialist benefits and shrink the state, which will generate a reaction," he said.

Common Dreams
Evo Morales: Latin America Must Fight US Coups with 'Democratic Revolution'
Nadia Prupis

teleSUR — 6 Coups Against Latin America's Left Since 2000

1. 2002 Military Coup Against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela

2. 2004 Coup Against Haitian President Aristide

3. 2008 “Civic coup” Against Evo Morales in Bolivia

4. 2009: Honduran Military Removed President Zelaya

5. 2010: Police Coup Against Rafael Correa

6. 2012 “Parliamentary Coup” against President Fernando Lugo in Paraguay

Parliamentary coups are presently underway against Dilma Rousseff in Brazil and  Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela.

teleSUR
6 Coups Against Latin America's Left Since 2000