Barak Obama’s Imperialism with a Human Face
By all accounts, Barak Obama was the star attraction at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, with many of the leaders present eating out of the palm of his hands. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was photographed repeatedly smiling, shaking hands and talking to Obama, as were the leaders of Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Nicaragua and all the Caribbean countries.
The Summit, which was held under the slogan “A Prosperity Agenda for the Americas” brings together the leaders of every country of the Americas and the Caribbean, with the exception of Cuba, which is excluded from the Organization of American States.
Just days before the summit, which was held from April 17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago, both Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced changes to some of the U.S. anti-Cuba policies, including lifting travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans and lifting restrictions on remittances to the island. The economic blockade of Cuba remains in place, as does the restriction on travel for all other American citizens.
In some ways, it was these small gestures on the part of the Obama administration that created the climate for the Summit, at which leader after leader spoke of a “new era” of partnership between the United States and countries it has interfered in militarily and economically for more than 200 years.
Obama’s speech to the Summit was certainly no exception. He spoke of the “promise of a new prosperity and personal security and the protection of liberty and justice for all the people of our hemisphere. That's the future that we can build together, but only if we move forward with a new sense of partnership.”
He specifically addressed the bloody and violent role the U.S. has played in the region, suggesting it was part of an era that has come to an end. “To move forward,” he said, “we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements. I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old. Too often, an opportunity to build a fresh partnership of the Americas has been undermined by stale debates. And we've heard all these arguments before, these debates that would have us make a false choice between rigid, state-run economies or unbridled and unregulated capitalism; between blame for right-wing paramilitaries or left-wing insurgents; between sticking to inflexible policies with regard to Cuba or denying the full human rights that are owed to the Cuban people.”
“I didn't come here to debate the past – I came here to deal with the future. I believe … that we must learn from history, but we can't be trapped by it. As neighbours, we have a responsibility to each other and to our citizens. And by working together, we can take important steps forward to advance prosperity and security and liberty. That is the 21st century agenda that we come together to enact. That's the new direction that we can pursue.”
The reality, of course, is that Obama is no more an anti-imperialist than was George W. Bush, or Clinton before him, or any of the U.S. presidents who have viewed the Americas as theirs for the taking rather than sovereign states charting their own path for the future.
The only things that have changed are the sophistication of Obama’s imperialist agenda – one which promotes intervention by the U.S. to bring about security and social justice – and the economic crisis which has made the U.S. incredibly vulnerable. The Americas represent two crucial assets to American capital right now – a source of cheap raw materials and a vast, low-cost labour force, both of which are literally in its back yard. As if to remove any shadow of doubt, Obama spoke at length about the need for expanded trade and the harmonization of economic and energy policies between the largest countries of the Americas – Mexico, Canada, the U.S., Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Obama also delivered the standard American message on Cuba, stating that the country wasn’t democratic and demanding concessions from Cuba in return for loosening the embargo. He also suggested his new Cuba policy was mainly based on the failure of the past 50 years of American attempts to overthrow the Cuban Revolution.
“I've already changed a Cuba policy that I believe has failed to advance liberty or opportunity for the Cuban people,” he said. “Over the past two years, I've indicated, and I repeat today, that I'm prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a wide range of issues – from drugs, migration, and economic issues, to human rights, free speech, and democratic reform. Now, let me be clear, I'm not interested in talking just for the sake of talking. But I do believe that we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction.
And we are committed to shaping that future through engagement that is strong and sustained, that is meaningful, that is successful, and that is based on mutual respect and equality.”
Ricardo Alarcón, President of Cuba's National Assembly, speaking at a conference at Queen's University in Kingston on May 7, responded to Obama’s comments on Cuba: “President Obama tried to make the most of certain decisions regarding Cuba that he had announced already before initiating his trip. Essentially he eliminated the cruel restrictions that George W. Bush had imposed on Cuban-Americans' travel and remittances to the island, turning the clock back, on this matter, to the situation existing in May 2004, a time that, according to his own calculations, was a thousand years back. It is rather ironic that the same person that insisted on forgetting history and on just looking forward towards a future of diffused and vague promises tried to make much ado about something signifying nothing more than a partial return to the past. Partial because he didn't return other American citizens certain rights on those matters than they have had, some of them, even during the first years of W. Bush.”
The only note of discord at the summit came at the end, when Trinidad & Tobago President Patrick Manning expressed the vision of every leader present, with the exception of Harper and Obama, for Cuba’s participation in the next Summit.
“There was a clear consensus that the reintegration of Cuba in the inter-American relations is an essential step toward the building of a more cohesive and integrated Americas. … The Government of Trinidad and Tobago looks forward to the day when Cuba is fully embraced into the folds of the inter-American family.”