Political Crisis Spreading Throughout

Latin America

During the past several months the economic crisis that has gripped most of the countries of Latin America has further developed and spread, with no sign of abating. This, in turn, has generated a profound political crisis, a crisis which led to the overthrow of four Argentine presidents in the course of one month and which threatens to topple governments throughout the continent.

The political crisis in Argentina has continued to deepen and a mass movement has developed to throw all incumbent elected officials out of office. This has led to a resurgence of the Left in Argentina and the very real possibility that the Left may capture the presidency in the next elections.

In Brazil, the policies of neo-liberalism are also in disrepute and Luiz "Lula" da Silva, a candidate representing a coalition of Left parties, including the Workers Party and the Communist Party of Brazil, currently enjoys a lead in opinion polls. Presidential elections in Brazil are scheduled for October.

In Bolivia, Evo Morales, a candidate opposing neo-liberalism and calling for the nationalization of key industries finished second in last month's presidential elections and his Movement to Socialism party won several seats in the Bolivian Congress.

During the past two months, mass protests against privatization and other neo-liberal policies have also broken out in Peru and Paraguay, leading to the declaration of states of emergency in those countries.

There are increasing reports from Brazil and Argentina, the two largest economies in the region, that the middle strata - the professionals and smaller capitalists, who have been devastated by neo-liberal policies - are rapidly deserting the conservative parties and are throwing their support behind those parties that have adopted policies of economic nationalism and state intervention in the economy. To date, all efforts by the Americans, both overt and covert, to block the growing popularity of the progressive and democratic forces (including the abortive coup in Venezuela) have failed and, in the case of Bolivia, led to increased support for candidates who oppose the increasing American domination of their countries.

With their military forces spread out around the globe and their economy headed for recession, the American empire-builders are desperate to head off the growing challenges to their dictate in Latin America. However, U.S. domination of Latin America has always been exercised through the strata of big capitalists, big landowners and a U.S.-trained officer caste. All of those forces now stand discredited, tainted by corruption scandals and responsible for the economic woes of the region, leaving the Americans with a rapidly shrinking space to manouevre. As a result, the unfolding of this economic and political crisis in Latin America is bound to have profound ramifications for the entire world.