[Marxism] Burbach assessment: "Chilean President defied US pressure"

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Counterpunch June 10


The Chilean President Defied US Pressure to Oppose Venezuela's Security
Council Bid


Bachelet Refuses to Back Down to Bush


By ROGER BURBACH

President Michelle Bachelet came to Washington on Thursday for a one day
whirl wind trip that included a meeting with George Bush. Both exchanged
pleasantries after the meeting, neither referring to the heavy-handed
efforts of the Bush administration to pressure Chile to oppose
Venezuela's bid for a seat on the United Nations security council.

Just 11 days before the White House visit the Chilean daily La Tercera
published a report on a meeting between Condoleezza Rice and the Chilean
foreign minister, Alejandro Foxley, in which the US secretary of state
insisted that Venezuela's candidacy for the UN seat "aims at the heart
of US interests". Rice warned that "Chile could fall into a group of
losers against US interests ..." and that the United States "will not
understand" a Chilean vote for Venezuela.

The Bush administration is backing the candidacy of Guatemala in its
campaign to stop President Hugo Chávez from winning a seat for
Venezuela. Five of the 10 rotating seats on the security council are
opening up in October, and one of them traditionally goes to a Latin
American nation. Although the UN general assembly formally votes on the
council members, the candidate is usually selected beforehand by a
consensus among the countries of the region. 

It is no surprise that the United States in its meddling in Latin
American waters is backing Guatemala, a country with an atrocious human
rights record. Under the current government of Oscar Berger, who took
office in 2004, there have been charges of human rights abuses and he
has done virtually nothing to bring to justice the perpetrators of a
genocidal war against the country's Indian population in decades past. 

At a meeting of Latin American and European nations in Austria in May,
President Bachelet, alluding to the growing US hostility towards the
so-called "power axis" between Venezuela and Bolivia, stated: "I would
not want us to return to the cold war era where we demonise one country
or another. What we have witnessed in these countries [Bolivia and
Venezuela] is that they are looking for governments and leaders that
will work to eradicate poverty and eliminate inequality."

Regarding the UN seat, Foreign Minister Foxley says, "Chile has not made
a decision, we will make it only as we get closer to October." He added:
"We are interested in a region that has a strong sense of unity ..."

At the White House Bachelet hailed "political, commercial relationships"
with the US. None the less Chile has demonstrated a streak of
independence in its dealings with the Bush administration. Chile held a
security council seat in 2003, in the leadup to the US invasion of Iraq,
and the government of Carlos Lagos, in which Bachelet served as minister
of defence, refused to buckle under US pressure to support the invasion.

In Washington, Bachelet stopped off to see another colleague from her
days in the Lagos cabinet, Jose Miguel Insulza, who is now secretary
general of the Organisation of American States (OAS). Insulza was
elected to the post in May 2005 over the strong opposition of the Bush
administration, which backed a candidate from El Salvador, another
county with an atrocious human rights record.

The secretary general of the OAS has generally played a largely
subservient role, given that the US pays most of the bills. In recent
months Insulza has struck an independent pose, criticising the US last
month when it broke off trade talks with Ecuador after it nationalised
the holdings of Occidental Petroleum. When the Bush administration set
up a post-Castro transition office in the State Department, Insulza
declared "there's no transition and it's not your country." Regarding
Venezuela, Insulza - who is no fan of Chávez - has none the less made it
clear the Bush administration is overestimating the dangers that
Venezuela poses to the hemisphere.

Bachelet during her trip to Washington refused to comment on the
controversy over Venezuela while the foreign ministry in Santiago is
tight-lipped about its leanings over the UN seat. To be sure, Chávez has
made his share of enemies in Latin America, including the newly elected
president of Peru, Alan Garcia, whom Chávez called a "cheat and a
scoundrel". And the central American countries along with Mexico are
already known to be backing Guatemala's candidacy. 

Regardless of which way Chile jumps in this hemispheric debate, it is
clear Bachelet will not let herself be pushed around by the United
States and that she will do what is best for Chile and Latin America.

Roger Burbach is director of the Center for the Study of the Americas
(CENSA) and a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of International
Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He is co- author with Jim
Tarbell of "
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842774972/counterpunchmaga>
Imperial Overstretch: George W. Bush and the Hubris of Empire," He
released late last year "
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842774352/counterpunchmaga> The
Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice".s

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