Re: [Marxism] ALBA members decline to sign 'Americas Summit' declaration

["Joaquin Bustelo" <jbustelo@xxxxxxxxx>]

These past few days have been fairly mind-blowing. 

WE CAN NOW SEE THAT The G-20 and European trip were all BS, completely
diversionary. IT IS CLEAR that Obama sees in Latin America the real
challenge to US domination, and the challenge, as he understands it, is not
to DEFEAT and DESTROY the critics of American Imperialism, but to co-opt
them, at least most of them. 

There is an explicit recognition all around that "the Americas" or "Latin
America" are destined to be a single geopolitical entity. The "summit of the
Americas" is said by many as being the maximum political expression of this
reality at this time.

But for all but one of the participants, this means that Cuba MUST be
admitted.

AND there is also the emergence of an obstreperous, outspoken, ill-mannered
public faction of the summit, which INSISTS that the future is NOT to be
shaped by "the Americas" as a whole, but by the countries of Latin America
and the Caribbean. These differences are NOW treated "with respect" by the
main imperialist spokesperson, who goes out of his way to very intelligently
draw attention to the idea that he represents --in the US context-- a
parallel phenomenon to that of the ALBA anti-imperialist public faction at
the summit.

Thus while emphasizing he doesn't necessarily agree with Evo on everything,
Obama underlines and highlights every chance he gets as a POSITIVE
development that Evo is the first of his race and nationality to be
president of Bolivia. Does that sound like anyone else recently elected?
Like, duh...

Oh yeah, and Obama uses it to make the point that the countries of the
Americas have ALL SORTS of things in common, over and beyond policies and
ideologies. 

As if... but the reality is, he gets away with it.

What was most striking over these past few days was the degree to which
Obama was willing to make extensive VERBAL concessions, which it appears
will be followed by concrete "gestures" and even "measures," and most
especially on CUBA. 

It appears that the Obama administration considers the half-century-long
Cuba blockade policy to be an albatross wrapped around its neck, and is
*begging* Fidel and Raúl for political cover to be rid of it. 

And Raúl has responded by expressing such extreme, sovereign contempt and
disdain for the imperialist stooges and agents in Cuban jails, that were
Obama to free the five Cuban heroes in US jails, the Cuban Revolution would
be quite happy to send not just the whole lot of these imperialist
operatives,, but their spouses and all their relatives as well, to the
United States. 

I have a hard time envisioning Raúl channeling Marlon Brando's Godfather
--"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse"-- but that is precisely what Raúl
did. By saying Cuba viewed all these claims about being "dissidents" or
"independent journalists" as unadulterated raw material for organic
fertilizer, but would free the whole lot in exchange for the five, Cuba in
effect INVITED the Obama regime to throw anyone they wanted to and their
sister into the category of "political prisoners" that would be freed.

I think it is clear that these two governments are NOW engaged in refining a
whole series of political maneuvers so that on EACH side, the renewal of
trade and diplomatic relations can be presented as the most cleverly vicious
ATTACK on the imperialist or communist enemy (as the case may be). For Cuba
this isn't a big deal, this has long been its diplomatic/pr stance. For the
US government it is ... complicated. Obama NEEDS Cuban help to pull this off
with minimum political damage. But Cuba has long followed the intelligent
policy of offering a golden bridge to the enemy that pulls back, and I am
sure will do so in this case also.

And Raúl's stance that these imperialist agents in Cuban prisons are such
low-life scum that the ENTIRE boatload of dozens or hundreds of them --and
their relatives!-- can be shipped to the US in exchange JUST for the five
heroic patriots unjustly imprisoned in the U.S. seems calculated to help
Obama with his political difficulties. 

Because Obama gets to say, we "expelled" these five "spies" -- we "forced"
Cuba to "accept" them, so we don't even have to feed them or watch them
anymore. And in "exchange" we "forced" Cuba to release all these "political
prisoners" and "independent journalists" and so on, and their families, so
Cuba could get back its intelligence agents.

This may sound crass, even vulgar. But history gets made when you make it
easy and safe for your opponent to de-escalate a long-standing confrontation
that s/he would rather be rid of.

For this reason, I would not be astounded to see the actual initiation of an
across-the-board normalization of relations before the snow flies again in
Washington. But there is more.

In his end-of-the-summit presser, Obama ALSO recognized the [bourgeois-]
democratic legitimacy of Evo and Cristina and Chavez and Correa and Ortega
and soon to be added to the list, Funes in El Salvador. (Paraguay, Uruguay,
Guatemala, Brazil, Chile and the  Dominican Republic could be added to this
list, although until now the U.S. found it ... inconvenient ... to denounce
the "manipulation of democracy" in so MANY Latin American countries all at
once. For one thing, it might lead you to think that Latin Americans
generally just don't really LIKE "free market" capitalism). 

Joaquin


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