Hispanic hyperbole or Latin renaissance, the political dynamics of the Western Hemisphere are changing beyond recognition, deduces Gamal Nkrumah It is a bad season in Washington for aficionados of Latin America. While in broad outline, accounts of trade and military arrangements in the Western Hemisphere invariably involve Washington. The mise-en-scène, nevertheless, differs radically as far as the South and North American media are concerned. Washington, pundits concurred, is no longer in its hegemonic grandeur and at its histrionic best. South America, too, is not at Washington's behest. Contrary to received wisdom, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is hardly a hard-boiled cynic. He postponed the summit he conceived for five months after undergoing surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumour. However, the Venezuelan President came last weekend in his capital Caracas into his own with his quintessential panegyrics. Had he lacked a flair for drama, he would not have come this far. In spite of courageously battling cancer, Chavez's political star is on the rise in the Western Hemisphere. He is dazzling a once fractured continent pejoratively designated as the backyard of the United States with his sagacity. Inevitably traduced as an immoralist superpower, Washington, now ill at ease, has long assumed that the primary role of the developing countries south of the Rio Grande was to promote North America's economic prosperity and political pleasure. Washington was, however, on Saturday rudely woken up to the region's melodramatic rise when the 33 nations it traditionally considered its neo-colonial backwoods opted for a strategic re-engagement with each other and a climactic disengagement with the once omnipotent Washington. Latin American and Caribbean nations have decided to diplomatically sequester the United States in a daring deal after decades of dithering. "We are laying the foundation stone for political and economic integration," extrapolated a vitriolic Venezuelan President who proudly played host to the newly inaugurated Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Events in the Western Hemisphere, US President Barack Obama would have noticed, are moving quickly. The Caracas summit demonstrated again how the deepening crisis of confidence between North and South America has strained Washington's relationship with its key Latin American allies. The Washington-based Organisation of American States (OAS) appears to be on the wane. The same applies to the Ibero-American summit, an annual gathering grouping Spain and Portugal with their former colonies in the Western Hemisphere. Fast rising powers such as China have long sought to bolster their support of Latin America by portraying themselves as bulwarks against US imperialism. "I laud the summit as a step in the right direction for Latin America," Chinese President Hu Jintao dispatched a message of solidarity and congratulations from Beijing. "China is always looking to cement its ties with Latin America and the Caribbean from a strategic perspective and is willing to deepen dialogue, exchanges and co-operation," the Chinese leader declared. Chavez exhorted his guests to be of good cheer, resolving all over again to sustain their hopes. "Only unity will make us free," he assured his Latin and Caribbean companions. "This is in our best interests. This is integration between Latin America and the Caribbean," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos concurred. There are those in Washington who view Latin American observations about losing confidence in the hegemony of the US over the Western Hemisphere as nothing short of crass. Caracas, in sharp contrast, has set itself a colossal challenge and is determined to get the basics right. Regrettably, however, Washington has continued its unhelpful policy of blindly backing right-wing governments and opposition political parties in Latin America. This matters in that it raises questions over Washington's commitment to its southern neighbours' economic well-being and political stability. It will be a challenge to come up with binding answers to these questions in the aftermath of the Caracas Declaration. if these questions have to be finessed to get Latin American and Caribbean political unity and economic integration done, so be it. Washington's stance is coloured in part by its inherent trepidation over the cooperation between the leftist democracies of Latin America and Communist China. The more encouragement the left-leaning governments of Latin America are given by the Chinese the harder it is for these democratically elected governments to backtrack from a policy of developing closer economic ties with Beijing. Latin leaders now have the diplomatic cover to ramp up the pressure on Washington. The Caracas summit in that sense amounts to a manifesto for change in South America. CELAC is an ambitious project with laudable intentions. However, it is still not clear whether the Latin Americans are capable of matching their rhetoric with bold action. There is evidence that some Latin leaders have already jumbled the mantra of Chavez "Only unity will make us free". It is clear that some Latin leaders are prevaricating over severing, let alone loosening, political ties with the US and Europe. "CELAC is not against the OAS or the Ibero-American summit," cautioned Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Moreover, in a bid to appease the more conservative members it was agreed that decisions at CELAC are not binding. There are, also, no penalties for member-states that go against the resolutions or chose not to participate in consensual decisions. So who sets the agenda for CELAC? Certainly it is not Washington. But neither is it Caracas or Havana. Perhaps the moderates hold sway? " I am convinced that the 21st century belongs to Latin America and the Caribbean," Chilean President Sebastian Piñera, a right-wing head of the Independent Democratic Union, boasted in Caracas. He was promptly declared president pro tem of CELAC and the next summit is scheduled to take place in Santiago, the Chilean capital, in 2012. Cuba is to host the 2013 CELAC summit. Now is not the time for the nascent organisation to back down from its aspiring ambitions and programmes. One question will linger long. Did Chavez desire to showcase Latin American solidarity or trump hard a political calculation? If right-wingers such as Chile's Piñera and Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos are prepared to close ranks with the likes of Chavez for the common good of the continent then, I presume, there is hope for the Western Hemisphere. The global financial crisis has not seriously impacted Latin America. The US is grappling with resolving its creaking public finances. What the White House can and should do is to avoid unnecessary flash points in the vast and resource rich region it used to call until recently its own backyard. It is hard to spot the green shoots of economic recovery in the US, at least not for now. Restarting the US's broken engine is no easy matter. The Latin Americans understand that the repercussions of the sorry state of the US economy might come to haunt them if they do not integrate their economies and coordinate their economic policies. A prolonged period of economic and financial instability in the US and Europe would do Latin America's economy no favours for sure. Of all possible approaches to the challenges facing Latin America, CELAC, its leaders concurred would be of the most benefit. The Caracas Declaration was hailed as a blueprint for economic salvation. While some of this was self-serving rhetoric, it is true that some South American leaders have sometimes sounded off unwisely. There is, however, little the Obama administration can offer in response to their Latin American critics. The chances are that some kind of deal will be stitched together between the left and right in CELAC. For the first time in decades, Latin America the debate about South American integration is not dangerously skewed. As far as the North Americans are concerned, the continent needs to create an environment in which business and individuals feel confident to invest. That did not stop some wild allegations that the US will creep back into the continent from the backdoor.
