Partnership of Equals

by Fidel Castro Ruz

Saturday evening, the 19th, after a sumptuous banquet, NATO leaders ordered the attack on Libya. Of course, nothing could occur without the United States claiming its irrefutable role as supreme leader. From its command post of that institution in Europe, a senior official declared that “Odyssey Dawn” was about to begin. World public opinion was deeply touched by the tragedy in Japan . The number of victims of the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident has kept on growing. By now there are thousands of dead, missing and radiation contaminated. Resistance to the use of nuclear energy will also grow considerably. The world is suffering, at the same time, the consequences of climatic changes; shortages and prices of foods, military spending and the squandering of natural and human resources are increasing. War was the timeliest event that could happen at this time.
Obama’s trip through Latin America moved into the background, people were hardly paying any attention to it. In Brazil , the contradictory interests between the United States and this sister nation have become evident. We cannot forget that Rio de Janeiro competed with Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Obama wanted to win over the South American giant. He spoke of the “extraordinary rise of Brazil ” that has impressed the international scene and he praised its economy as one of the economies with the fastest growth rate in the world, but he showed not even the least commitment in supporting Brazil as a permanent member of the privileged Security Council.
The Brazilian president did not hesitate in expressing her disagreement with the protectionist measures the US is applying on Brazil with the tariffs and subsidies that have constituted a mighty obstacle for the economy of that country. Argentine writer Atilio Boron states that “ […] what interests [Obama] most as administrator of the empire is advancing control of Amazonia . The main requisite of this plan is to slow down, since it is something he cannot stop, the growing political and economic coordination and integration that is happening in the region: this had been very important in sinking ALCA in 2005 and frustrating the secessionist conspiracy and coups in Bolivia in 2008 and Ecuador in 2010. He also has to try to sow the seeds of discord between the most radical governments in the region ( Cuba , Venezuela , Bolivia and Ecuador ) and the “progressive” governments, mainly Brazil , Argentina and Uruguay …” Article posted here