Latin America continues to move left

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa chat while U.S. puppet Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez sits wringing his hands.

From Jan. 11 through 15 three leftist Latin American presidents were sworn in. This surely made the White House more nervous about this region of the world.

VENEZUELA initiates new stage of revolution

Early on Jan. 11, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was sworn in at the National Assembly after having won a landslide election on Dec. 3. Ironically, this was the same day that, in the north of the American continent, U.S. President George W. Bush would announce his new policy for more death and destruction in his war on “terrorism” and Iraq.

Several of Chávez’s speeches point to a new stage of the Bolivarian Revolution that will intensify the development of his proposed “Socialism of the 21st Century” in Venezuela. These included a call for the formation of a Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela, a new party that would coalesce all the pro-revolution groups existing in the country; the nationalization of important sectors of the economy, including telecommunications, electricity and the Central Bank—which up to now has been an autonomous entity—and several other measures intended to move toward the construction of a socialist society.

Sandinistas back in office in NICARAGUA

After being sworn in, Chávez flew to Nicaragua to attend the inauguration of President Daniel Ortega. After a lapse of many years, in a completely new situation in the country, the Sandinista Front for National Liberation was back in office on Jan. 11, represented by Ortega. The Sandinistas, who had tried earlier to bring revolutionary change to Nicaragua, had been forced out in 1990 after a contra war sponsored by the U.S. that cost billions of dollars of damage, followed by Washington’s direct intervention in Nicaragua’s elections in support of an opposition it had created.

In fact, the World Court in 1988 actually ruled that the U.S. should pay Nicaragua some $12 billion to $17 billion in reparations for the damage of the contra war—a ruling Washington ignored.

The Nicaraguan masses have suffered terribly—first during the U.S.-contra dirty war and then, after the pro-U.S. regime was installed, by neoliberal economic policies dictated from Wall Street.

Indicating Nicaragua would take an anti-imperialist route, Ortega on his inauguration day signed on to ALBA, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas. ALBA is the anti-FTAA program for Latin American integration and trade that emphasizes solidarity over profits and has already set up wide areas of cooperation among its members, especially in health and education. There are now four countries in ALBA—Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

ECUADOR: Indigenous leaders show confidence in Correa

In Ecuador on Jan. 14, in a simple and moving ceremony in the heart of the Indigenous Zumbahua province of Cotopaxi, the leaders of the community invested President Rafael Correa with their authority and their confidence for the direction of a new and progressive Ecuador. Correa, an economist from the progressive Alianza País (Country’s Alliance), won the highest office in runoff elections against pro-U.S. magnate Álvaro Novoa.

Several Indigenous leaders interviewed on Ecuavisa TV that day stated the need for the socialist development of Ecuadorian society. At Correa’s request, the inauguration in the Indigenous community—a day earlier than Correa’s

“official” inauguration in parliament—was attended by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Excerpts from Correa’s speech at his Indigenous inauguration show the direction of his government. Besides calling for a Constitutional Assembly—something that the more progressive Latin American governments are pursuing in order to turn back imperialism’s neoliberalist grip on their economies—his speech also shows a genuine interest in the well-being of the masses of people:

“This way we start this crusade called Country’s Alliance, that is more than a campaign slogan but is hope: the homeland returns, and with her, the jobs return, justice returns, the millions of sisters and brothers expelled from their own homeland in that national tragedy called migration, return. ...

“This is the hope of a few, spread like a brushfire and turned into the hope and will of all Ecuadorians who on Nov. 26, 2006, wrote the heroic quest in our country and initiated a new history. Today, the homeland is already for all. ...

“However, the struggle is just beginning. The 26th of November was not a final point; it was a starting point. The Citizen’s Revolution has just been initiated and nobody can stop it, as long as we have a united people ready to make the change.”

President of Iran visits

At a time when the Bush administration has announced an ominous strategy that targets the sovereign country of Iran, preceded by the illegal capture by U.S. troops of five Iranian diplomats in the Kurdish region of Iraq, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela to further bilateral relations.

Bilateral trade agreements between Nicaragua and Iran were signed for the first time. Ahmadinejad also attended Correa’s inauguration on Jan. 15, an unprecedented event in international relations and diplomacy. An agreement signed with Venezuela is aimed to help African nations as well.