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Tuesday February 23, 2021
So much of this letter, (“Reset USA’s Latin America/Caribbean Policy Now!”), speaks truth to power and needs to be included in the new role for the US to follow in our evolving world. Many of the structures in place that Trump decimated were already antiquated, having been built when the US was the singular dominant nation in the world: manufacturing and industrial supplier of the world, military giant with a near monopoly of nuclear power, stable and functioning democratic government, creative institutions of medicine, education and culture, etc.
The US is no longer the chief, but is again one of the tribe and her global role will necessarily change accordingly. It would be nice if this happened through insight, planning and evolution. Instead, we got a “bull in the China closet,” who so easily shattered our alliances, traditions and protocols, primarily because they had not changed along with the new realities.
Have we learned our lesson? Will we be better able today to cope with racist residue, imperialist impulse, decaying institutions, rotting infrastructure, cannibalism of its own citizens with a methodology practiced for decades on third world soil, etc.? Let us also mention the run-away train we are on with climate catastrophe, air and water pollution, nuclear arms races, refugee crises throughout the world, a pandemic that has constantly outwitted the scientists and so on.
What can Biden do? He seems to be comparing his challenge to that of FDR, who had to contend with many serious crises that reached our shores, the first of which was the Great Depression. FDR had his 100 days, which morphed into the New Deal: the monumental effort to tackle the economic fallout that victimized the US population. And yet FDR did not ignore the need to adjust a faulty foreign policy. His Good Neighbor Policy was an antidote to many of the imperialist tendencies devised by his very own cousin, Teddy.
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“Admitting our aggressive past of constant interventions throughout the hemisphere would be a step in the right direction.”
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Because of our shrinking world, Biden has even less choice than FDR had: he must revise a crippled system of dealing with our neighbors. I’m not sure Biden is the one to tackle it. On the one hand, he has similarities to FDR. He has overcome personal handicaps and losses that would stagger most people, yet he remains committed to his effort. On the other hand, FDR was bedrock elite and could commandeer loyalty across many barriers. He also presided over a country that was agriculturally and industrially proud. Even though idle, the US still had farms and factories that could be returned to. Not true for Biden. Even with his push to “Buy American,” the problem remains–the production is not there.
Hopefully, Biden can come up with his version of a Good Neighbor Policy, which would have to acknowledge the ballistic nature of our traditional foreign policy with a willingness to devise policies now as a partner. Admitting our aggressive past of constant interventions throughout the hemisphere would be a step in the right direction. Making restitution in cases of egregious violations of sovereignty should be considered and arbitrated by a fair agency. I do think Biden will have to pick his battles and both of the cases that Trump mishandled, i.e., Venezuela and Cuba, each have their own difficulty.
With Cuba, Trump is baiting Biden with the “Socialist” card. Having declared Cuba a “terrorist” nation upon leaving office, he wants to pounce on Biden when he removes Cuba from that category claiming he is “soft of Socialists.” This from the Putin Puppet himself! The Venezuela issue is that the “elected” government on Madero is on weak ground itself.
The numbers claimed by Madero, which were equal to those given to his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Chavez was equally hostile to US, but his election was generally judged fair by the Carter Center and other monitors. Those independent monitors have not anointed Madero with the same imprimatur. His autocratic approach bears comparison to our own homegrown version, who was fired by the voters in US in an election that was seriously monitored. If Madero submits to a fair and monitored election and is victorious, Biden and the US will have to abide by this choice, if his new Good Neighbor Policy wants to have credibility.
*Kenneth Murray, is a Songwriter/Performing Artist