The revolution in Latin America

In June, award-winning American film director Oliver Stone released his latest documentary South of the Border into American cinemas.

The film looks at the phenomenal, yet relatively unknown revolution taking place in South and Central America.

There, a collection of presidents have rallied behind one main cause – to make their countries strong and prosperous by economically and socially empowering their people.

It’s as much about a revolution from the past as it is vision for the future. Latin America has for centuries been exploited by European and America business interests.

Now the leaders are saying enough is enough. They want to work with global powers on their own terms. And it’s turning the region around.

Latin America’s tragic history

Ever since the Spanish and Portuguese forces first arrived in the 16th century, the continent’s poor have been neglected in favour of the ruling elite.

More recently during the 1970s and 80s, military strongmen were financed to overthrow or prevent any left-wing governments and ensure Western business interests were met.

Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in what was a dark period for the region. Economically, the gap between rich and poor grew as natural resources were plundered, corruption flourished, and government debt spiralled out of control.

The rise of the revolution

The revolution began in Venezuela in 1998 with the election of high-profile President Hugo Chavez.

He purchased the country’s wealthy oil industry off private companies and brought it into government ownership (just last month US geologists confirmed Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world).

Revenue from this has helped to pay for much-needed social programs for the poor in an effort to grow the middle class. As a result, Chavez has cut the poverty rate in half and extreme poverty by 70%.

Inspired by this success, other Latin American countries began to rally behind his new socialist cause.

Left-wing presidents were voted into office in Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile.

It was the beginning of what Chavez calls the ‘Bolivarian revolution’ – named after the South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar who helped to gain independence for six South American countries in the 19th century.

This time around, the revolution is about economics: taking back the continent’s lucrative natural resources into government ownership so the money can be spent on improving people’s lives.

The leaders insist it is also to ensure their governments are no longer reliant on funding from the International Monetary Fund, who through the control of debt forced governments to make decisions to benefit a wealthy few.

The different leaders

In Stone’s film, he interviews seven of the leaders that are part of the revolution.

After Chavez, the most well-known president in the region is Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, otherwise known as Lula.

President Obama has called him “the most popular politician on earth” and he maintains a 70% approval rating in his country, as well as friendly relations with just about every country in the world.

Another popular leader is Bolivia’s Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president.

He has brought into government ownership many of the country’s natural resources, including oil and gas and the world’s largest deposit of lithium, thought to be worth over US$2 trillion.

The other leaders include Paraguay’s Fernando Lugo, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and Argentina’s husband and wife presidential combo of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner.

Stone also interviews Cuban President Raul Castro, younger brother of ailing former president Fidel Castro, who undertook his own revolution by forceful means 50 years ago.

All believe in the idea of educating and providing for the continent’s poor and middle class in an attempt to create strong economies in the long term.

Progress

So far progress has been impressive. Poverty and corruption has declined, economic growth is strong and political participation in elections and other community projects is on the increase.

Venezuela has experienced high inflation over the past decade of 20-30% which is far from ideal, but certainly nothing new.

And some armed rebel groups still linger, but they too are showing signs of improvement.

It’s an exciting period for the people of Latin America who have been more familiar with violence and economic depression in previous decades.

And it’s an exciting period for other nations too. The growth of the continent’s consumers can only be good news for exporters around the world.

So, like in China and India, Latin America’s economic transformation of the region’s poor means much-deserved prosperity for those at home, and much-needed opportunity for those abroad.

By The Casual Truth

Photo – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez