Latin Elections
By Erik at Alterdestiny has some good observations about elections in Latin America:
Uruguay has just joined a number of nations who have elected left-leaning regimes in the past few years. Venezuela is of course the most famous (notorious depending on your outlook) but also Brazil, and to a lesser extent Argentina and Chile have elected left of center candidates recently. With the exception of Venezuela, this has all happened without the US seeming to care. For over 100 years, the United States has intervened in Latin America in order to crush regimes that seem unfriendly to US interests. There are many examples of this: among the most famous are of course Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pigs in 1961, supporting Pinochet in 1973, the Contras throughout the 1980s, Grenada in 1983, and Venezuela in 2002. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the disastrous attempt of the US to support the Venezuelan coup against Chavez, something that only strengthened his support among working-class Venezuelans.
But, as Erik points out, only in the case of Chavez has the US really reacted. Why? One reason must be the end of the Cold War; without any Russian influence, there is no reason to worry about any nation that doesn’t have oil. This position is remarkably short-sighted from a national security point of view, as Brazil could have nuclear weapons at the drop of a hat. There are plenty of reasons why Latin American states might be hostile to the US, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Mexico and Chile were somewhat. . . reluctant to condone a US war to bring democracy to Iraq.
Still, read the whole thing.