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Grace Livingstone |
The tension that simmers in America’s backyard
America’s Backyard. By Grace Livingstone.
Zed Books
AMERICA: land of the free and champion of democracy.
Unless, of course, you are a small South American country that wishes to elect a government of a particular political hue which does not tally with your neighbour’s neo-liberal doctrine.
In recent years, there has been a leftward trend in the region – hardly surprising considering South America has more inequality than any other continent– and part of this is due to America’s continuing interference.
This is the argument put forward in a new book by journalist Grace Livingstone. Grace, who lives in Highgate, will be talking about her research into US foreign policy and its nearest neighbours tonight (Thursday) at Highgate Library.
Her findings show the amount of work Barack Obama has to do to prove his nation has moved away from being bully-boys on behalf of the US military-industrial complex. She describes how damaging the Bush administration was for relations between the US and its neighbours.
“Even conservatives in Latin America felt alienated by an administration whose gaze was fixed on the Middle East,” she writes.
This creates a paradox: hardline right wingers in the US say they support democracy, but when it means left-wing democracy in South America, it is a different scenario entirely.
Grace illustrates this by tracing the history of American foreign policy since the 1800s and focuses particularly in political trends of the past 30 years.
And while Barack Obama talks of a new deal in terms of his country’s standing in the world, and fostering new relationships, the past does not bode well: “All administrations have a bottom line,” writes Grace. “They have sought to defend strong orderly capitalists states, democracies if possible, dictatorships if necessary.”
This was the thrust of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which pushed for free trade throughout the Americas. Grace says it suited the needs of large US corporations, competing with cheap Chinese imports. US corporations saw a pool of cheap labour in the South and also wanted to exploit markets, driving the privatisation of basic amenities for US companies to take over.
Bill Clinton supported it, seeing Nafta as crucial in bringing in investment. He believed it would lead to a higher standard of living for all, a concept Grace’s research has shown to be seriously flawed. “Clinton said it would help economic growth and therefore help eradicate poverty,” says Grace. “This has not happened.”
DAN CARRIER
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