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Introduction:

At international conferences a handful of Latin American countries oppose big 
power&rsquo;s domination of the world and of environmental destruction perpetrated by 
big companies. At the Climate Conference in Copenhagen in 2009, Bolivia managed 
to stop a US sponsored resolution that would allow continued growth in burning 
fossil fuels, the major cause of global warming. 
 
So what is it about Latin America today? Where did it start? 
 
Latin America is home to ancient civilizations that were ravaged by Spanish 
colonialism since 1500. After independence in the early 1800s, the USA claimed it 
had the right to interfere in Latin American countries to protect US interest meaning 
access to raw material and trade with Latin America even when this was not good 
for people in the region. 
 
In the 1900s, USA took a part of Panama and built a canal connecting the US West 
and East coast by a sea route, invaded and occupied Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican 
Republic and Grenada, built military bases and fought a so-called war on drugs in 
Columbia and Bolivia. It installed governments to its liking through coups or 
election fraud so as to ensure governments friendly to the USA. 
 
In 1959, Cuban rebels managed to take control of the island that had been ruled by a 
dictator and close friend of the USA. The Cuban revolution inspired many in Latin 
America. Rebel movements were formed and popular left wing movements gained 
ground. In the 1970s and 80s the USA put an end to this trend by supporting 
extremely brutal military dictatorships. Opponents to the generals, real or imagined, 
were arrested and tortured or disappeared at the hands of the military or government 
organized death squads. 
 
Since the 1990s the trend has turned. Generals have been forced from power. 
Country after country has elected popular left wing governments. The new president 
of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, was a guerilla fighter in her youth. The leftwing Hugo 
Chavez of Venezuela was a military officer. He has remained in power despite coups 
against him because of his enormous popularity. Evo Morales of Bolivia is the first 
indigenous Indian (the majority of the population) to be head of state in Bolivia for 
500 years. President Lugo of Paraguay was a catholic bishop and champion of 
liberation theology and is regarded as a friend of the poor. Christina Kirchner 
became a popular president of Argentina after her husband, who was voted to power 
in a popular protest against extreme corruption. Rafael Correa has been president of 
Ecuador since 2007. He has made reforms so as to improve the lives of poor 
indigenous people. 
 
Cuba remains a socialist country despite 50 years of intimidation by USA and has 
inspired many generations of Latin American socialists who today have more 
influence than at any time. Cuba is today joined with several of the above-mentioned 
countries in ALBA, a progressive organization of Latin American countries working 
to build economic ties through cooperation and by establishing an alternative to 
capitalist globalization. 
 
The B in ALBA stands for Bolivarian. Simon Bolivar is the most famous figure in 
the Latin American struggle for liberation in the 1800s. His vision was a unified 
Latin America neither dominated by Spain, the old colonial power, or any other 
world power. His effort continues to inspire new generations 200 years later.

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