Page 7 - MONTT LATIN AMERICAN MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 2021 (English)

those that consider that this is already the role of the OAS. The issue deeply divides Latin American countries that saw efforts such as the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America wane during the first decade of the 21st century.
Maduro was the one who held this last position, to return to Community of American and Caribbean States, but other leaders such as Luis Lacalle, from Uruguay, stopped this attempt and bet on the coexistence of the two international organizations. “This does not mean that integrating the Community of American and Caribbean States, in some way makes participation in the OAS obsolete.” Moreover, Lacalle took advantage of the instance to harshly criticize the lack of democracy in Cuba and the way in which the regime is mistreating people who protest and ask for freedom.
The song “Patria y Vida”, which came out last February and became the “soundtrack” of the protests that broke out in Cuba in July, gained notoriety at the same summit, when Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle mention it in the middle of a meeting he had with the Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. “That the blood does not continue to flow, for wanting to think differently, who told you that Cuba belongs to you, if Cuba belongs to all my people,” the President quoted attacking the Cuban government.
This confrontation generated the Cuban President’s criticism of Lacalle musical taste, which was answered by the authors of the song: “I do not believe that the Head of State has bad musical taste, on the contrary, he did know how to put himself in the shoes of the Cubans and identify with us, thanks to a song that is making history. “
Immediately, Lopez Obrador, who undertook a change in his Latin American policy in recent months with a greater participation of Mexico in the affairs of the Region, insisted on respect for the sovereignty and internal politics of the
countries. In this context, he defended Cuba and urged President Biden to end the island block. Although the President of Mexico distanced himself from the Ortega regime in Nicaragua, the support for Diaz-Canel fuelled regional dissent. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, for his part, sent a harsh message to the US Administration about the trade embargo: “This criminal and immoral policy is a violation of the human rights of Cubans.”
The group also addressed the issue of migration and the Economic Commission for Latin America presented the so-called Marshall Plan for Central America, which for a couple of years some countries have sought to promote to curb the waves of migration to the United States.
A Failure or an Achievement?
For critics of the organization, the meeting was a failure due to the rejection generated by the presence of Díaz-Canel and Maduro. In fact, the Presidents of Uruguay and Paraguay at the event (also from Ecuador, but which was less direct and clear), disavowed the presence of both.
In addition, the final declaration did not include any of the purposes previously announced by Lopez Obrador, perhaps due to the lack of agreement.
Other observers believe that this last meeting managed to slightly raise the profile of a very weakened since the last meeting in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in 2017, which was attended by a few leaders of the Bolivarian block. Since the Venezuelan crisis divided the region, this organization now without Brazil, has not been able to recover its call for integration.
During its ascending period, between 2010 and 2015, the entity managed to maintain the logic of integration thanks to rotating between Governments of different ideological signs: Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Cuba, Costa Rica. In the current situation of regional polarization, this sequence seems
difficult to achieve and, if it exists, it would prevent the organization from surviving the transition from one government to another. Hence, the most possible proposal for the moment is for the presidency to pass from Mexico to Argentina, a country that is going through a political crisis as a result of the defeat of the ruling party in the primary elections.
Popularity of Lopez Obrador
This chapter may not have been the happiest, but internally the President of Mexico is experiencing one of his best moments: recent polls establish that his approval does not drop below 60 percent and disapproval reaches 38 percent. And this, despite the fact that the first popular consultation called by the Head of Government failed due to the low participation of only seven percent of the population that voted. It was a controversial referendum promoted by the current Head of Government to investigate his predecessors for corruption. For the result to be binding, it was necessary for at least 40 percent of Mexicans to meet at the polls, something that did not happen, so the result of the consultation will not have legal effects despite the fact that around 95 percent of the voters said “yes” to the proposal. The referendum asked the Mexican people if the former Presidents of that country should be investigated for corruption. The question of the consultation was questioned at first, since the names and surnames of five former Mexican right-wing leaders were mentioned. On the other hand, the detractors of the head of state criticized him since the former presidents can be tried like any other citizen without the need for the deployment of a plebiscite like the one that was held.
CELAC Meets in Mexico