Washington's interventions in elections in Latin America continue apace

In Latin America the right-wing elite includes Alan Garcia, the new Peruvian president, who defeated Ollanta Humala just a few days ago, and Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president, who has just won a second term. Felipe Calderon, one of the three Mexican candidates, shares similar ideas, as does Oscar Arias, Nobel laureate and Costa Rica's new president. Arias won the elections by a small margin, but he must be relieved. The US ambassador threatened during the campaign to cut off all investment in Costa Rica unless parliament ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) -- threats that were hardly helpful to Arias.

Leftist politicians seek to bolster the role of the state, reduce unemployment and prevent big business from monopolising the profits that accrue from exploiting national resources. They are also willing to press for the renegotiation of international agreements that are disadvantageous to their countries. In Latin America Chile's new President Michelle Bachelet, Argentinean President Nestor Kirchner and Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez fall into this group. Bachelet quickly became the target of a hate campaign in the US press because she supported Venezuela, rather than Guatemala, as a candidate for a seat on the UN Security Council. In the Mexican elections this trend is represented by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. During his election campaign Obrador has railed against Mexico's free trade agreement with the US. The agreement, which removed import tariffs on US agricultural products, has angered Mexico's peasant farmers.

The populist school is represented by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales. The latter won a landslide victory in the presidential elections despite -- and perhaps because of -- a threat by the US ambassador during the 2002 elections to cut all US aid to Bolivia should Morales win.

The US is interfering in Latin American politics right, left and centre. Washington reacted to the victory of Morales by upping its intervention in presidential elections in both Colombia and Peru. As a result populist Ollanta Humala, a close friend of Chavez and a man who comes from the ranks of the indigenous population, was defeated in Peru.

Washington has also sought to influence the Mexican elections, though it has been an uphill struggle. US stock has slumped in Mexico, thanks largely to the attempts to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing its southern border which has seen US guards deployed in what is the first militarisation of borders since the US-Mexican war ended with the US occupying two-thirds of Mexico. To make things worse, Washington decided that the election campaign was a good time to ask Mexico to close its southern borders to prevent illegal immigrants, especially from Guatemala, from passing through.

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