The Latin America of then is
no longer the same

Laura Bécquer Paseiro

THE scandal of U.S. espionage in Latin America not only brought to light the former country’s interference in the region’s internal affairs, but also demonstrated how much relations between the United States and what it considers its backyard have changed. There is now a determination not to be intimidated and to stand up the U.S. administration, something unthinkable in former years. An indignant region is raising its voice in all possible forums to denounce the violation of its sovereignty.

Cuban political analyst Carlos Alzugaray is not surprised at what has occurred and stated to Granma, "Under the legitimization of the global war on terror, the United States has expanded its intelligence and espionage mechanisms. Perhaps out of a general plan, or perhaps because the instruments themselves have taken on a life of their own and have extended their sphere of action to cover foreign governments."

Brazilian journalist Mauricio Savarese recently commented to Russia Today that the espionage activities "demonstrated that the days of the Monroe Doctrine, for 190 years the basis of Washington’s foreign policy in the region, have ended."

As opposed to the European countries, which have behaved as U.S. accomplices, Latin America is angry, Savarese explains, while noting that the postponement of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s official visit to Washington, as well as unanimous support for this decision on the part of Latin American leaders, "are evidence that the days of the Monroe Doctrine are over."

Precisely Brazil, one of the principal targets of interception given its growing role in international geopolitics, demanded from Washington an explanation for what happened. In the face of an unconvincing response and White House excuses that the spying was undertaken as a protection from terrorism, President Rousseff, also spied upon, said that her country was fully able to protect itself.

Speaking September 24 during the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, she not only described the espionage on the part of the U.S. National Security Agency as a serious violation of human rights and civil liberties, but the breaking of international law, and "an affront to the principles of relations between countries."

Referring to Brazil’s reaction, Professor Alzugaray commented to Granma, "This objectively coincides with the general tendency observed in Latin America and the Caribbean toward greater autonomy, greater self-determination and toward the rejection of everything that whiffs of external interference. The interference of the United States in the internal affairs of countries in the region, in other times accepted and tolerated, is no longer acceptable."

Rousseff was joined by her counterparts in Bolivia, Evo Morales, and of Uruguay, José Mujica. During the same UN plenary session, Morales questioned the fact that the United States is not only spying on governments which it considers its enemies and on ordinary citizens, but also on its European allies.

Mujica stated that Washington could not pretend "to harvest friends in the midst of suspicions of espionage." He also touched upon an essential point: the need for technological independence. In his opinion, "with the development of wireless communications that exists today, one has to suppose that everything is listened to and what is not listened to is because they do not want to listen to it."

That is why, among the first measures designed to deal with the effects of this espionage, Brazil announced that it is to create its own data centers and Internet connections to shield itself against U.S. espionage. In other words, the data of Brazilian Internet users will be guarded in servers in the country itself and not in Washington, as is currently the case.