A Gathering Menace

20060119

     While many in the US who care are focused diligently on the War on Terror and events in the Middle East, and rightfully so, another menace, potentially as dangerous as radical totalitarian Islam, gathers very nearby. This menace is the sudden lurch of Central and South American governments back toward the revolutionary socialism that plagued these nations during the 1980s.

     The US already has to deal with the annoyances of Cuba under Castro, and recently with the fiery rhetoric of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Now, the nations of Bolivia and Chile have both elected socialist presidents. The identification of this problem may seem reactionary to some, but the election and tolerance of these leaders in these countries is reactionary in itself.

     The countries of Central and South America have suffered over the past several decades under a US policy that has been neither consistent nor fair. While each of these countries must bear the burden of their own unique issues, the fact that the most powerful nation on the planet has not dealt with them fairly only compounds the problems they already face with poverty, corruption, and economic development.

     The result of this mixture of internal strife and international inconsistency is reactionary politics. It is often easier for the people of any nation beset by trouble to point the finger at outside influences rather than deal with internal problems, and that is the nature of the quiet socialist revolution happening in Central and South America.

     Why is this a concern to the US? While the socialist agendas of the various leaders are unique and often at odds, those agendas are united in one critical fashion in their mutual condemnation of the United States. While the US is powerful, can any nation afford to have enemies in its own backyard while fighting abroad?

     The solution to this problem is one of economics, as is so often the case in other places. As long as the peoples of nations like Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela continue to suffer under crushing economic hardship for want of basic necessities let alone the benefits of an industrialized society, they will continue to resent the US for what it has and fails to share.

     Is this to say that the US should just hand these nations gifts in hopes of winning their favor? On the contrary, the US should engage in an encompassing policy of encouraging fair economic investment, not just by the US, but by all industrialized nations, and this development must focus itself on creating and improving access to necessities and infrastructure that allow these nations to become strong and secure on their own terms without reacting to injustices real and perceived.

     Failure to recognize this menace and act accordingly sets the stage for another threat to the US. How many threats can one nation face before it begins to succumb to them? Now is the time to respond to this threat, before it has the power to do the US harm.

DLH