Who Lost Latin America?

Who Lost Latin America?
by David T. Pyne, Esq., Columnist, Legal Analyst and
President of the Center for the National Security Interest

December 12, 2002

Columnist David Pyne Today, President Bush will meet with the newly-elected Communist-backed President-Elect of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula), at the White House. Both sides say they want close cooperation. Among the issues to be discussed are US efforts to increase international foreign aid to Brazil’s ailing economy to the tune of over ten billion dollars in order to stave off the temptation of Lula to default on Brazil’s $260 billion debt, something he hinted he might do earlier in his presidential campaign. Another topic which will likely be discussed is Mr. Bush’s proposal for a hemispheric trade pact, the Free Trade of the Americas for which Lula is considered the main obstacle having denounced the initiative as nothing but a “USA annexation project.”

Lula, a longtime Marxist firebrand, has only recently begun billing himself as a newly minted moderate reformer. Based upon the statements that we are hearing in the international media and which we see coming out of Washington, DC - both from government officials and scholars, it appears that his charm offensive has been successful. However, for longtime observers of Brazilian political affairs, there is little reason to believe that Lula will abandon his anti-American foreign policy positions anytime soon. It is much more likely the case that Lula is portraying himself as a moderate in a bid to disarm his would-be opponents at home and in the West prior to his consolidation of power in Brasilia after which his true colors will likely become more evident. This would follow a pattern established by Lula’s good friend, Communist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who was also democratically elected some four years ago.

Back in August, this author warned of an impending event, which would represent the greatest defeat for the cause of freedom since Mao and his Red Army proclaimed the People’s Republic of China over half a century ago. As it turned out, the warnings of those who urged the Administration to take action to avert the election of a Communist-in-all-but-name to the Presidency of Brazil notably including several members of Congress went unheeded and on October 27th, Lula was elected as Brazil’s next President with over 61 percent of the vote.

Over two months ago, the Center for the National Security Interest warned that a Marxist takeover of Latin America’s largest and most populous country would likely result in several other Latin American states falling like a series of dominoes to well-supported Marxist politicos and revolutionaries. This trend has now begun to manifest itself with the election of a Marxist former coup leader and admirer of Communist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Lucio Gutierrez, to lead Ecuador late last month only a few weeks after Lula was elected President in Brazil.

Beginning on New Years’ Day, 225 million people in Latin America will find themselves ruled by Marxist leaders in Brazil, Ecuador, Cuba and Venezuela. Together these four nations will represent the single most dominant power bloc in all of Latin America. Argentina, which holds its presidential election in March and where two leftist presidential candidates are leading in the polls, may be the next domino to fall. Bolivia narrowly averted a similar fate when during their presidential elections, Marxist presidential candidate Evo Morales campaigned in the summer on a fiercely anti-US platform losing the election by a mere 1.5 percentage points. As one noted Latin American analyst stated the question that now presents itself is, “Who lost Latin America”?

A few months ago, this author predicted that were Lula to be elected President, Brazil would join the Sino-Russian Alliance to oppose the United States. This prediction is corroborated by the fact that in June 2002, Aloizo Merchant, a leading member of the Workers’ Party who may be tapped to serve as Brazil’s new foreign minister under Lula stated that “alliances with China, Russia…are important to give force to a possible anti-American coalition.” Brazil already has a thriving trade and strong relations with Communist China. Of even greater concern are Lula’s statements on September 13th to a group of Brazilian military officers that Brazil should restart its nuclear weapons program, which had succeeded in building but not testing two atomic bombs before it was halted in 1994. It is possible that China might assist Brazil in its quest for nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles to deliver them in an effort to counter US dominance of the Western Hemisphere just as it covertly did to help Pakistan to counter Indian dominance of south Asia.

While he meets with President-Elect Lula Da Silva today, President Bush should consider implementing a more realistic policy vis a vis Brazil which is geared less toward accommodation and more directed towards organizing the forces of freedom in Brazil against the incoming Marxist Lula regime. The future of freedom in the Western Hemisphere depends on the United States taking immediate action to stem the growing red tide whose dangerous ramifications may soon impact against our shores. No more dominoes must be allowed to fall to Marxist domination and control to join the newly established anti-American Brazil-Cuba-Venezuela-Ecuador axis of nations. ***

David T. Pyne, Esq. is a national security expert who serves as President of the Center for the National Security Interest, a pro-defense, national security think-tank based in Arlington, VA. He has served as a Country Program Director in the Department of Defense responsible for the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Latin America and has traveled as a member of Department of Defense-led delegations to Canada, South Africa, Israel, Brazil and Argentina. Mr. Pyne is a licensed attorney and former Army Reserve Officer. He holds an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. Mr. Pyne also serves as Executive Vice President of the Virginia Republican Assembly. Mr. Pyne was recently interviewed on Howard Phillips' Conservative Roundtable TV program. Mr. Pyne serves as a columnist for American-Partisan.com , OpinioNet.net and America's Voices. He is also a regular contributor for Patriotist.com. In addition, his articles have appeared on Etherzone.com, Sierratimes.com, OriginalDissent.com and AmericanReformation.org where he serves as a national security policy analyst. He has been cited in the New American Magazine and was recently interviewed on Howard Phillips' Conservative Roundtable TV program.

This article was originally published at the Center for the National Security Interest.
Republication and distribution encouraged with copyright notices intact.