The United States is in many ways still the foremost world power, but that seems to be changing fast. Thanks to weak leadership and a series of fatal decisions, important countries worldwide, even in the USA:s backyard, are looking for new ways forward without the US.
The Organisation of American States (OAS) Challenges the USA
Washington’s former Latin American “backyard” refuses forced allegiance with the White House. US President Joe Biden had not invited the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the 9th Organisation of American States (OAS) Summit, held between the 6th and 10th of June.
As a form of diplomatic protest and solidarity with the uninvited nations, the leaders of Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala and even some Caribbean states cancelled their planned participation at the summit. Regarding a planned solution to the migration problem afflicting the United States, the involvement of the presidents of Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua would have been significant. However, Biden has shown little interest in directly discussing solutions to the migration problem – likely due to the influence of his vice-president, Kamala Harris.
The Biden-Guaidó Phone Call
“No country can arrogate to itself the right to decide who is and who is not part of our American continent”, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce stated in his speech at a meeting of the Bolivian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Trade Agreement (Alba-TCP) in Havana, Cuba.
It is indicative of the arrogance of the Biden administration that the US President – who, interestingly enough, has shown a sudden renewed interest in oil trade with Venezuela – was still on the phone with Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaidó shortly before the OAS summit. The US continues to recognise him as the democratically-elected President of the National Assembly and the interim head of state, the White House had announced.
“Never Again Destabilisation Processes”
President Nicolas Maduro is firmly back in the saddle in Venezuela, so to speak. Maduro recently met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara to sign three agreements on future cooperation in tourism, agriculture and finance.
Also noteworthy is that the Argentine Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, formulated a clear message to the participants of the OAS Summit that the OAS must never again legitimise destabilisation processes in Latin America. “The OAS must not be involved in a coup d’état, as recently happened in Bolivia. We must leave those sad pages of history behind us,” Cafiero continued.
The Global Times reported from the summit that Latin America was sending a joint message to the United States, effectively telling Washington that South America can no longer be used as a geopolitical playground or chessboard for its interests.
The BRICS Summit
It is of particular interest that at the same time as the OAS Summit was taking place, on June 7th, the finance ministers and central bank directors of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – met for a video conference which resulted in an agreement to intensify cooperation within the framework of the New Development Bank. The New Development Bank is seen as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Instead of being present at the OAS Summit for the first time, Argentina’s head-of-state attended a BRICS summit. Argentina’s ambassador to China, Sabino Vaca Narvaja, explained that attendance at the BRICS summit was a decisive step toward Argentina joining the group.
There is no doubt that new power blocs are forming, making the world ever more polycentric and multipolar.
As an American, I think this is a good thing because multipolarity is more conducive to an Ethno-State (or Ethno-States) in North America and throughout the world. I still believe that America’s quest to maintain Uniporality is the secret to American involvement in the Ukraine situation.