With more than a “wink and a nod” from their collegial “caudillo del Norte,” Donald Trump, seven right-wing South American leaders have launched the Forum for the Progress of South America (PROSUR), which aims to eradicate all vestiges of Venezuela’s late president, Hugo Chavez, and Brazil’s wrongfully-imprisoned past president, Inacio Lula da Silva. PROSUR seeks to replace the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which was created by Chavez and Lula in 208 to counteract traditional American hegemonism in Latin America enforced by the neo-colonial Organization of American States (OAS).

Leaders from seven right-wing South American governments – Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, and Guyana – recently gathered in Santiago, Chile, under the auspices of billionaire Chilean president Sebastian Pinera, to sign an accord creating PROSUR. One of the goals of the new bloc is to integrate the defense, security, and crime prevention infrastructures of the members. If that sounds like an embryonic recreation of the infamous Operation CONDOR of the 1960s and 70s, it very much has such potential. CONDOR was an alliance of the intelligence and security services of South American military dictatorships, nurtured by the CIA, that is believed to have been responsible for 60,000 murders, 30,000 “disappeared,” 400,000 wrongful imprisonments, and countless acts of torture.

Bolivia and Uruguay, members of UNASUR that support Chavez’s successor, Nicolas Maduro, against the Central Intelligence Agency-groomed and -installed presidential pretender, Juan Guaido, did not join PROSUR, and, instead, elected observer status in the group.

Pinera and Colombia’s right-wing and narco/paramilitary-backed president, Ivan Duque, were the architects behind PROSUR. Seeing a chance to bury the legacies of Chavez and Lula, the two presidents invited all but Maduro’s government to join the pact.

Ecuador, which joined PROSUR, served as the headquarters of UNASUR. In 2014, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa opened the $65 million headquarters in Quito. Today, with right-wing governments and, as with the cases of Brazil and Colombia, far-right wing governments, taking over most of South America, the UNASUR headquarters sits largely abandoned. Moreno ordered UNASUR to abandon the building and promised to turn it into a university. After UNASUR Secretary General Ernesto Samper left his post in 2017, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru suspended their membership in the bloc, dealing it a fatal blow.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno quickly abandoned his commitment to the ideals of Correa, Lula, and Chavez and embraced the caudillo politics of the right-wing South America presidents. Moreno, whose first name is in honor of Vladimir Lenin, plunged a knife into UNASUR when he said it was the creation of “perverse politicking of the self-styled 21st-century socialists.” After Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru withdrew from UNASUR, with the obvious prodding of the Trump administration, the stage was set for creating a new right-wing and pro-US alliance of neo-fascists, grifters, and oligarchs.

Moreno, who served as Correa’s vice president, has abandoned the socialist policies of his predecessor. Moreno not only welcomed US Vice President Mike Pence to Ecuador with open arms but sought the re-opening of the former US intelligence airbase at Manta, which had been closed by Correa in 2009. Moreno’s defense minister announced that what would replace the Manta airbase would be a “Security Cooperation Office.” In 2018, Moreno withdrew Ecuador from one of Chavez’s most-prized creations, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

Ironically, Moreno, who bears the first name of the founder of the world’s first Communist nation, reversed many of Correa’s policies aimed at reducing the influence of Ecuador’s oligarchs and banks. Correa, who now lives in exile in Belgium, faces imprisonment in Ecuador in a political jihad launched by Moreno that is not unlike that of the Brazilian right-wing that targeted Lula and his successor, Dilma Rousseff. Present at the inauguration of PROSUR in Santiago was Argentine president Mauricio Macri, the one-time business partner of Donald Trump, who has done everything possible to imprison his predecessor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Now an Argentine senator, Kirchner and her husband, the late President Nestor Kirchner, were partners of Chavez, Lula, and Correa in creating UNASUR.

Uruguyan president Tabaré Vázquez, who sent an observer delegation to PROSUR’s inaugural summit in Chile without joining the group, criticized the new group at a United Nations conference in Buenos Aires. Vázquez said that South America already had regional organizations, including the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELADE), and the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). However, like Moreno of Ecuador, Vázquez criticized the creation of UNASUR, saying, it “had a certain political ideology.”

Presidents Mario Abdo Benitez of Paraguay Martin Vizcarra of Peru have also steered their countries firmly into the right-wing camp. Both presidents joined their colleagues in Santiago for the PROSUR summit.

One surprise leader who signed on to PROSUR in Santiago was David Granger, the president of Guyana. Granger, as a former Brigadier General in the Guyana Defense Force, likely felt at home with individuals like Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, a former Brazilian paratrooper whose spoken Brazilian Portuguese reflects that of an uncouth Army veteran combined with a street thug. Granger has made common cause with ExxonMobil to lay claim to oil reserves in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which are also claimed by Venezuela. Granger has brandished his right-wing allegiances by ignoring Guyana’s Constitution and postponing a March 19, 2019 required election to 2020. It was the defection of Granger’s coalition government’s parliamentary backbencher, Charrandas Persaud, to the opposition in a no-confidence vote that originally triggered the election. Rather than comply with the Constitution, Granger’s government, accused Persaud of being a US citizen, not eligible to sit in parliament. Persaud also received death threats. Yet, according to the Western corporate media, Guyana is being threatened by an “undemocratic” Maduro government in Venezuela.

Just as PROSUR seeks to eliminate the vestiges of Chavez, Lula, Correa, and Kirchner in South America, there has been an attempt by Washington to also wipe out two other Chavez regional projects, ALBA and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Both organizations include Venezuela’s allies in the Caribbean region. Trump recently invited the leaders of five Caribbean nations – Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia – to his Mar-a-Lago billionaires’ club in Palm Beach to seek their commitment to isolate the Maduro government of Venezuela and support the Guaido puppet regime. In order to entice the leaders to sever all financial links with Venezuela, including their participation in the PetroCaribe program that provided them with subsidized Venezuelan gasoline and oil, Trump offered nebulous loan guarantees through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a Wall Street contrivance with major national debt pitfalls attached.

Trump has a major real estate project in the Dominican Republic. Allen Chastanet, the prime minister of Saint Lucia, is the incoming chairman of the Caribbean Community. He will be expected to wean away from Venezuela its last remaining allies in the organization.

Trump and his team of neocons, including national security adviser John Bolton and Venezuela regime change envoy Elliott Abrams, who was convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal and who benefited from a cover-up bolstered by Attorney General William Barr, will now concentrate their efforts on overthrowing Maduro and subjecting his last remaining allies, Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia, Uruguay, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada to regime change operations.

Normally the same cut and dried accusations are brought against Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua. The United States says they have authoritarian governments that oppress opposition, try to do away with democracy and independent media and turn a blind eye on growing drug trafficking and corruption. In different ways the same things are said about Argentina, Brazil and some Caribbean states. Everything is done to undermine the authority and political reputation of leaders who have fallen out of favor with the United States. The accusations, falsified evidence and deserters are continuously used to discredit politicians.

For several months Rafael Correa, the President of Ecuador, has been resisting the attacks launched by opposition calling upon people to stand up and fight for «justice against bureaucracy». It succeeded in making the trade unionist United Workers Front (El Frente Unitario de Trabajadores) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) join its ranks. The majority of Ecuadorians stand for Correa and his Citizens’ Revolution. He is supported by middle class, military and police. At that plotters instructed and funded by CIA use each and every opportunity to rock the boat. Correa says the opposition leaders want clashes to take place so that they could find a martyr to be turned into a symbol of resistance movement. Nobody knows how long the stand-off will last but law enforcement agencies already have casualties. Dozens of policemen suffered as «peaceful demonstrators» fired shots. 

An attempt to stage a «hungry riot» took place in Venezuela. In San Felix crowds looted food shops. Police intervened in time to quell the unrest. President Nicolas Maduro made a TV address. He showed photos and video recordings to prove that the incident was an outright provocation. According to the President, the unrest was staged by a leader of the Justice First (Primero Justicia – PJ) opposition party Julio Borges who escaped to Columbia. The Venezuelan President emphasized that the US Southern Unified Combatant Command (USSOUTHCOM) is involved in sending agents to Venezuela with a mission to provoke a social unrest.

Nicolas Maduro also said that there are about thirty paramilitary armed formations operating in the country that have gone through a combat training course in Columbia. Some militants have been put under arrest. During the interrogations they told about the links with ultra-right opposition. The brutal murder of young woman called Liana Hergueta sparked a scandal. Her body parts were found hidden in a bag left in a public place. It was interpreted as a sign of war launched against the Bolivarian regime. Indeed, it was a contract killing perpetrated by opposition militants. Then somebody spread a rumor that babies were mass murdered in a provincial maternity hospital.

Brazil is hit by the smear campaign. The organizers accuse President Dilma Rousseff and former President Inacio Lula da Silva of being involved in a corruption scandal at the oil company Petrobras. Western media play a provocative role trying to denigrate well-known leaders of Brazil’s Workers’ Party. The reports about allegedly extremely low ratings of Dilma Rousseff have become routine. They influence public opinion to make people demand her resignation. Information is spread that the investigation has enough evidence to go upon and make the President face justice. Dilma knows how to counter the attacks. Political scholars say the intensity of opposition activities is declining. The Rousseff supporters note that the Petrobras corruption row had started long before the incumbent President even entered the office. The story was overblown to clear the way to power for Aécio Neves, the opposition candidate at the recent election supported by Washington.

The propaganda efforts against Rafael Correa, the President of Ecuador, Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Cristina Fernandez, the President of Argentina and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff have intensified recently. The US State Department, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency take part in the coordinated actions to remove these politicians and substitute them with «democratically oriented» ones ready for a dialogue with Washington. The scenarios aimed at toppling the politicians who hinder the establishment of US total control over Latin America take into account the operational situation in each of these countries. There are advocates of drastic measures in the Obama administration who want «to improve» the state of things in Latin America. They are ready to go as far as putting into action the «Libyan scenario».

Many a time the United States special services have attempted to physically eliminate foreign politicians who have fallen out of favor. No doubt this kind of activities will not stop. The people of Latin America are often scared by the flows of hatred and animosity aimed at their leaders that come from the country that considers itself «an exemplary democracy». Doing away with those who are declared to be US enemies would allow Washington to undermine the process of regional consolidation. It would pave the way for delivering a blow against such organizations as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Then the US could curtail cooperation within the framework of Petrocaribe and the activities of the South American Defense Council (CDS).

There are enough people in Latin America who are ready to kowtow to the United States. They will try to undermine the activities of BRICS and curb the cooperation of their relative countries with Russia and China. No doubt that the attempts to destabilize and destroy «populist» governments are intertwined with the US policy aimed at isolating Russia. Washington has a desire to involve Latin American states into the sanctions war against Russia.

The goal of US policy in Latin America is wreaking havoc on the continent. It wants to do away with independent politicians and sovereignty of individual states to make Pax Americana triumph.

The United States has been unable to turn Latin America into a neocolonial reservation. The efforts to reach this goal are doomed to fail.

It is difficult to say what the airplane's pilots felt when at the very last moment the previously agreed-upon air corridors were closed to them and they were denied landings for refueling. In the end, the presidential aircraft received permission to land in Vienna on almost empty fuel tanks. It is not entirely clear how the Austrian authorities determined that Snowden was not on the plane. It was not until 12 hours later that Evo Morales and his companions were able to continue their flight to South America, where many politicians and the media assessed the occurrence as «essentially the hijacking of the airplane with the president on board». No one doubted that the entire operation had been coordinated by U.S. intelligence.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza; the Secretary General of UNASUR, Ali Rodriguez; the leaders of Mercosur; the leaders of ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America); and other organizations have spoken out in protest over this occurrence. Practically all Latin American presidents – Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Ollanta Humala of Peru and others – loudly condemned those who allowed this provocation against the Bolivian leader.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa put forward an initiative to conduct an extraordinary summit of the leaders of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in order to «make joint decisions on the actions to which Evo Morales was subjected in Europe». Correa stated that everything that happened to the Bolivian leader is an extremely dangerous precedent, as it violates international law: «We are going to Bolivia to support our brother Evo and show that we do not intend to accept humiliating actions of this sort with regard to any country of our America. Imagine for a second that something like this happened to a leader of a European state or the president of the United States. Most likely it would be a cause for war. But they [the Western states. N.N.] are certain that they can encroach upon international law, destroy it, smash it to pieces, and slight the honor and sovereignty of our nations. It was not Evo Morales who was insulted, but international law, peaceful coexistence, and mutual respect between our states. We will not allow arrogance and impudence to gain the upper hand». Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela), Cristina Fernandez (Argentina), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Jose Mujica (Uruguay) and Dési Bouterse (Suriname) arrived in Cochabamba, where the UNASUR summit took place.

Mass protests near the U.S., French and Spanish embassies in La Paz began immediately after the hostile actions of the authorities of these countries against Evo Morales became known. Indignant Bolivians, and not only the president's political supporters, gathered around the diplomatic missions, awaiting further developments. Passions were rising, and several American flags were burned. The U.S. embassy announced the introduction of increased security measures, and upon approval from the State Department it cancelled the celebration of Independence Day on July 4. Indians from the Ponchos Rojos, a militia group of the Aymara people, to which Morales belongs, were noted close to the U.S. embassy. The chiefs of the Ponchos Rojos stated several times that they are prepared to defend their president by any means.

On instructions from the Spanish embassy, the consulate in Santa Cruz was closed. In La Paz the activities of the Spanish Cultural Center and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation were suspended. The Bolivian authorities know that these organizations are used as a cover for Spanish intelligence agents working in Bolivia in close contact with the CIA station. Spanish Foreign Minister Garcia-Margallo tried to whitewash the actions of his government and stated without blinking an eye that Spain's «airspace was never closed».

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro opined that the «disgraceful government» of Mariano Rajoy had participated actively in the affair of Morales' plane: «Who does Mariano Rajoy think he is? Does he think we are still living in the colonial era? We need to rethink our relations with Spain, not with the Spanish people, but with Mariano Rajoy's government». These words contain a serious warning. After the death of President Hugo Chavez, Spanish intelligence agencies have noticeably stepped up their activities in Venezuela, assisting the CIA and collaborating with the radical opposition. Their goal is the destabilization of the country and the overthrow of the lawfully elected president.

At the UNASUR summit in Cochabamba, Morales stated that he is exploring the idea of closing the U.S. embassy in La Paz: «I would have no qualms about it; we're better off without the United States». He spoke of the dependence of European countries on the U.S. and emphasized the need to free Europe from it, making use of the experience of Latin American and Caribbean countries. And it must be said that Morales has extensive experience in fighting America's interference in Bolivia's internal affairs. In 2008 he declared American Ambassador Philip Goldberg persona non grata, and then banned the activities of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) and USAID (Agency for International Development) in Bolivia. It is possible that this entire occurrence was Washington's attempt to take revenge on the Bolivian president for past humiliations. There is also a theory that the affair with the airplane was a warning of sorts to the Bolivian president regarding plans to invite Rosneft to Bolivia to explore promising hydrocarbon deposits where Gazprom is already operating.

In the words of Cristina Fernandez, the very least they can demand from the European countries is an apology: «The aggression against Morales is an insult to his people. It is an outrage against us all, against our nations, our rights and our societies». At the UNASUR summit it was said several times that the incident with Morales will lead to a serious crisis in Latin America's relations with the countries of Western Europe. And the statements of some officials in Washington that the U.S. has nothing to do with the occurrence («Don't ask us about it; look for explanations in the countries where it happened») are considered ridiculous by Latin Americans.
 

The same moment we made this statement: President Lugo impeachment has been done, disguising it as a strictly and cynically “constitutional” act, with an "indicted” political trial in which the most fundamental basis of the right of defense were violated, the “Parliamentary Coup” was performed. This fact should take us to analyze the new methods through which traditional powers run their “adjustments” in order to avoid losing the power they have gained through years of manipulation. Latin Americans should bear this in mind, indeed. The last attempt of traditional coup took place in Venezuela on 04/09/2002, and it ended up failing on 04/14, when Hugo Chávez regained power. As from then, the new coup models have been more subtle: Market Coup (another concept to Political Science coming from Latin America), the case of Alfonsín (occurred in Europe with Italy) to the coups in Argentina in 2001, which ended up in Fernando De la Rúa´s resignation under pressure of his legislators and leaders of his political party UCR; and the case in Honduras, 2009 when the congress revoked José Manuel Zelaya Rosales on the grounds of treason to his country and other offences. This takes us to conclude that demo liberal democracies show one Achilles heel which has been even worse with the unquestionable success of globalization, as the concentration of economic powers do not further need the “support” of national militia, but of more civilized tools. Therefore, with the control of mass media, political and economic pressures are able to put “things in place” by using pseudo legal strategies thereto.

Paraguay could not easily escape from 60 years of tyranny of Alfredo Stroessner with a bipartisan system ran to guarantee the power of conservative parties, composed by landowners and prominent businessmen. President Lugo, was able to break up with another rule of the conservatives as he joined the continental view of “Big Nation” refused by this power (last 06/22, the senator who was heading the impeachment show announced in a local radio program in Córdoba that the Paraguayan Congress denied the UNASUR and that they would take President Lugo to court for signing the PROTOCOL OF USHUAIA, on the basis of democratic commitment of MERCOSUR, along with Bolivia and Chile). We should add as “a testimony, a piece of evidence” that this same "Paraguayan Senate" still considers Taiwan Island as a representative of the people of China – being this just an example to show the Cold War mind of these conservative members of Paraguayan politics. Moreover, Lugo has been rather arrogant in certain decisions which have not been easily forgotten; e.g., the veto of the admission of a humanitarian mission which was commanded by the American militia as a result of the scandal in the region on the military agreement between USA and Colombia. In addition, there was a freezing of the Estigarribia Military Base built during Stroessner´s tyranny, together with the presence of American militia and continued during “democracy” until the arrival of Fernando Lugo – who invited Bolivian President Evo Morales to the base in order to show that there was not any North American militia in the premises (I personally reported this in 2005).

This devastating chapter of Latin American history does not end up with the consolidation of a new Coup, but with its Regional geopolitical projection; Paraguay is in the center of this geo economic group called MERCOSUR, and this slip back clearly means an extremely critical situation for the continental ideas of most of the countries in the region, but mainly this means serious damage to its most important partners: Argentina and Brazil. This is highly detrimental to Brazil’s aspirations to consolidate itself as a continental leader and to strengthen its global projection as a member of the BRICS, as it might be seen as incapable of keeping peace in the borders with a partner who supplies it with energy from Itaypu Damn. We should even add to this step backward the recent creation of the so called Pacific Alliance with its objectives as a worldwide power being seriously questioned.

On the other side of the story this means to Latin America a strong attention call on methods used for reestablishing the old political conditions based on social conflicts. For example, people assassinated in Curuguaty (main argument for the impeachment) when some cops were trying to proceed with an eviction order in a place which was full of farmers claiming rights on land and they were attacked by sniper rifles (Who set them up?). This resulted in: 17 casualties; 6 policemen and 11 farmers with a dozen of them injured. This eviction was run by the GEO Special Forces of the National Police Force, being it an elite group trained in Colombia, under Uribe´s administration, for the fight against counter-insurgency. Isn´t it hard to understand why highly trained cops were easily led to an alleged trap set by farmers? Even more, among the dead cops was the chief officer, Erven Lovera, brother of Lieutenant Alcides Lovera, chief security of President Lugo (a clear mafia message). It is necessary to understand how new intervention models are framed on the basis of social conflicts, even more when we see the police force conflict in Bolivia is worsening. This issue calls for a close outlook because of its upcoming institutional consequences.

We can assure you that this geopolitics and geo-economics coup is a step backward in the consolidation and expansion of MERCOSUR (let´s bear in mind that the Paraguayan Senate blocked Venezuela from entering a Common Market). Paraguay is a Mediterranean country, which connects the region through its long water gate rivers, strengthens its importance as food producer, with great power of hydraulic energy. It holds the key of land path among Mercosur´s partners and makes part, together with Bolivia, of the characteristic geography of the countries joining the Atlantic with the Pacific, having its territory great significance for the Guarini Aquifer Region. (Let me remind you that future wars will be over water supply, World Bank´s concept). Another relevant military-strategic issue is the Triple Frontier as in the last years the Southern Command has pointed the need to have greater participation in controlling the so called international terrorist groups and the drug dealers.

All said takes me to the simplest conclusion that if the regional organizations: Mercosur and UNASUR, its Defense Council, are not successful in controlling these measures taken by Paraguayan oligarchic groups, as during Bolivian crisis (Camba separatism) and the Ecuadorian-Colombian conflict, the importance of the latter shall be mere rhetoric and the consolidation of the continental model of current multi-polarity shall be stopped. Then, Brazil will have to lower its aspirations as leader of the region to a mere privileged partnership with the North American Power (USA is back to the region with this coup and the Pacific alliance), as it is hard to believe that the Paraguayan Senate took the decision of impeachment without the support of the American power. All in all, this means a path of no return and a direct attack to the heart of Unasur. We cannot remain aloof to this situation, indeed.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, who is married to arch-neoconservative and Israel supporter Robert Kagan, one of the chief architects of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, refused to call the Paraguayan Congress’s rapid impeachment and the Senate’s conviction and removal of Lugo a coup. The right-wing governments of Canada, Spain, and Germany quickly recognized the Franco government even as Latin American nations moved to isolate it diplomatically and economically.

The Obama administration has put a «civilian» imprimatur on America’s coups in Latin America, opting to involve governmental branches, such as legislatures and courts, to carry out its covert operations in the Western Hemisphere. Just as drone attacks and targeted assassinations have become a hallmark of the Obama doctrine, for Latin America the internally-launched «autogolpe,» or self coup by government insiders, is preferable to ordering tanks on to the streets, dissolving parliament and the Supreme Court, and turning over power to a military junta of generals and colonels. 

Latin American nations now recognize the core of the Obama doctrine for putting one of its loyalists in power and ousting a leader not favorable to Washington’s policies – if the legislative and judicial branches of a government can be used to «constitutionally» eject an executive from power, the United States will recognize the change as constitutional and in keeping with the «democratic process.»

Honduras, and, now, Paraguay serve as stark examples of the Obama doctrine in practice. 

As was the case with Zelaya in Honduras, Lugo took on the vested elite and wealthy landowners in Paraguay. After Paraguay’s legislature, which represents the ruling class that exercised absolute power during three decades of rule by military strongman General Alfredo Stroessner, ousted Lugo, Paraguay’s government shifted from «center-left» to «center-right.» 

One of the first states to recognize the Franco regime was the Vatican. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, was a burr in the saddle of Pope Benedict XVI, primarily because of Lugo’s adherence to Marxist-based liberation theology, which emphasizes the plight of the poor and landless peasants over the interests of the super-wealthy oligarchies that had relied during the Cold War on military juntas installed largely by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to protect their interests.

Lugo’s Liberal Party allies bristled at the president’s failure to respond to the invasion of farms owned by wealthy landowners by landless peasants. The bourgeois conservative and thoroughly misnamed Authentic Radical Liberal Party, of which Franco is a member, formed an ad hoc congressional coalition with the fascist Colorado Party, long dominated by Stroessner, to depose Lugo through a lightning-fast impeachment and removal by the Congress. 

A June 15 gun battle in Curuguaty in Canindeyu department between landless peasants and police, the latter acting on behalf of elite landowners, resulted in 17 deaths, including six police officers, and provided a catalyst for Congress to move against Lugo. Some 100 families had occupied the land of a wealthy Colorado Party supporter. The landless campesinos charged that the land had been illegally seized during the Stroessner dictatorship and re-distributed to his political cronies. The National Federation of Campesinos of Paraguay claims that 80 percent of usable farmland in Paraguay is owned by the upper one percent of all Paraguyans. The land occupied by the poor campesinos in Canindeyu is owned by Blas Riquelma, a former Colorado Party Senator and Stroessner ally who is also one of Paraguay’s richest men. Riquelma owns a chain of supermarkets and food companies and much of his land is used for soya production. 

Not surprisingly, during the siege of the peasants, police special warfare units and helicopters flown by the military’s Special Operations Forces, which are trained and equipped by the United States, used tear gas and flame throwers on the occupying campesinos. Lugo immediately fired his Interior Minister Carlos Filizzola for the violence. Lugo’s grip on power appeared tpo already be slipping when he named Ruben Candia of the Colorado Party and a suspected conspirator in a plot to overthrow Lugo in 2011 as the new Interior Minister.

Not once did the Obama administration condemn the use of brute force in Canindeyu. On June 25, in an op-ed in The New York Times, former President Jimmy Carter lamented that the United States had «abandoned its role as the global champion of human rights.» It was clear that after the Obama administration’s support for the 2009 Honduran coup, it had not changed its policy of interfering in the domestic affairs of Latin American nations and had embarked on a new form of imperialistic «gunboat diplomacy.»

Lugo, who has been battling lymphatic cancer, was always seen as vulnerable to his enemies, most notably due to his illness and paternity suits brought against him while he was a priest. But with Lugo’s cancer in remission and Lugo accepting responsibility for fathering two children, his enemies did not want to wait for the next presidential election in April 2013. Instead, they engineered a soft coup. Paraguay’s heretofore politically-strong military and the Roman Catholic Church pledged support to Franco and his cabinet.

The Obama administration also was out of step with most Latin American nations that refused to recognize the Franco regime in Paraguay. Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, all governed by center-right governments, withdrew their ambassadors from Asuncion. Progressive governments in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Uruguay, and El Salvador refused to recognize the Paraguayan regime. Costa Rica also refused recognition. Venezuela pulled out its ambassador from Asuncion and cut off oil shipments to Paraguay. Franco was banned from attending the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) summit in Mendoza, Argentina and the group suspended Paraguay’s membership, opting, instead to invite Lugo to attend the summit. To further isolate the Franco regime, Lugo planned an early hand over of Paraguay’s chairmanship of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to Peru.

The U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) role in the Paraguay events are uncertain, however, if the Honduras coup is any indication, the Pentagon was active in advising the soft coup plotters as they prepared for their move against the campesinos in Canindeyu and Lugo. The Pentagon maintains access facilities in Paraguay and in nearby Argentina and Chile. 

Latin America is trying to break free from decades of domination by the yanquis from the north. As witnessed in Honduras, and now, Paraguay, the insidious interference by Uncle Sam in the domestic affairs of the nations of the Western Hemisphere will not be relegated to the ash heap of history any time soon.

These two hundred years should be connected to the currently demonized date of October 12th, 1492.  According to Jorge Abelardo Ramos, that date is Latin America's birth date, and this is an irreversible fact, regardless of whether that date is known as “…The Discovery of America, The Double Discovery, The Encounter of Two Worlds, or a genocide, based on different viewpoints and, above all, based on different interests, which are not always clear…”(1). As of that date, this continent entered into world history and, together with the race-mixing of the aborigine and the European, a new category of American rose: the “criollo category”, which was based on four values in America: the sense of Freedom, the value of the Word given, the sense of Hierarchy and the Preference for oneself. This was and still is the soul of Spanish America: the soul that contained us and contains everyone (aborigines, gauchos and immigrants), and that constituted this new American (2).

But this new “criollo category” came into conflict with the hegemonic interests of the new global power that prevailed over Spain: Great Britain. This was the beginning of numerous civil conflicts all over America, as we changed from the visible domination of Spain to the invisible domination of Great Britain. We had a flag, an anthem and an army, but England chained us to its feet with the Baring Brothers' loans and the subtle cultural colonization. That is the reason of the dominant classes' disdain in America of everything that is criollo and Latin American. That was the struggle during the 19th century and most of the 20th century, except in some moments of history when that domination “model” was disrupted: in Mexico, with its revolution in North America; Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama in Central America, and only Cuba barely survived with great difficulties; and in South American subcontinent: with the Peronist revolution in Argentina; Bolivia with the National Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario, MNR) under Paz Estenssoro; Peru with Velasco Alvarado; Chile with Allende, or Brazil with Getulio Vargas. 

But in the deepest parts of America, the criollo category was still beating, in spite of the lost decades and defeats, and it comes alive in this century in a clear and overwhelming way.

In the past 10 years, South America experienced one of the major turns in its history. Heterogeneous, with ups and downs, plural and dissimilar; but with the same aim: To turn the fate. Two hundred years has now elapsed since our births, and there is no doubt this has been the Decade of the South.

Nowadays, South America has its entire region governed by democratic administrations that, despite its contradictions and limitations, allow the dissent and the fight for a better future for everyone.  This subcontinent is governed by presidents of different backgrounds: a woman is president of one of the emerging powers, Brazil, and before that, a worker was at that position; a person of mixed racial background is president of Bolivia; a former guerrilla fighter in Uruguay; a Perón follower in the 70s in Argentina; a third-world former bishop in Paraguay; a former left-wing military man in Venezuela; an anti-neoliberal economist in Ecuador; a businessman in Chile, who succeeds a woman; a liberal economist in Colombia; and a former left winger in Peru. As we can see, it is a heterogeneous South America. In spite of this and by its own means, it was able to avoid both internal and regional conflicts that were holding back the consolidation of the democratic majorities assaulted by the rebellious minorities.  For instance, Bolivia was threatened by separatism, or Ecuador by an attempt of coup d'etat.  Also, this subcontinent could do away with the danger of confrontation between Colombia and Venezuela, or between Colombia and Ecuador, or the Argentina-Uruguay conflict.

From the beginning, this decade was characterized by an insubordination to the mandates of the traditional values, and to a globalization that was increasing the dependence. Once more, the State appears as a social regulator over the market monarchy, and tries to overcome the consequences of neoliberalism. Latin America has a diametrically opposed scenario compared to the one reported in the United States and the Eurozone. The South American leaders responded with celerity and soundness to particular events that could have turned into serious conflicts; and it is important to highlight the maturity and unity achieved.

In this short article, we cannot fail to mention the strengthening of the Union of South American Nations (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR) (and all its collateral organizations), resulting from Latin American founding insubordination (3) to the attempt of incorporating into the subcontinent the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) with George Bush, in the Summits of the Americas in 2005.

The World Bank's Chief Economist for America, Augusto de la Torre, recently pointed out that this has not been another lost decade for Latin America, as the 80s were, but rather a return to the 60s. From 2000 to 2010, South American 100-year trend of slower-pace growth compared to developed countries has been broken (4), and, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast, this year's growth will report an average pace of 5.7%. Furthermore, Latin America needs to consider its strengths and weaknesses in order to correct them: More than 70% of South America's growth this year accounts for the demand of the emerging world (China / India).  The terms of exchange of South America are the best ever. Therefore, the South American region needs to consolidate a new system of international alliances, which is already happening due to its economic imprint (China, India, Russia), as well as diversify its primary production, add value to our exports, increase its technical/scientific skills, implement a South American bank, and establish a strong and flexible regional defense system.

Although: “We clearly are in what I would call the Latin American Decade.”  A statement made by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President, Moreno Mejía, which we agree with.  However, we do not have to let things slide; instead, we have to follow the path of integration of our autonomous development, consolidate our regional agencies, and foster this plural, heterogeneous and somehow undefined trend, but a transforming trend in the end. And that is another reason to celebrate. As almost all South America celebrates the end of the decade.  

1. Malvinas de Cristóbal Colon a Juan Perón(Falklands from Christopher Columbus to Juan Perón): http://licpereyramele.blogspot.com/2010/12/malvinas-en-ell-bicentenario-ii.html
2. Pensamiento de Ruptura: El Orden criollo(Breakthrough Thinking: The Criollo Category), Alberto Buela; Theoria Publishing House, Bs. As. (2008)
3. La Insubordinación Fundante(The Founding Insubordination), Marcelo Gullo; Biblos Publishing House, Bs. As. 2008

World Bank

Due to the minor difficulties which should not take long to resolve, at the moment the UNASUR focuses on coordination among the member countries, leaving it for later on to form the alliance's council of ministers, parliament, common judiciary, and the Latin American military organization. The strategic mission of the alliance is to achieve tight integration of the member economies within the coming 15-20 years and to establish the corresponding zone of free trade. The December, 2008 UNASUR summit which was hosted by Brazil passed the resolution on the creation of the South American defense council, which would be coordinating the UNASUR joint efforts in the security sphere as well as promoting mid-term and long-term military technology and training unification.

The highlight of the 4th UNASUR summit was the unanimous approval of “The Additional Protocol to the Constitutive Treaty of UNASUR on Commitment to Democracy” which stipulates that the UNASUR countries would mount collective resistance to any attempts to displace legitimate governments on the continent. From now on, the protocol is going to be an integral element of the UNASUR charter and an instrument of neutralizing various internal and external subversive activities.

The initiative to put together the protocol is credited to president of Ecuador Rafael Correa who narrowly escaped an attempt on his life during a coup instigated by the US jointly with the defiant Ecuadoran police forces and army officers corps. Clearly, the recent ouster of legitimate Honduran president Manuel Zelaya – another development attributable to the US involvement – also influenced the common UNASUR position.

The protocol says the measures in response to a breach of democratic order in an UNASUR country would include partial or complete closure of land borders, suspension and/or limitation of trade, air and maritime traffic, communications and provision of energy, services and supplies, suspension of the right to participate in the various bodies and branches of UNASUR, as well as the suspension of the rights and benefits enjoyed under the Constitutive Treaty of UNASUR. Other UNASUR countries would do their best to prevent perpetrators from communicating with various regional organizations or receiving aid from “the centers of power” which contributed to the coup.

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez described the protocol as a significant document that would enable the UNASUR to protect democracy and to suppress coups and destabilization attempts which remain a permanent threat to the region's countries, especially Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The theme of the US subversive activity targeting the UNASUR countries was invoked in the addresses in a veiled form, but the underlying logic of the Protocol was an open secret.

It is time to put an end to Washington's meddling in the domestic affairs of Latin American countries regardless of the pretexts cited by Washington such as struggle against terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling, and human trafficking. Latin Americans can handle their own problems independently. For example, Venezuela decided to stop cooperating with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the result being a drastic increase in the indicators of anti-drug raid efficiency. In Venezuela, DEA focused on spying on H. Chavez's regime rather than made serious efforts to help beat the drug business.

At the opening of the summit, the attendees commemorated former Argentinian president and UNASUR secretary general Néstor Carlos Kirchner who accomplished a lot during his relatively short term in office and was instrumental in the UNASUR member countries' reaching consensus over an array of basic issues. Kirchner's death might have resulted from the strain imposed on his health by his self-sacrificial service.

Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Uruguay's Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas, and Chili's Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria were regarded by the summit as potential successors to Kirchner. The forum made no final decision on the candidacy and left the issue to the next summit. President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo is to serve as the acting head of UNASUR till 2011.

Despite the entrenched territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana and the tendency of the external forces to blow the conflict out of proportions, Chavez and Jagdeo seem to be on entirely friendly terms. Guyana takes part in the ALBA activities as an observer and works with the Petrocaribe. The ideological proximity between the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the Popular Progressive Party of Guyana makes it easier for the countries' leaders to understand each other. Notably, both Chavez and Jagdeo are friends of Russia. Jagdeo prides himself in being a graduate of Russia's Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University.

For decades, Guyana remained a peripheral player in Latin America and was for the most part engaged economically with the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean. Jagdeo pledged to lift the country out of self-isolation and – with the UNASUR support – get it involved in addressing regional problems.

Georgetown saw yet another event of symbolic importance during the summit: Ecuador and Columbia declared restoring their diplomatic relations, leaving behind the tragedy of March 1, 2008 when the Columbian special forces supported by US aircrafts invaded Ecuador's border region to destroy a FARC camp. Thanks to the UNASUR assistance, the two countries turned the page on the incident.

Predictably, the Latin American summit – in contrast to the recent US Congress-patronized anti-populist form – drew practically no coverage in the pro-US media. Chavez said the gathering in Washington had been an assembly of political crooks, criminals, and terrorists acting as the avant guard in the struggle against the UNASUR. He expressed hope that they will never manage to instill divisions in the alliance which is constantly getting stronger.