US and Latin America: A Clash of Histories

Orlando J. Pérez, Associate Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Millersville University of Pennsylvania has an opinion piece for the Pan American Association of Philadelphia on A Clash of Histories.

The people and government of the United States have relatively short memories and believe inexorably in progress. Tomorrow is always better than yesterday! For Latin Americans history defines the present. Historical grievances shape the way countries relate to one another (for example, Bolivia’s ongoing struggle to regain its “access to the sea” from Chile). In the case of the United States, Latin Americans find it very hard to forgive and forget the alleged abuses committed against the region in the past 150 years. They remember every military invasion, CIA covert program and exploitation by U.S. transnational corporations.

For their part, U.S. leaders want to focus on the billions of dollars of aid and support for democracy. President Obama in particular has been keen on emphasizing practical solutions to problems rather than on offences that happened “before I was born.” Ironically, among the most hardline presidents at the Summit it was Raúl Castro who gave the most credit to President Obama’s new approach. After excoriating the United States for violations of Cuba’s sovereignty, Mr. Castro said “I apologize to him because President Obama has no responsibility for this.” Mr. Castro then said “President Obama is an honest man.” In acknowledging that President Obama has “no responsibility” for the past—something that leaders like Ecuador’s Correa or Venezuela’s Maduro actually disagree with—Mr. Castro is perhaps reflecting the realization that holding on to historical grievances might not serve the interest of the Cuban people or the survival of his regime.

Great insights from Orlando. Honestly, however, I'm not so sure how well the difference holds up to more intense scrutiny. I'd say that the Obama administration and Democrats in general have moved on from the Cold War. They might have problems with Castro's Cuba and Ortega's Nicaragua, but not necessarily because of those individuals and countries' Cold War histories. The Democrats will focus on the lack of democracy and human rights and corruption.

However, it is difficult to listen to Republican operatives (Noriega, Cardenas, Abrams) and elected officials (Rubio) criticizing those two countries, or the entire region's left, without emphasizing the Cold War. Republicans might mis-remember what actually happened during the Cold War, but they will never forget.

While the official/government left in the US has tried to move on, I'm not sure the public left in the US has. And even there it's been difficult. The Obama administration and State Department have tried to work with the FMLN in El Salvador but there is lingering mistrust from the US born out of Cold War histories (plus many other more recent causes of concern). Those US citizens who work / volunteer in Guatemala will always start off with the 1954 CIA coup against Arbenz 61 years years ago which isn't entirely wrong but isn't entirely helpful for trying to understand US - Guatemalan relations in 2015 (necessary but not sufficient).