Latin Americans Blame US for Hellish Problems
uploaded 15 Jan 2004January 13, 2004
by Brian Winter
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - A 30-minute taxi ride past the shuttered factories and graffiti-covered McDonald's of Buenos Aires is a virtual tour showing why more Latin Americans hate the United States these days.
The first stop is the Brukman textiles plant, which was abandoned by its owners in December 2001 after a decade of pro-Washington, free-market policies by Argentina's government ended with an epic economic crash.
"Argentina did everything the United States told us to, and we went straight to hell," said Sergio Cardenas, one of 60 workers who have since taken control of the factory and resumed production as a co-op. "The Americans ruined us."
A mile away sits a McDonald's restaurant that was set on fire two years ago when riots toppled a pro-U.S. president. Hop back in the cab to the financial district, and pass banks covered with metal shields to protect them from customers angry over a systemwide deposit freeze in place since the crash.
"Yankee gangsters! Give our money back!" blares graffiti scrawled on the walls of a branch of U.S.-owned Citibank.
As around the rest of Latin America, anti-U.S. sentiment is certainly nothing new. Former Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz could have been speaking for the whole region a century ago when he said: "Poor Mexico! So far from God, and so close to the United States."
At a summit of 34 American nations this week in Monterrey, Mexico, President Bush, who entered office three years ago proclaiming himself a friend of the region, ran into more animosity than usual.
Distrust has deepened following the 1990s when many governments aligned with Washington only to see their economies collapse into crisis at the end of the decade.
WAR ON IRAQ UNPOPULAR
A 17-country survey on Latin American attitudes by Latinobarometro, a Chilean polling firm, found that 53 percent of Latin Americans held a favorable view of the United States, against 67 percent in 2000.
Even stalwart supporters of America like Mexico and Chile were alienated by the war on Iraq, which many Latin Americans likened to historic interference in their home turf via troop invasions and U.S.-sponsored coups.
"The United States has never cared about Latin America and it's worse when it has problems and phobias over terrorism," said Peruvian bank employee Alfredo Romero, 29, as he shopped in downtown Lima.
A Zogby poll among Latin American opinion formers showed that Bush, who speaks some Spanish, has a worse image around the region than Cuban President Fidel Castro. Brazilian communist politicians hand out posters with a Hitler-style mustache painted on Bush's face.
"We are not anti-U.S., we're anti-George W. Bush," said Felipe Correa, a 25-year-old student in Brazil.
Back in Buenos Aires, the imaginary tour ends with a stop at the U.S. Embassy, where at least a small group of demonstrators is usually present during the day. But some wonder if the United States is unfairly used as a scapegoat.
"I don't agree with anything they do," said Elena Ruiz, 56, gesturing at the high-security, concrete walls of the embassy. "But I also think that what happens in Argentina is Argentina's fault, not the Yankees."
Source: Reuters
