Latin America: a road of its own, without
U.S. interference

In Latin America, 2006 has been an election year. Some countries, such as Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and more recently Nicaragua, already have new presidents or have re-elected those who were in office. Two nations have yet to hold elections, Venezuela and Ecuador, where a tense struggle continues for power.
The main feature of the electoral results in the region has been a greater presence and influence of the left; a plural and diverse, democratic Latin American left, based on specific positions and needs. The candidates representative of this left -or the left in the plural sense- have participated and participate, contrary to other times, with solid possibilities of winning. Committed, in general, to a fair distribution of the wealth, truly popular social policies, a real improvement in the living standards of the majorities, a rejection of the hegemonic pressures from the United States; convinced on the need to promote cooperation and regional integration with a view toward an authentic and equitable development, these left candidates have encountered a broad favorable response in society.
Unfortunately, this new tendency is not welcomed by the United States, nor does it enter into Washington's inter-American policy or its diplomatic strategy. When Washington's backyard, traditionally docile, becomes a vast independent and sovereign territory, committed to not accepting the hegemony of its northern neighbor, George W. Bush's administration reacts with concern and tries to conserve, by all means possible within its grasp, its traditional influence in Latin America. To do so, Washington has never hesitated to violate agreements, treaties, and international laws.
Based on countless and truthful testimonies from all social sectors, from political leaders, journalists, academics, intellectuals, members of non-governmental organizations and civil society, the Latin American Circle for International Studies (LACIS), has been able to document an alarming pattern of naked U.S. interventionism in the Latin American electoral processes. Through non-governmental organizations that work as a screen for undercover activities and international organizations financed from Washington, the United States supports politicians that it feels it can handle.
U.S. interference has been evident in Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua and now, in Venezuela and Ecuador. The United States finances and helps to plan and carry out expensive campaigns of filthy propaganda against those candidates that it considers hostile or at least reticent to accept to its interests.
At this moment, the main propagandistic and destabilizing efforts of Washington are undoubtedly focused on Venezuela, where Bush's administration, through falsifications, provocations and lies, is trying to discredit President Hugo Chávez and supports the opposition candidate, Manuel Rosales. The U.S. government has earmarked considerable financial resources to this end, channeled in part through agencies such as the National Endowment for Democracy and the International United States Agency for International Development, among others.
The CLAEI agrees with the demand raised by Latin American society and joins together with personalities such as Gabriel García Márquez, Rigoberta Menchú, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, and many other outstanding notables of our America who demand an immediate and definitive end to U.S. interventionism in the internal affairs of the peoples of the region. We believe in free self-determination and in the sovereign right of all nations and individuals to choose their own road to the future. As Benito Juárez, the greatest of all Mexicans and one of the eminent and extraordinary leaders of the hemisphere said: "among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace".

Mexico City, November 2006.