This sea change would not have been possible without the emergence of vigorous social movements in this most unequal of all continents. Depending on the nation concerned these movements are stronger and more consolidated, but there is not a single nation in Latin America where these movements are not fighting against the imposition of neoliberal policies espoused by the US, the IMF and the World Bank. The struggle is essentially anti- imperialist in nature because neoliberal policies are not just economic; they threaten the total absorption of our culture and politics into the US imperialist camp.

Social movements have managed to stem the privatization of public companies in good measure and remove neoliberal governments with out firing a shot as in the cases of Argentina in 2001, Bolivia in 2003 and Ecuador in 2000. These victories have been breaking the paradigms of passive acceptance, defeatism and impotence - so prevalent in Latin American, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the application of the "Washington Consensus" with its brutal neoliberal policies to benefit the real machine behind US imperialism � the global corporate empire.

The Latin American social movements have managed to broaden the traditional leftist agenda to include essential issues like: the rights of indigenous peoples and descendants of the African slaves; and an important emphasis on the environment and ecologically-based development vs. raping planet-rape for profit. The self-proclaimed leftist vanguards have been a weight hanging on the necks of the indigenous and working class in Latin America for decades. But something has changed. The Latin American people are now recognizing that their liberation was never truly in the hands of the "liberal left" but in their own hands and only their own. With the "left" no longer dragging them down, they are now finding a healthy autonomy symbolized in the continental-wide union of the poor, excluded and historically exploited.

One heart of this regional success has been to prevent the implementation of the FTAA in January 2005. This is a major defeat for Washington�s pretensions in the continent, but you won�t read about it in the New York Times. This must be regarded as a tentative victory but it has encouraged governments such as Brazil and Argentina to resist the FTAA. The lead in this was taken by President Hugo Chavez in Quebec in 2000, when he was the lone voice in the wilderness at that time. From Caracas a radical anti-neoliberal position is discernible, inspired and supported by a nationwide peoples movement led firmly and bravely by Chavez himself. This revolutionary example has fostered the moral fiber and determination of other social movements on the continent and has offered the viable alternative in ALBA. ALBA promotes a serious and viable alternative of autonomous integration without subordination to so-called "free trade" and the "invisible hand of the market" to ensure progress. The reason? The human being is the center of the ALBA proposals and not the ailing US dollar! ALBA is based on self-empowerment, solidarity and cooperation. It does not exclude company profits but subordinates profits to what has been termed "mutual human benefits".

The US, upon seeing that the FTAA would not be functioning in January 2005, opted to try to divide the continent by negotiating and signing a series of bilateral free trade agreements (BTFAs) with individual Latin American regimes. It should not be overlooked that these treaties have been signed or are still in the process of negotiation by the governments who are most submissive to Washington�s pretensions. These negotiations are being conducted by Latin American presidents who are under increasing pressure by the people to step down. President Mesa in Bolivia, President Gutierrez in Ecuador and President Alejandro Toledo in Peru are prime examples. These men and their regimes are under tremendous pressure from the resurgence of the indigenous populations of these countries. The Central American "Free Trade" Agreement (CAFTA) is almost on the statute books and this will in fact economically consolidate the dirty war covertly organized in this region by the CIA in the 1970�s and 1980�s. Colombia is in the verge of signing and Chile has already signed late last year.

The BTFAs are even more dangerous than the FTAA for Latin American states since they will be deprived of the relative advantages they could have obtained in a collectively negotiated agreement in this ominous re-colonization project. For this precise reason, the stopping of the FTAA by pressure groups both inside and outside Latin America can only be viewed as a partial victory and the Bush administration has the clear intention of re-initiating collective negotiations during Bush�s second term. But with so much change and the growth of anti-imperialism in the peoples of Latin America, these negotiations may end up on the cutting room floor.

The main battles to be waged are those against the FTAA and the BTFAs, without even mentioning the US beach head of Plan Colombia, which may be regionalizad to Ecuador and is poised as a direct threat to the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. There is a long, hard road ahead in the battle for Latin America and docile governments must be monitored by the popular movements to ensure that they do not cave in to Washington�s demands.

Victory for the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean can only be achieved by economic, political and cultural integration. In effect, such integration will be the redemption of the ideals of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar. We can see this exemplified in the existing relationship and mutual cooperation between Venezuela and Cuba. It is in fact, the only way in which the annexation and subjugation of our continent by the US can be avoided. Integration will allow the Community of South American nations to follow its own independent route with pride and dignity in the geopolitical arena.

"It�s not Chavez, nor Lula nor Kirchner. The truth is that the peoples have risen up. And woe-be-tide any leader who is not up to recognizing this. The people will just pass over them because they are tired and have taken the vanguard. A new wave is flowing over this continent and it is also reaching other parts of the world. Latin America has risen up from the North to the South as happened one hundred and two hundred years ago, against all empires and imperialism".

And as the revolutionary singer songwriter from Venezuela, the late Ali Primera wrote in the 1970s:

"A transformation process of Venezuelan reality, I believe, must inevitably pass through a unifying and victorious process. I am not speaking about the unity of the left, but the unity of the people as the main factor"

This was written 30 years ago and is now - not just applicable to Venezuela, the vanguard of Latin American emancipation, but to the whole of the continent. The revolution is well underway. In Latin America, the revolution can be felt among the people as surely one feels a wind in the face. If the U.S. imperialists intend to stop it - they will have to stop the developing forces of the people. If the people intend to stop U.S. imperialism in Latin America, they must relentlessly and continuously build their strength through integration.

� Copyright 2005 by AxisofLogic.com

You can contact Carlos Herrera at: carlos@axisoflogic.com