Saturday, May 17, 2008

The Kosovo precedent in Latin America

Latin America stands out because nobody has yet recognized Kosovo. Part of the resistance may be due to old memories: the independence of Panama was very similar to that of Kosovo. It used to be a province of Colombia but the Colombian government was not cooperative enough concerning the canal so the US organised and uprising in 1903.

But, as Straight Goods reports, at the moment is has three regional uprisings that are supported by the US: Eastern Bolivia, Guayaquil in Ecuador and Zulia in Venezuela. In all three countries the ruling governments are too left for the taste of Uncle Sam.

Final proof: Philip Goldberg is now the US Ambassador to Bolivia. He was the US chief of mission in Kosovo from 2004 to 2006 where he helped prepare Kosovo's independence declaration. Prior to that he was assistant to Holbrooke at the time of Dayton.

Jim Shultz does not believe that the US is out to carve up Bolivia. He thinks that his main mission is the fight against coke (Goldberg also served in Colombia). But I find his arguments weak and non-specific. The fact that his organisation is partly financed by the Open Society Institute doesn't help his case either with me.

Postscript 1: Here and here are updates.

Postscript 2: here an article about a "Kosovo-style" guerrilla group in Bolivia that was "dismantled" in Santa Cruz (Bolivia) in april 2009.

No comments: