Viva Latin America!

For generations our people were oppressed by colonial European powers. They came into our homeland, killed or enslaved our people, stole our land, forced their culture upon us and tried to make us forget our own. But no matter how much they tried to create a new Europe in Latin America, they did not succeed. Yes, we have been influenced by the nations of Europe, but we are quintessentially our own people, our own culture, our own nation. We have thrown off the yoke of our past colonial oppressors, and now we have ascended to become Latin American nations of importance and preeminence in the world.

Now for some reason The United States refused to see that we are no longer the backwards nation we used to be. They did not see us as social, political, or economic equals. They were blinded by their pride and self-superiority and only looked to Latin America as a place to meddle with and exploit. They made themselves our new colonial oppressors, and they are almost worse than our former ones. When Spain and Portugal held the power of the Latin America’s in their hands, at least they were outright with their plans of colonization and control and that subordination of our countries to theirs, but The United States deluded itself into thinking that they were trying to help us, that by using their influence and power in Latin America that they were helping us develop into a better nation. The United States was wrong to do so because we were already a better nation.

Why would we even want to be like The United States? Look at the government; they were greedy and selfish. Juan José Arévalo shows us this in his book, The Shark and The Sardines. He writes that The United States was once a country built on moral values and a desire for a fair and just political system and then they were corrupted. The government was influenced by characters such as John D. Rockefeller and lowered itself to the role of a “simple entrepreneur for business and protector of illicit commercial profits.” It became a mercantile state. And we became their victim. The United States looked upon us with their greedy eyes and saw us as a place of profit for themselves. The United States made itself rich with the money of Latin America, while we were stripped poor and our progress was halted. They were not going to let anything get in the way of their new Latin American lifeline, and they proved it militarily. Panama, 1903. Nicaragua, 1909. Mexico and Haiti, 1914. Santo Domingo, 1916. Those who fought against the death grip The U.S had us in were either silenced or replaced with those who were more friendly and welcoming to the plans, policies, and armies of our Northern counterpart. This poor treatment is still continuing. The United States continuously insinuates itself into our government, politics, and way of life. We need to be free to govern ourselves, to choose for ourselves who will rule, not to be told who will rule with the barrel of the United States gun pointed at our heads. But if North America can see that it is making mistakes, and remedies those then there is a future for equal and cooperative work between our two great nations. Arévalo says it best when he writes, “the friendship certainly could be reestablished. But to do so, it would be necessary for the White House to alter its opinion of us, and it would be necessary for its conduct to change. We expect new political treatment.” And if The United States will not give it to us, we will get it, because we have the power.

We are nations built on the blood, sweat and tears of our native peoples and of the people that were brought over to work our land. Our nation is one of great beauty and incredible culture. We have learned to embrace every aspect of our culture; every language, every skin color, every ethnic background and we have mixed them all together to create a culture that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. We are Brazilian, Argentine, Colombian, and Peruvian. We are the poor people living in the conventillos, the farmer in the countryside, the factory worker in the city; we are the poor, the middle class, the hard working people that make our nation so great. We are the future of Latin America, and I promise that our future will be bright. Our nation is great, and we will prove to the rest of the world just how great we are. Viva Latin America!