Social agenda for Mercosur

Fidel Castro surprised Mercosur’s left leaning members with his arrival on Thursday. Chavez had invited the island President to participate in the summit. Castro, who will soon turn 80, addressed the people’s summit for nearly three hours in his trade mark green fatigues, urging for social pacts among Latin American nations.

“Today trade between Mercosur and Cuba is at 500 million dollars in imported goods from Mercosur and we export 50 million dollars. We have a tremendous amount of possibilities in our hands. Today in the meeting we talked about Mercosur’s economy. And Mercosur’s social agenda? Don’t forget that word! Mercosur’s social aspects, what that means and what can be accomplished”

The historic revolutionary figure also reminded Mercosur leaders that they mustn’t forget social and humanitarian agenda’s toward building a new Latin America. “We can build a new education program throughout Latin America. In three years we can eradicate illiteracy. We have to believe it to achieve it.” The Cuban leader focused on education and health, applauding Venezuela and Bolivia for the recent initiatives in health and education. “Let’s not forget about globalization. We should globalize solidarity.” Both Cuba and Venezuela have exported their socialism to many parts of the Third World. For many years, Cuba has trained hundreds of doctors and provided specialized surgery for many fellow Latin Americans.

Cuba, a nation with a limited economy, signed several trade accords with the Mercosur nations. Juan Mignetti, professor of political economy at the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo’s popular university, said that Cuba’s participation was a step forward toward globalizing solidarity. “Politically, Mercosur is very important for Latin America. The possibility that Latin American markets integrate and include Cuba means a lot because regional economies will help to break the blockade against Cuba.”

Washington’s silence

Washington’s State Department remained silent over last week’s Mercosur summit. Some Republicans and Democrats agreed that the Mercosur presidential summit was a political meeting, not a meeting leading to trade consolidation and economic pacts.

Aznarez mentioned that the new regional alliance means an end to isolation. “For the U.S., this trio composed of Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez, and Fidel Castro, signifies a true enemy because they are resisting North America’s plans for Latin America. They have rejected the FTAA and the U.S.’s other alternative: individual free trade agreements based on country to country. This regional alliance is going to make those individual accords much more difficult.”

Outcome of Mercosur

Both Chavez and Castro set a strong playing ground for their fellow leaders to follow. The leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay haven’t been as outspoken in their commitment to social policies as Chavez and Castro. Before Venezuela’s entry, Mercosur’s agenda didn’t include a social agenda. In his address, Castro said Latin American leaders need to make a stronger commitment to social programs. He applauded Chavez and Bolivia’s Morales for how quickly they’ve learned the road to socialism. Without saying anything, he criticized Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay for falling short.

Castro criticized South America’s second largest economy for its high child mortality rate. He also said in his speech that continental governments should commit to humanitarian needs: train more doctors, teachers and university teachers. Argentina has long recovered from its 2001 financial crisis but this recovery hasn’t reached the ranks of the working class.

What remains clear is that Venezuela’s fellow Mercosur leaders are excited about Venezuela’s economic might, but wary of his socialist discourse. With the exception of Castro and Chavez, the Mercosur presidents departed as quickly as they could after the summit. Not a single government official from Nestor Kirchner’s administration attended the parallel people’s summit. Chavez reminded the some 40,000 spectators that the crucial changes in Latin America came thanks to social movements’ resistance to imperialism.

The Mercosur presidential summit marks a clear separation from U.S. imposed economic policies. However, most of the accords set during this summit benefit the major economic groups of the corresponding nations, not the people. Castro hit a strong point when he reminded his admirers that Mercosur should include a social agenda.

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