Mexico has made it clear that it does not need it Organization of American States (OAS) To strengthen relations with Latin America. This is the message sent by Mexican diplomacy after months of clashes with the organisation’s general secretary, Luis Almacro. Society of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) A great opportunity to elevate its regional leadership and, incidentally, a great opportunity to oust OAS, a company that has the historical weight of being under US control. Mexico City is hosting a CELAC meeting of foreign ministers this Saturday, the first face-to-face meeting since the outbreak and 25 ministers from the region will attend. It will also be the first rehearsal for the next summit of Latin American heads of state to be held in Mexico next September, for the first time in four years.

The event marks the 238th anniversary of his birth Simon Bolivar, Emblem invited by Mexican organizers to appeal to Latin American and Caribbean integration. “If they divide us, if they provoke us, we will fall prey to one empire or another, even if it is an empire that will liberate us or new empires,” he said this week. Marcelo Ebrat, Mexico’s Secretary of State, in a speech after releasing a plaque commemorating Bolivar, recalled the embarrassments faced by Latin American nations after declaring themselves independent, and laid the ideological basis and political motives for this Saturday ‘s meeting. “If you look at the geopolitical equilibrium that is emerging today – or the inequalities – if Latin America does not act together, it is unlikely to have any influence in the world,” Ephraim told Matthias Romero. Provides training for members of the Mexican Foreign Service.

Argentine researcher Carlos Buckney He claims that there is an “anti-imperialist” element in the DNA of the Latin American left that opposes the Monroe doctrine and seeks “an America without Americans (Americans).” “CELAC is a place where it conflicts with OAS,” says Buckney. Almacro arrived at the OAS General Secretariat in May 2015 with an introductory letter stating that he had been Foreign Minister during the Jose Mujica government, but the much-coveted Latin American transition or the Left did not occur during his tenure. On the contrary, its permanence depends on Washington’s support.

In the intense expression of these ideological struggles, the OAS ‘election campaign has angered many governments in the so-called progressive axis of the region, calling into question the organism-led role. Almacro As a mediator in the political crisis in Venezuela and the electoral conflict in Bolivia. “The OAS is very concerned about the quality of elections on the continent,” says the political analyst. For example, during the visit of the President of Bolivia Louis Ars To Mexico last March, the two countries launched a statement at the center of the speech, which limits the scope for action on OAS election activities.

The list of disagreements is long, but precisely the crisis caused by the forced departure of Evo Morales in Bolivia sparked the conflict between the OAS and the Mexican Foreign Ministry. Last June, Ebrat described Almacro’s administration as “one of the worst in history.” From the fall of the 12th line of the subway, the Secretary-General responded with another attack: “I do not want any of the work he has done as head of the Mexican city government to collapse.”

CELAC provides this space for dialogue between Latin American countries without the United States being a member state. It has lived its glorious phase with the arrival and coordination of progressive governments over the past decade: Kirschner’s Argentina, Lula’s Brazil, Morales’ Bolivia and many more. But his departure marks the fall of the CELAC, which was the mainstay of the political relations of those governments. After becoming irrelevant, in 2017, the regional mechanism opened a reflection period, a “what now?”

“CELAC was plunged into a complete paralysis,” said Efron Guadarama, director of regional US organizations and mechanisms at the Mexican State Department. The twist that Mexico wanted to accept as president For now The focus is on the concrete issues of international cooperation in 2020 and the elimination of political differences. “We are focused on the things that unite us, not divide us,” says Quaterma. The central axis of this encounter, for example, seeks to depend on vaccines, economic recovery after infection, and other areas in terms of drugs and medications against Govt-19.

This does not mean that CELAC is apolitical. All the opposite. The meeting comes at a turbulent political moment for the region, marked by protests in Cuba, the assassination of the Haitian president, the new repressive attack by the Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua, and the recent election clashes in Peru. But, in addition, the fact that Colombia’s vice president and foreign minister Nicolas Maduro are sitting at the same table sends a message of diplomatic force. “This is a clear example of the influence we have had in the Mexico region and the leadership we have taken through CELAC,” says Quaterma.

Brazil left the CELAC in January last year, following the decision of the Jair Bolsanaro government. Although the Latin American company has left friendly countries on the continent since the departure of Donald Trump, the Axis of Mexico and Argentina, in terms of the relationship between the administrations of Andres Manuel Lபpez Obrador and Alberto Fernandez, wants to fill that void in regional success.

CELAC serves an additional purpose. Due to its geographical proximity and economic bias, Mexico cannot face the United States. At the same time, it cannot submit if it wants to have the respect and confidence to lead among its Latin American allies. In this act of balancing and multilateral diplomacy, the image of the CELAC as opposed to the OAS, although it is seldom openly stated, acts as a vent. “It’s an alternative sector to carry those tensions, and it’s a way of saying, ‘My case is with the OAS, not with the Biden government.’

It is a political reading. In the official discourse, Mexico wants to classify the CELAC as a settlement body, not one that plans political questions, which won Argentina’s cause for the Malvinas Islands and, despite consensus, condemned the US siege of Cuba. “CELAC is a kind of amusement park, this catharsis is everything, but in the end it is more rhetorical than anything else,” says Buckney. “CELAC has proven to be the best regional mechanism against infection,” Guaderrama defends.

Absolutely, the power that the United States has in calling the White House the “Western Hemisphere.” But, having been absent for many years under the governments of Felipe Calderon and Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico wants to re-integrate its program into the Latin American scene: the leader of the Cooperation Against Epidemic and Washington’s trusted political orator, the hinge who always orders in difficult territory. This Saturday’s bet is important for the Mexican Foreign Ministry, which will be the first face-to-face event led by CELAC’s Lopez Obrador.

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