Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez has been actively promoting an alliance of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Nicaragua, to counteract the overbearing influence of the USA in the Americas. Trade, economic cooperation, sporting events, a movie industry, and a regional development bank have all been put forward, along with, of course, arrangements for distributing and refining Venezuela’s plentiful reserves of oil.
All of it falls within what is called the ALBA or the Bolivarian Alternative. “What would Simon do?” appears to be the question. Simon Bolivar was the famous Venezuelan patriot who championed independence from Spain and Latin American unity in the 19th Century.
A recent proposal to further this budding alliance of nations has raised more than a few hackles, not to mention eyebrows. An idea is now being floated of forging a military alliance among the different countries in the ALBA. It came shortly after Chávez denounced pretensions by his neighbor Colombia to provoke a conflict in obeisance to Washington’s desires to destabilize his rule in Venezuela. As has been done in many countries in the past, one way to distract attention from problems at home is to rattle sabers in response to a supposed outside threat. Despite their petro-wealth, Venezuelans are beginning to face some domestic economic woes like shortages of some basic goods and the resultant speculation and profiteering.
In late January, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega promised Chávez that he would not stand alone against any aggression by the USA or its allies. This, not so coincidentally, comes at a time when this country is challenging Colombian dominance of its Caribbean continental shelf in the wake of a World Court verdict that gives Nicaragua rule over those seas. Is Ortega thinking that this dispute over fisheries and offshore oil rights could be resolved in Nicaragua’s favor with a little help from his friends?
Ortega says that such a military alliance is in keeping with the ideals of Latin American unity espoused and embodied by Bolivar and Nicaraguan national resistance hero Augusto César Sandino. Local opposition politicians decried what they called a misinterpretation of those ideals; that such unity is for strengthening the region and was not put forward in a militaristic sense. They also warned it would mean the reinstituting of obligatory military service for Nicaragua’s youth.
Mid-level FSLN leaders tried to assuage these concerns, saying a national draft and militarism is not on the agenda. Such an alliance, they said, would allow for military personnel from other nations to come to Nicaragua to help in the aftermath of a natural disaster, for example, without having to get approval from the Legislature first.
Ortega has referred directly to a military alliance to defend sovereignty and peace. “It’s normal,” he said, reminding everyone that the United States has its NATO. He also said that the only time Nicaragua has sent troops abroad was during the last administration when Enrique Bolaños sent military personnel to “a war that is senseless” in Iraq.
The President says this kind of alliance is permitted by the Constitution; the opposition says that the National Assembly has to approve such a move. Constitutional lawyers are sharpening pencils and arguments.
Politicking and legal arguments aside, the possibility exists that Ortega is simply readying excuses for any possible economic troubles his government might face in the future. In the 1980s during the low-intensity war waged by the contras with support from the USA in order to destabilize his regime, Daniel could blame the daily problems here on that conflict. Having Nicaragua militarily allied to Venezuela in possible times of trouble and strife would give him a fresh opportunity to try to do the same. Perhaps some of his advisors feel it is easier to manage a crisis than it is to run a country.