CARACAS (Reuters) – the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, will return to monopolize the regional scene five months after having been operated from cancer, at a summit which will bring together 33 American leaders to establish a body that does not have been invited United States and Canada.
The appointment on 2 and 3 December in Caracas of the community of Latin American countries and Caribbean (CELAC), named by many as “an OAS without Washington”, will be a test of the health of the controversial Socialist leader, whose disease came to raise doubts about his candidacy for re-election in 2012.
“This is the first time that Chávez is displayed to all peers regional since that was diagnosed with cancer and, as always, you’ll want to look good on the big stage,” said a diplomatic high European.
Military retired 57-year-old insists that it is fully healed after the surgery in Cuba to remove a tumor, the later four cycles of chemotherapy and a scrupulous monitoring of medical advice, and moderating his Marathon speeches and order its chaotic pace of work.
However, cancer specialists say that they must spend years before to ensure that it has overcome the disease.
Speculation about the political future of the Bolivarian leader have not ceased since the Chavez was forced to cancel the original quote from the CELAC, scheduled for the 200th anniversary of the independence of Venezuela 5-6 July, after being operated emergency in La Habana.
Venezuela, for its part, opposition denounces Chavez used his role as host in these international summits to expand its influence international with the country’s oil and divert attention from internal problems and spread his famous slogans UN-American.
“The problem for Venezuelans is that at the end of show, your visit will serve to legitimize and consolidate this autocracy,” wrote the opposing political analyst RocÃo San Miguel in an open letter to the delegations of the CELAC.
Another acronym MAS
Analysts believe that the regional meeting is an unbeatable opportunity to show Chavez his meteoric recovery, but many doubt that the CELAC will go beyond the symbolic aspect and go to swell the bulky list of projects for complex integration latinoamericana.
“Is another regional club more, but it reflects something important and profound: a sense of sovereignty and independence of Washington which has been brewing for some time”, said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue.
“The question is what the CELAC of other regional mechanisms that already exist will differ and whether it will produce something really effective and concrete”, added.
Like other efforts of dialogue, such as ALADI, Mercosur, CAN, ALBA, Caricom or Unasur, this new instance has the challenge of bringing together wills in a region with enormous economic, geopolitical and social gaps of mistrust and friction bilateral.
In Caracas, however, Queen optimism about the event, which will feature the presence of the Brazil, Dilma Rousseff; Moyne and Argentina, Cristina Fernández; as well as the heads of State of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and Peru, Ollanta Humala, among others.
“This is something historical” in truth (…) “It is a first step, is not the victory, but it is a first step because since the 1800s began the (independence) bid on this continent,” said Chavez recently behind the creation of the Agency.
The discussion will include the creation of a common fund of reserves to deal with the financial turmoil of the West and the formation of a human rights body alternative to the Organization of American States (OAS).
Although some worry that Chavez and his leftist allies try to inflame the Summit with rhetorical “anti-imperialist”, it seems that the large presence of conservative and centrist Governments will give way to a more moderate speech to avoid pronouncing directly against Washington and the OAS.
“The more we integrate, more will be prepared for the hurricane that is experiencing the world economy and the instability of the rest of the planet.” “Why give you so much importance to this Summit,” said the Colombian President Santos, United States close ally in the region
All eyes will be on the actions of Chávez as master of ceremonies, who will also chair a parallel Summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and another of PetroCaribe, an agreement that Venezuela sells crude under preferential terms to allies of the Caribbean and Central America.
/Por enrique Andrés pretzel /
