Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Biden to announce air defense, no ATACMS missiles for Ukraine: White House
IRGC Commander in the Iranian Qom Province: A terrorist cell that possessed more than 400 explosive devices was dismantled and its members were arrested
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports a serious injury by Israeli occupation gunfire east of Gaza
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli tank targeted the vicinity of the Syrian town of Ain al-Tineh, facing the occupied Majdal Shams, with three shells, causing material damage
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's request to speak before Congress was turned down due to lawmakers' busy agenda
PIJ senior official Ihsan Ataya denies, in a statement to Al Mayadeen, the news that two members of the movement were martyred in Syria
China's MFA spokesperson: President Assad's visit will deepen bilateral political ties in cooperation in different sectors between China and Syria.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson: China sees President Assad's visit as an opportunity to push relations with Syria to a new level.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Military parade will also see Yemeni Armed Forces warplanes participating for the first time in years.
Al Mayadeen's Correspondent: Military parade will see the unveiling of a new strategic weapons arsenal that recently went into service.

2023 South American Summit defies Western hegemony

  • Hannan HussainHannan Hussain
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 3 Jun 2023 00:35
  • 2 Shares

The risks of overdependence on USD have prompted the likes of Argentina and Brazil – two of the region’s biggest countries – to expand their own bilateral outreach to high-performing economies in the Middle East and Asia.

  • 2023 South American Summit defies Western hegemony
    The Brasilia summit is also noteworthy for its appeal to intra-regional peacebuilding

On May 30, leaders of twelve South American countries descended on Brasilia for the first regional summit in nine years. The event featured a range of perspectives on overcoming political divisions and pathways for economic integration, especially at a time of heightened Western skepticism. In the lead-up to the gathering, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva openly called-out U.S. double standards on crisis resolution and the perils of unchecked dollar dominance. It is here that broad-based calls for non-interference, renewed focus on South America’s financial integration, and rival currency prospects signal defiance of Western hegemony.

Consider Brazil’s proposal for a regional trade currency to rival the US dollar. Nations have witnessed the weaponization of the dollar-driven trade system to target select regimes, such as Venezuela, while leaving South America to deal with the spillovers of illegal sanctions. Development assistance from Washington and Western allies has also been dwindling in recent years, putting the spotlight on the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) bloc to focus scrutiny inwards and prioritize group talks on alternative currency use. 

Many of the leaders in attendance have also walked a tightrope on the Ukraine war, having observed the West’s exploitation of the dollar-driven financial system to score geopolitical gains against Moscow. The risks of overdependence have prompted the likes of Argentina and Brazil – two of the region’s biggest countries – to expand their own bilateral outreach to high-performing economies in the Middle East and Asia. At the same time, they wish to claim a stake in alternative currency talks under BRICS. This week’s South American Summit signified an opportunity to attract that momentum to the region’s own future advantage, principally by filling a trade vacuum left unattended by the West. In Lula’s own words, the goal is to “strengthen the South American identity in monetary policy, through better compensation mechanisms and the creation of a shared unit of transaction for trading” in a bid to offset external dependence. 

Continued efforts by the Biden administration to treat South America as a battleground for geopolitical influence, most recently with China, will only validate concerns about trade self-sufficiency and accelerate the revival of the 12-member regional bloc.  

The Brasilia summit is also noteworthy for its appeal to intra-regional peacebuilding. Simmering disputes over bloc leadership challenged the fortunes of UNASUR, which was established in 2008 with the specific goal of countering foreign influence and intervention. That leadership gap appears to have narrowed as nearly all 12 countries committed their top representation to the summit. Moreover, bloc members were reminded of key distinctions that put them at odds with the West: it is a region of peace, lacks destructive weaponry, and has a history of resolving disputes through diplomatic channels.  

UNASUR’s potential revival can also enable the region to rise beyond more controversial “peace” offerings from Washington, such as the so-called Summit of the Americas. For instance, last year’s event in Los Angeles drilled a hole in South American unity as Washington barred the presidents of three countries from attending, prompting Chilean President Gabriel Boric to call it out as a clear “mistake.” More importantly, the U.S.-led summit wrongfully confined South America’s rich regional projection to an ideological binary between authoritarianism and what the West approves as democracy. 

Make no mistake. The Brasilia summit refuses to put shared regional priorities on the back burner for long. It reflects in the potential to address the contours of effective intra-regional trade integration on the continent’s own terms, and a conscious effort to improve economic cooperation and climate offerings regardless of regime complexes. The summit’s collective consensus on committing to human rights, sustainable development, and social justice signals principled pushback against loud U.S. declarations of the past, such as a so-called international rules-based order that is imposed upon will. 

The allure of Western investments in South America’s economic and political future is also fading fast. In a sign of exercised autonomy, the region is looking beyond the West to strike around $700  billion in trade with China by 2035. Many Latin American nations have also grown increasingly frustrated with the West because of unmet debt burden imperatives. Add to it Washington’s outsized focus on democratic dictates in the region, and it is clear that the rift between ideology and economy is forcing South America to rethink its priorities. That includes a stated focus on supporting the region’s energy transition, eliminating market and trade barriers sustained by the West, and ensuring that South America’s free trade imperatives are given due respect.

“There are presidents with diverse visions,” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after the summit. "We have no problem sitting down to talk with any political force or president in a respectful, tolerant dialogue of unity in diversity, that is what we had here [at the Summit].” 

About a decade ago, it would’ve been virtually unthinkable to pull together distinct Latin American economies and regimes to vouch for their collective future. But given the West’s transactional diplomacy and cold indifference towards the region, South America is waking up to its own reality.      

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
  • Brazil
  • South America
  • Argentina
  • South American Summit
Hannan Hussain

Hannan Hussain

Writer and author.

Most Read

All
The Smotrich-Ben-Gvir riposte seems to be working: Already, there is reportedly a rise in support for the Jewish Power party among the IOF’s rank and file, with an estimated 20% of IOF soldiers voting for Ben-Gvir’s party.

Netanyahu Coalition Goes Full Provocation -- As the US Escalates in Syria

  • Opinion
  • 9 Sep 2023
Old habits, linger … linger well past the time when old rituals (an Israeli PM visit to the Oval Office) had agency and the world hung on the outcome. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Arwa Makki)

Will a tripartite US-Saudi-Israeli ‘Deal’ make Any difference?

  • Opinion
  • 16 Sep 2023
A report card for Ukraine’s counteroffensive

A report card for Ukraine’s counteroffensive

  • Europe
  • 15 Sep 2023
Advancing on foot from Ukraine through Russian minefields to please Western financial institutions

Advancing on foot from Ukraine through Russian minefields to please Western financial institutions

  • Feature
  • 9 Sep 2023

Coverage

All
G77 Summit 2023

More from this writer

All
Why IMEC could become a fading memory

Why IMEC could become a fading memory

The many faces of far-right extremism

The many faces of far-right extremism

Libya’s courtship of the Israeli occupation is absolutely condemnable

Libya’s courtship of the Israeli occupation is absolutely...

How Biden fuels America’s migration crisis

How Biden fuels America’s migration crisis

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS