Things are getting mighty interesting in Latin America. Guatemala just elected a new president, and it looks like he might just become another amigo for Chavecito. Maybe not a prospective signatory to the ALBA–yet. But at least, one for another of Chavecito’s regional unifiers–namely, the Petrocaribe oil bloc:
The president-elect of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, today declared his interest in entering into an energy accord with Venezuela.
“We are working on the possibility of constructing an energy accord in order to enter into Petrocaribe”, said Colom in a statement to the press, according to AFP.
Colom indicated that the topic would be broached with president Hugo Chavez when they meet in Argentina for the swearing-in of president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
On the prospect of Guatemala entering into the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which Chavez launched, Colom said he would start a dialogue with his fellow Guatemalans in order to share these decisions with them.
However, since Guatemala has a free-trade agreement with the US, the entry into ALBA “is a little complicated”, said Colom, without elaborating further.
Colom will be take power in Guatemala on January 14.
Translation mine.
So much for Chavecito being isolated…and for that matter, so much for Guatemala being in the bag for Washington.
I can just hear John Negroponte gnashing his teeth already.
Yes, I read this report earlier.
Hopefully Colom will bring a progressive direction to the abysmal politics that have dominated Guatemala since it became a US client.
Colom won because the indigenous folks in the highlands united their vote.
Nice. These people are amazing, given the terror that they have suffered at the hand of the US puppets and the comprador whores.