…got just a tee-tiny titch more meaningless today. From Aporrea, an interesting little note:
Translation mine.This is doubly interesting. It means that Chile and Honduras both have now shrugged off the “no contact with Cuba” yoke imposed on them more than three decades ago by the Washington Consensus. Since Bachelet left for Havana from Tegucigalpa, it means that Honduras as well as Chile is now in the process of establishing normal relations with Cuba.What else might it mean? Well, as Chileans have been benefiting indirectly from Cuba’s free healthcare system (via Venezuela’s health missions, which have provided free transportation to and from Cuba), I suspect Chile might soon be playing host to a number of Cuban doctors in its poorer parts. And I don’t think Michelle could just stand idly by, observing Venezuela and Bolivia’s resounding success at achieving full literacy with Cuban help, either. Something tells me she’ll be seeking help from the Brothers Castro on that front, too. Above all, it means that Dubya’s efforts to drive wedges between the “good” (docile) and “bad” (uppity) leftists of South America have been one hell of an Epic Fail. The terrible truth is, the “good” leftists get along famously with the “bad”. Lula has spared Chavecito no praises, and it’s obvious that Michelle thinks highly of Evo, if her sea-access agreement with him is any indication. All in all, it looks like LatAm integration is proceeding rather nicely, and the whole “good leftist/bad leftist” dichotomy is just so much horseshit.Or, in other words: Latin America is nobody’s backyard anymore.The president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, confirmed yesterday in Honduras that she would travel to Cuba “without any type of inhibitions” to make the first official visit in 37 years and with reference to the late president Salvador Allende.Bachelet, who made a ten-hour visit to Honduras, gave a press conference with her host, Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, where she announced her upcoming visit to Cuba, for which she left yesterday afternoon from Tegucigalpa.“We have agreed on an agenda between both our governments, and I believe it will be an important visit, since it’s been more than 37 years since a Chilean president has been there,” Bachelet said, recalling Salvador Allende’s visit to the island in 1972. “Any topic which appears to me to be indispensable to the interests of the country, I will discuss not only with the government of Cuba, but with any government,” Bachelet said to the press. Zelaya and Bachelet signed several co-operation agreements in technology and exterior relations.
