By Christian Molinari




If you're a normal citizen of the planet, chances are you've come across - if not been bombarded with - news about WikiLeaks releasing some 250,000 documents on communications between US embassies throughout the world and the main office, the State Department in Washington.

It's totally understandable that so much hype has been drawn up over the so-called "Cablegate" affair. It is, after all, exciting spy-game like stuff, bringing information to us first hand of secret dossiers and high-level backroom scheming. Throw into the mix the coverage of a couple of extravagant characters like Italy's billionaire playboy and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to top it all off. Hollywood's gotta be interested.

But with a Latin American focus, we at BNamericas like to bring global issues down to a more regional level. So let's take a look at what is happening in the region with the WikiLeaks. You'll excuse my not having time to go through 250,000 documents, so here's a summary of, and my reactions to, what I've seen reports on:

US efforts to encourage other Latin American countries to isolate Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

- Chavez was actually one of the first world leaders to comment on the leaks, touting them as another example of the plotting of the evil empire. He called on US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton to resign as a result of the leaks. The very same president who called George W Bush the devil and has openly advocated relationships with regimes such as Iran. He is a sworn enemy of the US.

So my question - is this "leak" really news? Of course the US would try to isolate such a rogue leader! Using diplomacy to achieve this is much more humane and less questionable an act than, say, declaring war as was the case in Iraq. Using diplomacy to align your friends is what governments do. Period.

US requesting information on the mental health of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, implying she was a bit crazy.

- Do you have any Argentine friends? I do, and many of them have actually said that she is crazy.

This is a president who reportedly spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on clothes and then changes them several times a day so she is not pictured with the same clothing twice. Who seems more concerned with how she looks than the country's spiraling inflation. Who alienated Argentina's powerful agricultural sector and is viciously attacking, on a political level, certain media/telecoms groups that disagree with her administration. Who was married to President Nestor Kircher, a heavy handed ruler known for cronyism and for increasing his wealth several times over while president.

Now place yourself in the shoes of the US government, looking in on this situation. Sound crazy to you?

Brazilian leaders weak on taking a stance on terrorism.

- I suppose this depends on what leaders and what definition of "terrorism". I believe that it refers to President Inacio Lula da Silva, and probably the US definition of terrorism. Again, if this is so, then the "leak" is probably true. During his eight-year administration, Lula has positioned himself as a masterful conciliator/negotiator, often toeing the line between rivals to act as a third party arbiter and peacemaker. So really no surprise he wouldn't take sides here.

Calling the June 2009 overthrowing of Honduras' then-president Manuel Zelaya an illegal coup that resulted from military and civilian conspiracy.

- Is this not what happened? This is a case of calling the shots as they see them. Granted, in trying to overextend his government control Zelaya was no saint but two wrongs don't make a right. Following the coup, the US temporarily held up aid to Honduras, and President Barack Obama questioned its legality.

The list goes on, but all to the same tune. Perhaps the most troubling of all this is the fact that a lot of the Latin American information "leaked" isn't at all surprising - it confirms a lack of rigor in US policy towards the region. As I mentioned before, I haven't gone over all the documents but what's surfaced so far is fairly superficial. Where's the analysis on issues such as the forces that propelled Chavez to power and have kept him there? Why stress over Cristina K's mental health, instead of more important things affecting Argentina and US-Argentine relations? More in-depth evaluation of Latin American states and how they relate to the US government is, so far, glaringly lacking.

Within the region, actually one sensitive area could be the "war on drugs" that Mexico is fighting with no little help from its northern neighbor. But all we seem to know so far on this is that there are nearly 3,000 Mexico-related WikiLeak documents, with no announcement on when or if any of those records will be released.

Hillary Clinton called the leaking of the diplomatic cables "an attack on America's foreign policy interests" and there are reports that have some US politicians calling for the labeling of WikiLeaks as a terrorist organization, and its founders terrorists. Other international security experts have said that the leaked information could have grave consequences for US policy and its main intermediaries throughout the world.

While this may be true in more political hotspots like the Middle East, it is very unlikely to have any effect in Latin America, other than the embarrassment equivalent to what we've all felt when we accidentally send an email to the wrong person. One knock-on effect the WikiLeak folk may bring about, is actually almost the opposite of what they purport to do under the concept of "transparency" - make people paranoid that big brother is watching.

Perhaps it is best summed up by Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States, who called the leaks "a very lamentable fact for diplomacy worldwide."

In the end, when referring to WikiLeak's Latin America documents, we seem to be making much ado about nothing.

bnamericas