There are many political ideologies which governments around the world tend to hold themselves to. Within these ideologies they create a sense of identity for their people and their way of rule. Whether they are seen as democracies, republics or dictatorships, as capitalists or socialists, the pursuit of power and control have long since been the true hallmark of governments.
The US of A has long promoted itself as having the most powerful and greatest legacy of the modern world. Democracy, freedom and equality are the messages that are mass-produced and forced down the throats of the Global South. They sell the myth of diversity, opportunity for all and a fierce commitment to peaceful transfer of political power. Those who do not play by their set rules are manipulated, condemned and punished.
From Guyana’s landmark elections in 1953 to our most recently concluded one in 2020, America along with its northern partners have long utilized its power to sway the pendulum where they want it to go. Aware of how racialized partisanship would keep the country from ever really finding its collective footing, they help to push forward a narrow tribal idea of a people divided between perpetual victim and victor. Through continuous fanning of the flames of ethnic tensions, they encourage our lack of empathy for our fellow countrymen.
The US has long struck me as a narcissistic abuser. It points its judging fingers to every nation, without admitting its own faults and their role in the underdevelopment and destabilization of other countries. Present events of state violence against Black and brown populations, mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic causing widespread deaths and claims of a fraudulent election in the absence of proof, all coalesce to reveal the true image of a nation aiming to control everything but itself.
Just a few months ago in Guyana’s elections, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo stated that forces were refusing to accept the will of the people at the ballot box. He stated “Guyana’s non-democratic trajectory is dangerous for its citizens and for the hemisphere as a whole.”
The tune of democracy was quickly changed however, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the required electoral votes for President and Vice President. Donald Trump, Pompeo along with many US representatives have now rejected the win as being fraudulent, mirroring Guyana’s previous administration’s claims of illegitimate votes. It would appear that democracy should only reign free and fair across the Global South, but bend to the whims of invested politicians in the US of A.
None of this is of course surprising once we recognize America’s self-destructive habit for what it is. They have spent more than a century directly meddling in the politics of Latin America and the Caribbean. Interestingly enough, the US is never labeled as authoritarian. They are simply a deus ex machina bringing liberation through political destabilization to those in the third world.
Only in 2019, the US in collaboration with the historically racist white and mestizo elite successfully helped to oust former President, Evo Morales from Bolivia. Morales was the country’s first Indigenous president and an avowed leftist against American interference. Despite Bolivia seeing significantly reduced levels of poverty and unemployment under Morales, the US in 2009 began “democracy promotion” programmes that were aimed at undermining the “rise of Evo Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism through hard tactics.” This was after Morales expelled an American Ambassa-dor for suspected political interference.
Yet America remains a bastion of democracy in the eyes of many. If nothing else, they maintain a well-oiled and running propaganda machine. Us in the Caribbean often view America through lens far removed from us. America is seen as this mythical land of opportunity where everyone will make it if they just try hard enough.
This myth has been crumbling before our eyes but yet many still maintain a firm commitment to American ideologies and principles. The fact is that these ideologies are not very far removed from those within the Caribbean, because they are all centred on the same things. In the land of Democrats and Republicans, many may want to be seen as being the former because to identify with the latter often comes with attached stigma. So Caribbean people might label themselves as Democrats but continue to believe in and perpetuate anti-poor, anti-Black, anti-women and anti-immigration amongst each other.
White supremacy is so normalized that people do not address it or examine how all other issues can be understood within its context. We often make the mistake of believing only those who are not educated, financially stable etc. are capable of being racist. This of course is not the case and many utilize their various degrees, wealth and connections to perpetuate discrimination and harmful stereotypes and systemic barriers to Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (even if they themselves are BIPOC).
In the Caribbean, we trade in anti-Blackness and narrow ideals of nationalism. This is why there are always protestations about which country is better and why all whites are readily accepted but BIPOC are often rejected. We only have to look towards the open arms with which “expats” are welcomed and the jail cells that Haitians are met with.
Many Latin American and Caribbean persons living in America, particularly those who are non-Black, are fierce republicans, despite the discriminatory acts and policies that are perpetuated against BIPOC. They are willing to concede to certain things to ensure that women’s reproductive rights are suppressed; LGBTIQ persons never know equality and the rich pay fewer taxes. Conservatism is the only true ideology. While a few might cringe at the police violence, blatant racism, classism and xenophobia, in the end, America remains the land of the great and free.
