On Sept. 25, while the G-20 summit was being held in Pittsburgh, a similar meeting was taking place in the other half of the world – a meeting with very different objectives.
Held in Venezuela, the summit brought together nearly 30 leaders from various African and Latin American countries.
Hosted and led by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, the meeting sought to form an alliance that would empower the “global south,” which has long sought to break free from powerful developed nations.
“Only united will we be free,” Chavez said at the opening of the meeting, according to Star Telegram.
The “global south,” in contrast to the south in a geographical sense, refers to poorer, developing countries. In politics and economics, the south is often contrasted with the global north, which is a term used to describe the wealthier, developed countries.
At the meeting, this north-south divide was the focal point. The nations gathered to make alliances that would enable them to break out of their history of underdevelopment.
According to MercoPress, Chavez emphasized the importance of diminishing the influence of imperialism and increasing “brotherly” ties among southern nations.
“We share the same interests of liberation and revolutionary ideals,” Gaddafi said, according to MercoPress. “Colonialism humiliated us, insulted us and robbed us of our riches.”
Colonialism and imperialism have indisputably been the causes of the underdevelopment of the global south, said Assistant Professor of History Alvis Dunn.
“Colonialist powers pretty much told these countries: ‘Your role is to supply raw materials,'” Dunn said. “The traditional colonialist relationships pretty much forbid the development of any kind of domestic economy.”
The question at the summit was: how best can these nations go about rebuilding and breaking free from their history of economic oppression?
Gaddafi proposed a military defense alliance.
”Those who were betting on NATO, we now say to them that we’re going to bet on SATO,” Gaddafi said during the summit, according to The New York Times. ”We’re going to have our treaty, too.”
According to MercoPress, the majority of the conference focused on cooperation to share and defend the global south’s right to its natural resources.
Chavez announced an interest in creating a “South-South Bank.” Bilateral agreements began materializing, as Chavez proposed a joint state mining company to all interested African countries.
Some of the countries expected to accept the proposal include Sierra Leone, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Namibia, Angola, Tanzania and South Africa.
The conference put a great deal of emphasis on the global south’s undeniable wealth of natural resources and the agreements sought to strengthen ties and limit dependency on the north, which has historically exploited these resources.
“We have the biggest permanent reservoir of clean water in the world and they call us the poor,” said Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, according to MercoPress.
The summit also addressed various issues, from global warming and energy, to hunger, poverty, and the economic crisis. Many leaders expressed anger and demanded that the north accept accountability on such issues.
While the nations acknowledged the formidable challenges they faced, the meeting definitely seemed to foster a sense of cooperation and empowerment.
“There will no longer be a unipolar world,” Chavez said, according to NPR. “In the 21st century, the African Union and South America will be truly great powers.”
The confidence radiating from Chavez’s statements at the conference certainly makes the summit sound like a complete success. However, there are many things surrounding the summit that leave some room for doubt as to just how big of a step it was.
Many feel that the summit was fueled on an anti-U.S., anti-North sentiment, and, considering the leaders of the summit, Chavez and Gaddafi, it’s difficult to completely brush aside these ideas.
Aside from the summit hosts, the meeting brought together many important leaders. NPR reported African leaders from Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, South Africa’s Jacob Zuma and Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika, meeting with eight Latin American presidents, from Ecuador’s Rafael Correa to Chile’s Michelle Bachelet.
“If nations from Africa and nations from Latin America, that share histories colonial oppression, could form alliances that strengthen their hands in international politics and economics, I would have to view it as a positive,” said Dunn in response to the summit. “It’s a step taken towards shaking loose from the colonial legacy.”