THE BOOMERANG EFFECT. (A letter from Colombia)

By Amparo Jaramillo-Restrepo

            For most Latin Americans, especially for those of us who have lived in the U S. and have a broader perspective of the US Latin American relationships, the fact that the United States has traditionally used the stick with its Latin-American neighbors, while the whole carrot was saved for the Europeans first and the Asians during the last twenty years, is obvious.

           After all, we don’t speak English and our heritage is a mixture of Europeans, Indians and African ancestors. Furthermore, most U S citizens are taught at school that their country is a separate continent, while AMERICA for us is a continent that goes from “Tierra de Fuego”, south of Argentina, to the North Pole. Hence, we consider ourselves Americans, and our students sing “America the Beautiful” in Spanish at school.

             But by ignoring and exploiting the Latin American countries the way the US government and many US corporations have traditionally done, and trying to impose unjust “trade” agreements, Uncle Sam has ruined our economies causing unemployment, poverty and resentment throughout Latin America, not to mention a massive wave of Latin American immigrants to the United States. That’s what I, an anonymous writer without a PhD in political science, call “the boomerang effect”.

            .The economic boomerang is a modern weapon, as effective as the primitive boomerang, a wooden weapon designed to return near its thrower. Because it is a fact that by giving most US jobs to Asia, and especially to China, the US has created the XXI.  Century monster, an octopus whose tentacles are reaching further and further every day squeezing the US economy, and those of South American countries as well.

               As a matter of fact, and because China is only a few hours away from the Colombian Pacific coast (look at the map) with the new transportation systems, most  stores here are flooded by chip Chinese goods, while many of our factories are closing, creating more unemployment and desperation among a large section of the population.

               To cite but one section of our economy adversely affected by the Chinese dumping practices, during the last months many Colombian shoe factories have being put out of business, enable to compete with the 500 pesos shoes (the equivalent of 25 American cents) coming from China, and sold in our stores for as little as $5.000 pesos (2 dollars) a pair.

                On top of that, I have learned from different sources that one of the new practices among Chinese business people is to recycle used electric appliances dumping them at very low prices in our country’s black market, where there is little or no protection for the consumer after an article leaves the store. Watch out President Chavez to make sure  your Chinese friends, so anxious to buy the Venezuelan oil, won’t pay you with obsolete machinery, in the same manner that some Europeans and US corporation have done to Colombia selling us from  used  planes, helicopters and rifles, to lethal medications,  pesticides and other chemicals  forbidden in their countries.

               Coming back to the boomerang effect, the best example is that of the Iraq war. Purportedly intended against terrorism, it has backfired creating more terrorism around the world, with thousand of lives and billions of dollars lost along the way.

                I’m afraid it is already too late to stop the Latin immigration wave. Just today, while I write this letter, hundred of desperate Ecuadorians cry for one hundred loved ones, who drowned packed as sardines in a fragile boat they had boarded for a trip to Central America, hoping to reach the United States later on. 

                  I have been told there are small towns in Peru and Ecuador where the only ones left to manage family and community affairs, are the women. To the point that a Peruvian child came to ask President Toledo: “please, bring my father back”.

                 Yes, it is already too late to stop the Latin immigration wave, because the rich countries have never understood that the only way to end it is to create jobs and improve life conditions for our people in their homeland. As one of my friends told me one day, even birds emigrate when they are deprive of food, or jobs, in this case.

                 I’m afraid it is also too late to stop the Chinese dragon. After all, even that China is a dictatorship, it has become the US best trade partner and money lender.  Accordingly, we must learn t speak Chinese.

 

Buga,  Colombia, August l9, 2004