55th Anniversary of Che Guevara's Speech

Fifty-five years ago today, Che Guevara gave a speech to the United Nations. If you focus on his view--as opposed to his prescriptions and mentions of the socialist camp--of international relations, it stands up quite well. The U.S. did see peaceful coexistence as something on its own terms that did not take the developing world into account. The U.S. was going to "threaten millions of human beings" in Vietnam and its neighbors. The U.S. did support apartheid in South Africa. Developed countries did pillage and terrorize the Congo. The U.S. was trying to get rid of Fidel Castro. The U.S. did have a history of imperialism in Latin America.

Fast forward to today, and you only need tweak his words to make them relevant. The millions of human beings are more in the Middle East than Southeast Asia. The U.S. is trying to get rid of Nicolás Maduro and not so much Miguel Díaz-Canel. The U.S. still sees "peace" in its own nationalist terms.

And in 2019, much like 1964, we don't have good prescriptions with either domestic or foreign policy. The Soviet Union was a disaster and Russia offers no good model either. Marxism-Leninism is a disaster. Venezuela is a disaster. U.S. foreign policy is a disaster. U.S. capitalism is accelerating inequality. Chilean capitalism has generated mass protests. Brazil is a disaster.

There is no particular reason to believe 2020 will be any better.