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Claudio Katz: No, I think the moment when Spain was again enthroned here was the fifth centenary of the discovery in 1992. At that time, in the '90s, Spain deployed its investments in the region, buying oil and telecommunications, making powerful inroads. In contrast, in the past year we have seen the reverse, because the crisis is hitting Spain more severely than any other country with interests outside Europe. Unemployment and public debt in Spain are at record levels, and the economic, industrial, and financial crisis is probably among the most serious in Europe. I think this is going to greatly affect Spanish investments in Latin America in the medium term. We are approaching our bicentenary at a time when a crisis of North American domination is very evident throughout the region -- a crisis of domination in South America, and a policy of closer ties in Central America. It is as if the continent has been divided into two parts. The United States reinforced its dominance, its control, over Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, Colombia, Peru, but lost its ability to influence the Southern Cone. Do not forget that in the past year the American ambassadors to Venezuela and Bolivia were expelled, and both countries were for twelve months without the heads of diplomatic missions in Washington. Then, at the meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, one saw an Obama policy of trying to return to the Clinton format, a more diplomatic policy. And this makes visible the real difficulties the United States has from its economic crisis and the military quagmire it faces in the Middle East.
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