"Since the existence of the 'Atlanta Plan' became known, that sought to destabilize left governments in Latin America, every day it became clear to us how this plan was to be implemented in each individual country," former Vice President of Uruguay Raul Sendic (2015 — 2017) pointed out in an exclusive interview with Sputnik Mundo.
Sendic referred to an alleged plan unveiled by Manolo Pichardo, Dominican politician and president of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPPAL), in his article for Listín Diario published on March 11, 2016.
Sendic believes that the purported plan has been turned into reality.
"This was done through political parties or alliances with certain social strata," the ex-vice president said. "Also, social networks were used in the same way as it was done during the Arab Spring. Recently, democracy has been significantly weakened in Latin America."
The Uruguayan politician presumed that Latin America's progressive development had affected the interests of "some global powers": "The US could not ignore the creation of the so-called BRICS that was seeking alternative ways to facilitate the development of the third world countries."
Sendic explained that in contrast the US was interested in reducing the countries' incomes by depreciating their exports and limiting external investments to the Latin American region. At the same time, Washington has carried out propaganda campaigns though media and social networks and transferred political issues into the judicial sphere.
"Many state-run endeavors carried out on the South American continent were carried out at the expense of the middle class, professionals and workers, and therefore they [anti-left forces] enjoyed possible discontent in these strata of the population in order to find a social basis that could ensure the kind of intervention that has already taken place in Nicaragua, Venezuela and at a certain moment in Brazil," the ex-vice president emphasized, adding that he himself survived almost "two years of a fierce information war, parliamentary inquiries and various accusations."
According to Sendic, the situation is steadily deteriorating in Latin America and beyond. The politician raised the alarm about the rise of ultra-right and fascist groups across the world.
"Fascism manifests itself openly in Latin America and throughout the world," he said. "For the first time, it has openly appeared in Europe, then in the US, where a demonstration recently took place in front of the White House; features of fascism have appeared in Latin America. In some sectors of society, the poor and immigrants are being expelled, as if they are to blame for their situation."
Uruguay has long been a battle-ground for left-wing and the US-backed right-wing forces. In 2017, a three million-page archive on the CIA's clandestine operations in Uruguay between 1985 and 2004 was revealed. The operations were conducted in close collaboration with Uruguayan military officials and were aimed at suppressing left-wing politicians and movements.
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