THIS week, the UN general assembly voted on a motion demanding that “Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months.”

It passed easily, with 124 votes in favour.

Britain shamefully — but predictably — abstained as one of 43 states, while for all of Joe Biden’s crocodile tears of late, the US, which continues to arm Israel to the teeth, voted against, alongside Israel and only 12 other states.

A look at how Latin American votes were cast on this vital issue of global justice is particularly illuminating for those interested in political developments there — and especially those of us on the left interested in building active solidarity with those who resist US domination and neoliberalism in the region.

In the “in favour” column were numerous countries where the US empire has not got its way in recent years, even when “regime change” pushes have been tried.

These included but were not limited to Honduras — which in 2021 overturned the pro-US coup regime which had been in place there since 2009 — and Bolivia, where similarly massive popular movements overturned a pro-US coup regime at the polls a year earlier.

Cuba of course, a longtime ally of the Palestinian struggle, was also there, and many others.

Meanwhile — like Britain and no doubt under the same US pressure — numerous states where the US has been able to help engineer governments to its taste in recent years were in the abstention column.

Examples included Ecuador, where “lawfare” against the left in recent years has been used to stop the supporters of former president Rafael Correa returning to power, and the country has increasingly descended into violence and chaos, while at the same time allowing a US military presence to return.

Panama and Uruguay were also among the abstentions.

Argentina’s far-right government even went as far as to be one of the 14 states to vote with Israel — providing that country’s mass social, union and left movements with yet more ammunition on why President Javier Milei is a disaster for Argentina both at home and on the world stage. The pro-US government in Paraguay — also a successor to a US-backed coup-government — also voted against.

This illuminating illustration of trends in Latin America also shows why the international left need to continue to be alert to the dangers of US-backed coups, “lawfare” efforts and illegal “regime change” pushes in general in the region, as the US seeks to stop further countries breaking from its domination.

One live example of this is Honduras, where the elected President Xiomara Castro recently warned the world that “the peace and internal security of the republic is at risk” from US intervention and that a new coup d’etat is being planned … A plan to destroy my socialist and democratic government.”

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales, overthrown in a coup in 2019, took the opportunity to extend his support to her government, saying that “in the face of the destabilisation attempts orchestrated by the Honduran right wing in complicity with the government of the US,” we must offer full solidarity.

No doubt Honduras’s strong stance in favour of Palestine — for example, recalling its ambassador to Israel last year in light of “the serious humanitarian situation the civilian Palestinian population is suffering in the Gaza Strip” — is one of the reasons it has become a prime target of the US’s wrath.

Of course, it’s not just on international issues that we can take inspiration from Latin America’s left.

There isn’t room here to give justice in this piece to what we can learn both from grassroots movements and policies enacted by governments starting to break from the twin evils of US domination and neoliberalism, but a few examples give a flavour.

In Colombia, a new Labour Code is set to transform rights in the workplace. In Mexico, the ruling Morena party was recently re-elected by a landslide following moves to end fire-and-rehire and put an end to outsourcing. In Honduras, the poorest in society have programmes to tackle food and energy poverty. And Bolivia made the right to food a reality through the Bonus Against Hunger initiative, which helped over four million people, partly funded by a wealth tax, no less.

Despite defeats, setbacks — and of course, many challenges, issues and serious difficulties in countries where the US has not got its way — Latin America’s left and mass social movements remain key reference points for anti-capitalists and anti-imperialists the world over. Their heroic stance standing with the Palestinian people is another reason why that remains the case. 

Matt Willgress will be chairing, alongside speakers from across Latin America, the major “Viva la Solidaridad! Stand with Latin America’s Left” event in Liverpool at 6.30pm on Monday September 23 at the Racquet Club Hotel and Ziba Restaurant, L3 9AG. Register at www.bit.ly/latinamericasolidarity.