The establishment of the Latin American and Caribbean Community (LACC) with 25 members in Mexico on Jan 23 is fresh indication that Latin America is continuing to move away from Washington, because the new organization excludes the United States. With Canada, too, excluded, the LACC is a regional body without "foreigners".

The steady erosion of US power in Latin America is in marked contrast to the increasing influence of China in the region. And China's influence is good news for the region. As former Brazilian prime minister Jos Dirceu says, China will be the determining factor for the development of Latin America.

Latin American leaders have had enough of US imperialism and the condescending approach to the region. This feeling intensified with the realization that the 1990s Washington Consensus was no more than a self-serving US policy, profoundly ineffective in Latin America.