The Anti-American Century in Latin America

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering in Brazil tomorrow will mark a historic occasion: a region-wide summit that excludes the United States.

Almost two centuries after President James Monroe declared Latin America a U.S. sphere of influence, the region is breaking away. From socialist-leaning Venezuela to market-friendly Brazil, governments are expanding military, economic and diplomatic ties with potential U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran.

“Monroe certainly would be rolling over in his grave,” says Julia Sweig, director of the Latin America program at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington and author of the 2006 book “Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century.”

The U.S., she says, “is no longer the exclusive go-to power in the region, especially in South America, where U.S. economic ties are much less important.”

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The End of Dollar Hegemony

Just as the Fed is signaling its intention to lower interest rates to near zero, we can see from the graphs above that the inevitable results of the print and spend orgy that has now been going on for several months. This trend will continue to strengthen in the coming months as the multiplier affect further adds more cheap dollars to an already deteriorating situation. Now is the time to get out of dollars!