If you are not at the table, you are on the menu—or so the diplomatic saying goes. And when the great powers sit down to dinner, Latin American countries are more likely to be food than guests. Legend says they once considered giving Brazil a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, but the invitation never arrived. Today, Brazil will not sit there anytime soon, and although Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico take part in the G-20, their participation has been as uncoordinated and ineffectual as the forum itself.
But there’s a long history of the great powers finding Latin America a tasty snack. In the 19th century, Austria, Prussia, and Russia supported the restitution of Iberian rule; the British blockaded almost every port on the Atlantic coast; and the French invaded Mexico while the United States tried to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. In the 20th century, when the Europeans took off, the United States became a better neighbor, but the Cold War soon reintroduced some hot Latin American dishes of the day, particularly after the Cuban Revolution.
