Mike Booth: The Gringo Chronicles

Let’s call it de-gringo-ization, that penchant the United Statesians have for placing universal labels on things that are uniquely gringo. The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is the World Series, the annual end-of-season baseball playoff in the United States. Insofar as there are no teams from other baseball-playing countries represented–neither Japan nor, God forbid, Cuba, for example–the so-called World Series is, in fact, the Gringo Series. And we of the Rest of the World would appreciate it if the United Statesians would start calling it by its proper name.

There seem to be different motives and uses for degringoization. In the case of the so-called World Series the motive is clearly to give the games a universality and an importance which they don’t merit. In other instances it seems to be used as a smoke screen to blur United States’ control of purportedly international entities. The “World Bank” comes to mind. Shouldn’t it be called The Gringo Bank? Consider:

• Its headquarters are at 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433 USA
• The President of the Bank is always an American, nominated by the President of the United States.
• The United States has veto power over bank policy and decisions.
• There have been accusations that the decision-making structure is undemocratic.
• Responsible critics assert that the bank’s very origins in the Bretton Woods Conference were tainted, not motivated by altruistic motives for the elimination of poverty, but the advancement of gringo business interests and the neo-liberal agenda, an agenda which has devastated poor countries with debt.
• The recent Wolfowitz-girlfriend scandal has cast a considerable shadow over all of these considerations and others.

Then there’s the International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20431, U.S.A. Though it’s director is traditionally a European, the second in command is a United Statesian, and countries who participate in World Bank programs through its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development arm are obliged to belong to the IMF. I am inclined therefore to dub this half of the WB-IMF octopus the Gringo Monetary Fund.

What about the International Herald Tribune, whose distribution is certainly international, though it is 100% owned by the NY Times. In our book, that makes it the Gringo Herald Tribune. The same goes for CNN International. Based in Atlanta, with its well-defined Gringo agenda, we have no choice but to dub it CNN Gringo.

The infamous School of the Americas (SOA, see SOA Watch) was the United States-run military “school” where advanced torture techniques were taught to dictatorial regimes from all over Latin America. It was based first in Panama. Then when it was ousted from there, it was relocated to Ft. Benning, Ga. in 2001, expanded and renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. SOA was only “of the Americas” insofar as its sinister clients were concerned. In reality it was and still is the School of the Gringos. Never mind its new name, the acronym for which is, I believe, WHIFFENPOOF.

Let’s not pretend that there are no truly international entities based in the United States. The first one which comes to mind is the eminently international Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia founded in California in 2001, and which quickly extended its fabulously successful collaborative “business model” all round the world. There are many others.

So, are we straight then? The world belongs to us. The Gringo Series is theirs.