There is a peculiar cruelty in the pageantry of power. When the mightiest nations of the North convene in the opulent chambers of Versailles to proclaim peace, those of us who dwell in the shadow of imperial designs recognize the familiar choreography: the grand gestures, the solemn declarations, the photographs meant to convince the world that reason has triumphed. And yet, history whispers a different tale. In our Americas, we have witnessed countless such ceremonies—treaties signed with flourish, agreements sealed with ceremony—only to watch them dissolve when the true interests of the powerful demand it. The accord between Washington and Tehran, celebrated in the halls of European grandeur, deserves scrutiny, not blind faith.

What disturbs me is not the pursuit of peace itself—that is the noblest of human endeavors—but the manner in which the powerful conduct their reconciliations in isolation, as though the consequences of their conflicts belong only to them. The Middle East is not a chessboard for the amusement of distant capitals. Its peoples, like ours, have the right to determine their own destinies without the interference of hegemonies disguised as peacemakers. When great powers make their bargains, the vulnerable invariably bear the weight. We in Latin America know this intimately.

The true measure of any accord is not the rhetoric that adorns it but the freedom it grants to smaller nations and subjugated peoples. Does this agreement between the United States and Iran respect the sovereignty of the peoples caught between them? Does it diminish the appetite for intervention that has for centuries characterized the foreign policy of the North? Or does it merely rearrange the pieces on the board, creating new dependencies, new forms of control? Until such questions are answered with transparent honesty, we should view these ceremonies not as harbingers of a new order, but as performances designed to obscure the eternal reality: that power, unmonitored and unchecked, perpetuates itself.

Our duty is to remain vigilant. The eloquence of diplomacy can mesmerize, but we must keep our eyes fixed upon the actual liberation of peoples—in every corner of our Americas and beyond. Peace without justice is merely the prologue to future tyranny. Let the great powers celebrate in their magnificent chambers; we shall continue the harder work of building genuine dignity for all.