Re: Bolivia's charge to the left
Submitted by PAAMember on December 16, 2005 - 11:00am. :: Discussion
this will be interesting to watch....
----- Original Message -----
escramble('engler','democracyuprising.com');
href="mailto:">Mark Engler
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 9:23
AM
AM
Subject: Bolivia's charge to the
left
left
New from DemocracyUprising.com...
This article is running in today's Christian Science
Monitor, under the title "Bolivia's charge to the left
Monitor, under the title "Bolivia's charge to the left
The first round of the Bolivian presidential
elections is taking place this weekend. This will be one to
watch...
elections is taking place this weekend. This will be one to
watch...
I welcome your thoughts,
Mark
_____________________________
Has the U.S. "Lost" Bolivia?
To truly
promote democracy in Latin America, the U.S. must redefine its national
interests in the region.
By Mark Engler and Nadia
Martinez
With presidential elections in Bolivia this month,
Washington is buzzing with talk that another Latin American country may be
"lost."
To truly
promote democracy in Latin America, the U.S. must redefine its national
interests in the region.
By Mark Engler and Nadia
Martinez
With presidential elections in Bolivia this month,
Washington is buzzing with talk that another Latin American country may be
"lost."
Evo Morales, a former president of Bolivia's
coca-growers' union and the leader of the Movement Toward Socialism party, is
the current front-runner, according to the latest polls. If he wins the
election, Mr. Morales will be the latest head of state to join the ranks of
the region's burgeoning New Left, already comprised of Venezuela, Brazil,
Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. For the Bush administration and conservative
pundits, this would qualify as an unmitigated catastrophe.
Bolivia,
however, is far from lost. By proposing a new path to development, a Morales
administration would offer genuine hope of alleviating endemic hardship and
inequality in South America's poorest country. And if spreading democracy is
truly the goal of US foreign policy, the United States should welcome such new
approaches rather than demanding that other nations elect officials
subservient to the views that currently prevail in the White House.
The
Bush administration's consistent mistake in dealing with Latin America has
been to equate freedom with the pursuit of a rigid program of its preferred
economic policies. It has valued "free" markets over democratic independence.
This stance, while not a novel one for US administrations, has repeatedly
generated tensions with such progressive leaders as Argentina's N
coca-growers' union and the leader of the Movement Toward Socialism party, is
the current front-runner, according to the latest polls. If he wins the
election, Mr. Morales will be the latest head of state to join the ranks of
the region's burgeoning New Left, already comprised of Venezuela, Brazil,
Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. For the Bush administration and conservative
pundits, this would qualify as an unmitigated catastrophe.
Bolivia,
however, is far from lost. By proposing a new path to development, a Morales
administration would offer genuine hope of alleviating endemic hardship and
inequality in South America's poorest country. And if spreading democracy is
truly the goal of US foreign policy, the United States should welcome such new
approaches rather than demanding that other nations elect officials
subservient to the views that currently prevail in the White House.
The
Bush administration's consistent mistake in dealing with Latin America has
been to equate freedom with the pursuit of a rigid program of its preferred
economic policies. It has valued "free" markets over democratic independence.
This stance, while not a novel one for US administrations, has repeatedly
generated tensions with such progressive leaders as Argentina's N
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It' the general awakening of the indigenous peoples of the americas. Not just Bolivia but, check out chiapas, Venezuela and Argentina.
Hip Hip Hooray. I say.
John Perdue