Reply by Forrest D. Colburn and Alberto Trejos
Forrest D. Colburn and Alberto Trejos Respond We are surprised by Mark Engler's criticism of our essay, "Democracy Undermined," in the Summer 2010 issue of Dissent, in which we lament the...
...Democracy, consisting not only of openly contested elections, but also of the rule of law, is an important check on the abuse of power by self-important individuals...
...Unfortunately, in Venezuela today, "It is all about Chavez...
...Chile's economy has been hurt by the devastating earthquake earlier in the year...
...What is the plan for reshaping the economy...
...And a country's constitution is the most important body of law...
...Our argument is essentially a political one...
...Paraguay, 7 percent...
...Why the spending of billions of dollars in public funds on armaments...
...the acclaimed poet and former Sandinista minister of culture, Ernesto Cardenal...
...However, yes, we are concerned that a new authoritarianism is emerging in Latin America under the protective shield of "constitutional reform," which is, in fact, constitutional subterfuge...
...Forrest D. Colburn and Alberto Trejos teach in the graduate school of management, the INCAE Business School, which has campuses in Costa Rica and Nicaragua...
...For the protagonists in these debates, there has commonly been a conviction of "no enemies to the Left...
...Engler suggests we are either not fair or adequately familiar with what is happening in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia...
...We both are fluent in Spanish, and have spent time in the three countries, where we have conversed with a wide range of individuals, studied the political systems, and examined economic data...
...When one controls for population increases, looking thus at per capita incomes, growth rates in the region are less impressive...
...Engler marshals economic data to assert that Ecuador and Bolivia are progressing (no such data can be found for Venezuela...
...And we would like to believe we share Engler's commitment to broad-based economic development and socially inclusive governance...
...The estimated growth rates for individual countries are as follows: Brazil, 7.6 percent...
...He is hell-bent on removing the constitutional barrier to the immediate reelection of presidents in Nicaragua...
...There is often, too, a sense that a critic of my nemesis must be honorable...
...Authoritarians in Latin America on all sides of the political spectrum need to be condemned...
...three of the nine Comandantes de la Revolution that made up the Sandinista National Directorate...
...Instead, while mouthing revolutionary slogans, he has become an authoritarian leader...
...Given the usual strength of those on the "Right," be they monarchists, conservatives, fascists, republicans, or even orthodox communists, those whose "heart is in the right place" receive a reprieve...
...Ortega has resisted efforts to foster democracy and pluralism within the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN...
...But there are many outside Latin America who hesitate to criticize Chavez, Correa, and Morales—and Ortega...
...Uruguay, 7 percent...
...Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua seems to be emulating Chavez, Correa, and Morales...
...Many Sandinistas have defected, denouncing what is called today in Nicaragua, orteguismo...
...we don't care if in the new regimes "the trains run on time...
...We hold to our assertion that Chavez, as well as Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Evo Morales in Bolivia, are establishing authoritarian regimes through constitutional subterfuge—and, equally important for us, we insist that there is no acceptable justification for dismantling democracy...
...A country that is always messing with its constitution has no constitution, and so is subject to the whims of powerful individuals...
...These are necessary questions...
...No one has special status or impunity...
...The recent commodity boom, fueled in large part by Chinese demand, has brought healthy export earnings, which, in turn, have led to a surge in imports, which gets "counted" as economic activity...
...Many are the imposters...
...Argentina, 6.8 percent...
...There is no unfolding economic "miracle" in Venezuela, Bolivia, or Ecuador to justify the dismantling of democracy...
...Indeed, the economic contraction in Venezuela—the first country in the region to deconstruct its democracy—should give pause to others following suit...
...We are indifferent as to whether or not dictators identify themselves as "left" or "right...
...we will accept neither...
...growth is estimated at only 4.3 percent...
...and Dora Maria T?llez, the celebrated guerrilla leader and Sandinista minister of health...
...It sounds good (though sometimes unbelievable—as when he declared that the recent earthquake in Haiti was caused by the U.S...
...How was it decided that Venezuela would offer generous aid to eighty-nine different countries amid blackouts and widespread shortage of industrial and consumer goods...
...Howe and his colleagues had a healthy dose of skepticism when it came to all-powerful leaders claiming to act solely for the benefit of people who were unable, they asserted, to act for themselves...
...Spain's economy boomed under General Francisco Franco, but we didn't like him either...
...Is it not revealing that university students are in the forefront of opposition to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela...
...Continued vigilance is necessary...
...We would be disapproving even if the three leaders could boast the highest growth rates in the region...
...Perhaps Engler has been misled by the progressive rhetoric of Chavez...
...This hesitation harkens back to European debates that began during the French Revolution and have continued through the Russian Revolution and its aftermath...
...Colombians did well to squash the self-serving initiative...
...The most reputable source of economic data on the economies of Latin America has long been the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known by its acronym, ECLAC (or CEPAL in Spanish...
...Its most recent study of the region's economy holds that 2010 will see healthy growth, driven in large part by exports...
...Where, though, is the inclusive, democratically run, political party that provides an orientation to the head-of-state, helps formulate public policy, and provides a check on malfeasance...
...Bolivia's growth is estimated at 4.5 percent, and Ecuador's at 4.3 percent...
...Many South American countries, such as Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, export oil, gas, and other minerals...
...The history of Latin America, especially in the last half of the twentieth century, makes us profoundly suspicious of the self-proclaiming messiah, and so we are eager to protect the practice of democracy in the region...
...We are worried...
...No one individual is to be trusted with a nation's destiny...
...For us, though, given our deep experience in studying Latin American politics and economics, authoritarianism is always a threat...
...For them, Ortega is neither the "Old Left" nor the "New Left...
...Just where is Venezuela going...
...We join Engler in condemning the recent coup d'?tat in Honduras...
...Our essay, "Democracy Undermined," was written in the spirit of Dissents founding editor, Irving Howe, and his original coterie of contributors...
...Among those in opposition are the esteemed novelist who was Ortega's vice president during the Revolution, Sergio Ramirez...
...Forrest D. Colburn and Alberto Trejos Respond We are surprised by Mark Engler's criticism of our essay, "Democracy Undermined," in the Summer 2010 issue of Dissent, in which we lament the heavy-handed use of the law to dismantle democracy in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, purportedly to build more progressive regimes...
...And isn't it troubling that erstwhile champions of social change in the country, such as Teodoro Petkoff, have broken ranks with Chavez...
...Navy...
...There is a frightful return of personalism in Nicaragua, not unlike what is emerging in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia...
...Chav?z's conservative counterpart in Colombia, President ?lvaro Uribe, tried to amend his constitution so that he could run for a third term...
...Even more important, though, is to disaggregate economic growth figures and study public and private investment and growth in productivity...
...And we are not alone...
...The new regimes in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia are not seriously engaged in fomenting economic growth...
...It is good to channel revenue from the export of natural resources to the poor, but in the long run the countries of the region need to diversify their economies and generate productive activity in the many different sectors that comprise a country's economy...
...They were an irascible lot, known for being socially progressive but combatively anti-Stalinist—at a time when being socially progressive sometimes included an acceptance of Stalin...
...He may well have noble intentions, but he is establishing a disturbing cult of personality, is capricious in his decision making, dismissive of personal liberties and of the independence of the media, presumptuous and rash in his management of the economy, and more interested in international grandstanding than in Venezuela's prosaic problems...
...and Peru, 6.7 percent...
...The most egregious cases are Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, where socialist rhetoric has been used to justify the centralization of political power...
...Venezuela's economy is the only one in the region held to be contracting, at a negative 3 percent...
Vol. 57 • October 2010 • No. 4
