Latin America's Quiet Revolution

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet delivers her annual message
to the nation at the National Congress in 2007. Getty Images

From The Wall Street Journal:

The Mexican government is locked in a vicious war against powerful drug cartels which assassinate public officials seemingly at will. Bolivian President Evo Morales's constitutional rewrites threaten to push the country toward civil war. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez persecutes his political opposition, supports the FARC rebels in Colombia and is training a civilian militia supposedly designed to defend against an impending U.S. invasion.

A report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command released earlier this month calls Mexico a potential failing state, likening it to Pakistan. This assessment is particularly striking in light of the $400 million per year that the United States provides in military and security assistance to Mexico. It also adds urgency to the U.S. government's plans to complete a 700-mile-long border fence and dramatically expand the number of Border Patrol agents, to over 20,000 by the end of 2009 from 11,000 in 2004 -- both of which have opened a rift between Washington and Mexico City. Our relationship to Venezuela is even more strained. In 2004 the Bush administration refused to continue our policy of selling military hardware and spare parts to the Venezuelans, prompting the Chávez government to not only purchase fighter-bombers, helicopters and 100,000 assault rifles from Russia, but to invite the Russian navy for joint naval maneuvers.

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My Comment: This revolution has been going on for a very long time, the difference is that the main stream media is only now starting to notice. The first revolution is the old Cuban style of perpetual government run by the same political party. Consolidating power and the benefits that it can give to the ruling elite has proven to be a seductive drug for many of the regions strongmen. Suppression and control of the media and press, control of unions, and the involvement of the state in economic affairs to an even greater level ..... this is the message that is prevalent in countries like Nicaragua, Cuba (of course), Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

Their problems of these countries were always masked by high commodity prices and oil/energy prices. But this situation has completely changed in the past 6 months. With the worldwide recession now in full force, these governments are now having difficulties with the man in the street .... and in some cases ..... even with their own supporters. They are running out of money .... a problem that will only get worse with time.

The true stars in Latin America ..... and who represent the real revolution in Latin America ..... are those who have gone down a different path. Open markets, government accountability, and a parliamentary system rooted with strong democratic principles .... these states are the ones that are clearly succeeding throughout Latin America.

So .... what does the future hold? I see two Latin Americas. The haves and the have nots. This will naturally cause stresses in many parts of the continent, but more so in the countries who have decided to continue with the Castro-Chavez view of what Government is, and how it should function in todays world.

For the others, they are experinecing an economic and political revolution that will be the envy of those in Latin America who are living under the old mentality. Their success will be our success .... and will in the long run be a stabilizing factor throughout the Americas and a true beacon for change.