Posted on 01/24/2008 2:13:44 PM PST by ECM
Chávez. Lula. Kirchner. Morales. Vásquez. Correa. Bachelet. Ortega. Socialism sweeps Latin America as leftist presidents rise.
Reading the news today, one can be forgiven for believing that a near-revolution in Latin America is at hand, that the morning of equality for the marginalized masses speedily draws near. The truth is, the socialist "pink tide" washing ashore in Latin America is just foam that Western journalists have gulped down: it is far more rhetorical than real. Reporters equate a bloated but still capitalist state that thrives—and can only thrive—on mass handouts with a socialist one.
Don't be fooled.
Blue and red states cannot be readily colored on a political map south of the Rio Grande. Politics throughout Latin America does not reduce to laminated right-wing or left-wing labels. In the last hundred years, Latin American governments have officially shifted first right then left then right then left in a nauseating bout of air hockey, but governments' ideological oratory about either "socialism" or "development" is simply the air on which the puck momentarily glides. All along, far more relevant have been the players slapping the puck around: the insurmountable issues of globalization and its fallout, mass clientelism, and an enormous state edifice inefficient, corrupt, and deeply-entrenched.
(Excerpt) Read more at tcsdaily.com ...
I’ll belive a revolution is taking place in Latin Amerika when I see smoke from the ivory towers of their
corrupt politicos .
To be certain, the rise of numerous leftist presidents has resulted in some socialist programs. New initiatives, including important state-run efforts in education and health care, have sprouted....What is going on is that despite the implementation of certain socialist programs, the leftist moment in Latin America is not about socialism. The region's several socialist policies are the servants of populism, patronage, and power—not ideology.
Bump.
Totally agreed.
This guy is just spinning the same garbage that is used to keep the CFR guys and the current WH occupant in their Ivory Tower denial mode...
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