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Editorial Revista 13
by Ignacio Restrepo Abondano. Director Centro de Investigaciones
Civilizar y Director de Revista Civilizar
The introduction of the recently published book "Latin America: An agenda
for Freedom", at the
Universidad Sergio Arboleda’s auditorium, was attended by the President of
the Republic of Colombia,
Mr. Alvaro Uribe Vélez, the ex President of Spain, Mr. José María Aznar, and
prominent politicians
and directors of the "Foundation for Social Research and Analysis".
It became clear, according to their own stated objective, that "adopting an
agenda for freedom is the
steadiest path to progress and modernization". This statement originates in
the idea – as it is expressed
in the "agenda"- that Latin America is in a quandary: "choosing between
freedom and demagogic
authoritarianism".
A number of reflections arise from the above mentioned ideas.
Authors define demagogic authoritarianism as a populist political system
that has been, and is, present
in Latin America: the best known case is that of Argentina’s Peronism, which
held the merit of turning
a wealthy and developed country into what now is a poor, indebted country
with signs of extreme
poverty, violence and dependency on Venezuela’s petrodollars. General
Peron’s populism, led by his
spouse Evita Duarte, not only prevented the poor to improve their living
conditions, but also managed
to squander the wealth previously accumulated by prudent administrations.
And even more: it triggered
Argentina’s political instability at the end of the 20th century, featuring
plenty of violence and repression
under military coups.
In some ways populism also impoverished Uruguay, a country that established
the "uruguayización" as
the model for an Estate’s economic bankruptcy system.
Neither can the name of Getulio Vargas – in Brazil – be forgotten; he who
took his country through a
populist period, labeled as "Estado Novo", resulting in an allocation of
economic and political resources
in favor of urban, low-to-middle income groups, relegating rural areas to a
state of extreme poverty. |
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