Meeting the challenge
ONE year after the third meeting of the São Paulo Forum, the political scene in Latin America has gone through significant changes.
MARCO AURELIO — Havana, July 22, 1993
International Viewpoint #248 September 1993
N two Latin American countries, Venezuela and Brazil, two presidents were constitutionally dismissed as a result of major mass mobilisations. Popular mobilisation also prevented an attempted coup d'etat in Guatemala. The last twelve months have revealed the considerable problems of neo-liberalism throughout the continent.
Until 1992, neo-liberal measures did not encounter any obstacles. The persistence of neo-liberal hegemony led to the deepening of the social crisis in the whole continent. The presence of poverty has deepened throughout the continent, and no longer escapes the attention of internatio nal organisations, whether it is the UN or the BID. The World Bank, among others, even had a major role in the recently concluded Third Ibero-American Summit in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.
The worsening of the social situation is now the greatest danger in relation to the fragile democratic structures of the continent, which were only set up in most countries after the failure of the military dictatorships of the 1970s to the beginning of the 1980s. To confront these problems has become one of the central challenges for democratic and socialist forces in Latin America. In particular, as these forces are preparing for elections over the next 18 months, elections which could radically alter the situation on the continent.
The definition of a national democratic programme and of an alternative programme of continental integration is a central task for our organisations. It is not only the future of Latin America at the end of the century that depends on our errors and successes; at the same time, there is that of the whole New World Order.
Now to go into these general themes in a more detailed fashion. I want to tell you that, beyond my own political limitations, the considerations I will make have two further weaknesses. First, the problem of time; the other is that mine is a rather South American perspective, based furthermore largely on Brazil. The constitutional dismissal of Collor in Brazil and
LATIN AMERICA Perez in Venezuela were preceded by major mass mobilisations and constituted severe blows for the policies of neo-liberalism that these two presidents tried to apply in their respective countries.
Even if the dismissal of both of them had its origin in their involvement in corruption, there is not even the slightest doubt that they were fuelled by the population's rejection of their economic policy and even that of rather important sectors of the entrepreneurial sectors. This is how to understand the rather large coalition that was formed against the two presidents. In the other countries of the region, those in government continue to commit even more serious crimes of corruption than
But the fact that this kind of government also wants to establish a certain macro-economic equilibrium, particularly when it comes to keeping inflation down, explains why there were not the same mobilisations there from the population, entrepreneurial sectors or political circles. Uruguay is an exception; the refusal of neo-liberalism is much more direct and explicit. The proposal of the Uruguayan left that won the referendum of December 1992 on the question of privatisation is a rather significant expression of the rise in popular consciousness against neo-liberal-
The result of the American elections, which put an end to 12 years of Republican governments, did not go unnoticed by the Latin American masses. Without going into the causes and implications of Clinton's election, we can say that a large layer of Americans cast their vote against the policies of Bush and Reagan, both of whom were responsible for the huge concentration of wealth in the United States and for the deterioration of education, health care and those mechanisms meant to protect the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
This situation has begun to have repercussions throughout Latin America, however slowly. But without a doubt, we have to seek out an explanation and find an alternative to this whole problematic. There are other factors to keep in mind: now that the euphoria for the initial successes of the neo-liberal adjustment programmes in many countries of the region subsides, the real meaning of these programmes is becoming clear, in particular when we see the problem beyond the short-term and we find ourselves faced with problems of a structural nature.
The tremendous trade deficits of Mexico and Argentina are two model examples of the consequences of neo-liberal policies, along with the signs of commercial disequilibrium in Chile — reflecting the problems of the policy of anarchic free trade for the industrial sectors of our countries, which are now going through a major process of de-industrialisation.
There will be no surprise if governments in the different countries of the region are obliged to use protectionist measures which up until now have been criticised — in order to save these countries from bankruptcy. Protectionist proposals can be seen among significant sectors of the Brazilian capitalist class, for example, which is afraid of the de-industrialisation which has been deepened by the policies of the Itamar Franco govern-
On the other hand, the government of the United States has been increasingly aggressive in its relations with the coun tries of Latin America and the EEC in the areas of intellectual property, and has taken retaliatory measures against the different industrial sectors which, coincidentally, are in competition with increasingly uncompetitive sectors of the American economy. This is the case of the steel, textiles, clothing and other industries - but the important point is that of the social
In all the countries of the region where neo-liberal policies continue to be applied, with or without resistance, there is a stagnation of employment and even a considerable increase of actual job loss — such as in Brazil and Argentina. Even when there is growth in GDP, such as is the case today in Brazil, this growth does not produce new employment.
On the contrary, in many cases the growth of industry, agriculture and services occurs alongside a sharp drop in employment. This type of situation is not limited to Latin America, and it can be
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International Viewpoint #248 September 1993 seen in Europe and the United States -which displays the fundamentally perverse nature of capitalism, particularly since it entered into the third industrial revolution.
All this makes it clearer than ever that it is necessary to have an anti-capitalist perspective for the left. At the same time, it underscores the need for socialist practice and thought to formulate an alternative project to capitalism. This project must keep in mind not only the developments that followed the fall of bureaucratic socialism but also the transformation that the world economy underwent of an international social and political nature, and also the changes in the area of political culture.
Contradictory globalisation
All this is part of the rather contradictory phenomenon of a so-called globalisation alongside the resurgence of nationalism, of ethnic and religious fundamentalism. The growth of unemployment has progressed quite rapidly in certain sectors of society which are quite large in our countries, sectors which are excluded from consumption and, as a consequence, from citizenship itself.
This kind of phenomenon, that flows from the economic policies applied to this point, has been translated into a growth of misery, whose forms are many and are growing in number — growth of hunger, a proliferation of new diseases and the increasing re-appearance of old ones, the taking to the streets of tens of millions of our children, and the appearance of 11 and 12 year-old prostitutes in the streets of our
The children of our countries make up an enormous reservoir and are used as agents for a growing criminality which today indiscriminately effects both rich and poor. Thousands of children are killed by the police and paramilitary groups.
Near the end of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, democracy made considerable forward strides in Latin America. Military dictatorship were replaced by civilian governments, products of free elections, in spite of the persistence of the former authoritarianism, of media manipulation and the weight of the capitalists, or open electoral fraud in certain countries.
In many other cases, the distinctive traits of this democratisation were not only a return to a state of law but also a greater respect of human rights — for us, fundamental rights — and the emergence of new forces in the institutional and political struggle. These new forces have brought new problems to the political and social struggle, at the same time that they have enlarged and enriched our conception of 16 democracy — making it clear that democracy cannot be confused with the liberal ideal, even if it might borrow some of its
Democracy has been taken increasingly to mean a space for struggle and, above all, for the perpetual creation of new rights. As a consequence, it is an open process opposed to all totalitarian concepts.
Some examples of these new political subjects are the Brazilian workers who before did not participate in political life; another example are women who began to participate in a dynamic way throughout the continent and began to give a political dimension to problems which were previously reserved for the private space of daily domestic life.
Ethnic groups are another example, who decided to put an end to the secular process of discrimination and who demand the reconstitution of their societies based on new sets of cultural values and new organisational forms. Finally, minorities such as homosexuals who made clear the need to think of a democracy which respects differences.
However, these important years of qualitative and quantitative advances of political democracy in the region took place at a time systematically referred to as the "lost decade", especially in the social and economic spheres. The constant degradation of living conditions for broad sectors of the population fed the growth of a set of ideas that said that political democracy is useless since it does not eliminate hunger, illness, the lack of shelter and transport or the violence that invades our
"Benevolent" Fujimori
To all these phenomena are added the denunciation of corruption, and of the increasing appropriation of the state by private groups which form into veritable gangs — as was seen with Collor in Brazil. The combined social and moral crisis, which accompanies the brutalisation that has affected a large part of the population of our countries, has provided arguments for "benevolent" figures, as was shown by Fujimori's auto-coup in Peru, Serrano's ill-fated adventure in Guatemala, and the political tensions that exist in Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil.
The absence of social and economic democracy is the primary threat to political democracy. Nevertheless, what is crumbling in Latin America is not political democracy - painfully built up over these last years through intense struggle - but rather the dominant classes who have displayed their inability to accept a full and permanent democracy.
They are also unable to build the market economies that they defend in their rhetoric; the Latin American ruling classes prey on the national state which was built to serve their specific interests. Now, through privatisation, they are trying to reappropriate most often through fraud and corruption the wealth created by the sacrifices of millions of workers over decades.
The corruption of the political class, linked to the predatory activity of the bourgeoisie in relation to the state, has always existed - but there are more repercussions now as a result of the advance of political democracy, of greater transparency of state functioning, of greater press freedom, the more democratic functioning of the state, a greater independence of the courts, and deeper feelings of citizenship in broad sectors of the population.
One of the great conquests of the Latin American left over the last few years has been the recognition of the need for an ethical dimension to politics. Millions of people in our communities identify themselves with this ethical dimension. The choice is clear: either left forces incorporate this ethical dimension as an essential component of our political project or the enemies of freedom will use it to destroy political democracy with arguments about the supposed plethora of social gains that the masses achieve by being treated in a authoritarian and paternalistic manner.
Only those of Fujimori's ilk prosper when the feeling of citizenship is lost, when there is not a frontal struggle against the corruption of the ruling classes and the political elites — but, above all, when we don't have a programme of radical reforms capable of eliminating poverty and absolute misery, and continuing growth through the distribution of wealth by the government. And this response has to be made in the context of the deepening and strengthe-
To meet the enormous challenges that the continent's misery offers, the countries of Latin America are confronted with the need to offer an alternative to the crisis of the national model of development and an alternative proposal of continental integration. This national project of development must be radically different from the old proposals that we have seen.
In the first place, the ideology of national development — promoting growth - was unable to enact reforms which could concentrate the wealth created. Today, a national project of development must reject the conservative formula which says it is necessary to have growth before distribution - distribution must become a
International Viewpoint #248 September 1993 measure which promotes growth.
In the second place, the ideology of national development is statist and was part of an authoritarian brand of limited democracy which, in particular, sacrificed the autonomy of the working classes. A national project of development presupposes not only the existence of political democracy but also its expansion and radicalisation. This can happen through the combination of representative mechanisms with those of direct democracy and growing control over the state by society.
In the third place, the ideology of national development prospered in the belief that the configuration of the world economy favoured autarchy, while in fact it moved more and more in the direction of globalization. Thus, any national project for development must positively address the role that our countries will have in the New World Order.
This path is full of obstacles - firstly, because the initially lost decade and the neo-liberal adjustments that flowed from it, thrust our countries to the bottom of the world system, eliminating the competitiveness we once had. The clearest example is that of the loss of dynamism of our industries — where there has been open deindustrialisation. Moreover, we have lost the relative competitive advantages that we had in the past.
Primary goods are no longer as important in modern productive processes, and therefore there has been a decrease in their value on the world market. It is not enough to have a large workforce if it is unqualified due to the lack of appropriate educational policies. And we do not have the requirements for big markets, insofar as our peoples are excluded from consumption as a result of their state of misery.
It is for this reason that it is necessary to pay special attention to the question of formulating and implementing a national development project within the framework of continental integration. Integration is a vehicle for the national project since it gives national economies more room to fulfil their potential, and gives greater negotiating weight within the big international economic fora.
This is why we reject projects such as the "Initiative for the Americas" of the Bush administration, which reduces integration to the creation of a free trade zone on the continent. This is why we salute the comrades of the PRD and the Mexican left for their current opposition to the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The philosophy underlying the Initiative is responsible for the considerable trade deficit that Latin America now has in relation to the United States, and which will lead our countries into more and more regressive steps towards an import-based economy. The social impact of this project will be devastating.
With this focus it will be possible to articulate key questions — about national sovereignty, and about its application in Latin America or regions therein. We have seen, for example, neo-liberal projects such as Mercosur in the south of the continent. We must be able to offer alternatives based on the interests of working people.
A new conception of the integration of the continent presupposes an intense process of scientific and technological cooperation that will give us access to the required knowledge for satisfying in an accelerated and efficient way the demands of tens of millions of brothers and sisters throughout the continent.
### Resistance not enough
But the neo-liberal policies and ideological offensive that have been unleashed, while somewhat bruised, have not lost their momentum. This means that in the following months, which will be characterised by major political confrontation, we are going to see a tremendous expression of popular discontent. It is necessary to mount this resistance, but on its own it is
It is necessary to move from resistance and denunciation to the affirmation of a project. The very fact that in many coun tries of the continent there will be elections over the next 18 months is an important opportunity for building an alternative that transcends sheer propagandism and doctrinaire self-satisfaction — through the presentation of a radical project of reforms capable of uniting its potential to mobilise with the consistency of its content.
It will be a difficult struggle, and our opponents will use all possible arms to block the path to power. It will be a struggle that requires political intelligence that will permit us to combine struggles in the institutional arena with an intense social struggle. Depending on the results of elections throughout 1993 and 1994 in Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and El Salvador, among other countries, a new sovereign Latin America capable of affirming its place in the world could emerge.
The New World Order that emerged from the collapse of bureaucratic socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which beginning with the Gulf War established the hegemony of the United States. cannot survive forever. Neither is this new order an absolute given before which we have to passively bow in respect. We must organise resistance against big capital with broad, complex and variable alliances, always made from the point of view of the workers and based on radical programmes of economic, social and political reforms
I would like to conclude by emphasizing that the potential for change in Latin America is in our hands. The impact of such change on the world situation will be considerable, opening a new period of hope in this difficult time through which working people the world over are going
The victory of our countries will be the greatest assistance we can offer Cuba - which today has an ally in the peoples of the continent, and which tomorrow could have as allies democratic and popular governments throughout Latin
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Democracy against corruption
Below, we publish major extracts from the final declaration of the
Havana conference. There were, of course, disagreements over the political content of the declaration but it is clear that many delegates felt that the strong stance in defence of Cuban sovereignity and the broader participation of forces throughout Latin America and the Caribbean
International Viewpoint #248 September 1993
SÃO PAL national organisations formally recognise this. The third Ibero-American summit incorporated this question on its agenda.
The absence of economic and social democracy, the drug trafficking, corruption, militarism, the repressive apparatus represented an important step forward. DOCUMENT — Havana, July 24, 1993
T HE fourth meeting of the