Author discusses decline and rise of democracy in Latin America

During a 1980 trip to Brazil, Pope John Paul II sternly warned that socio-economic and political reforms needed to be made quickly and urgently if Latin America was to stave off violent revolution. The pope was echoing what U.S. President John F. Kennedy said almost two decades earlier.

"Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable," said Kennedy in the hopes that democratic reforms would hinder the spread of communism and guerrilla revolution south of the U.S. border.

Neither world leader lived to see noticeable strides toward democracy and the institutional reforms necessary to erode Latin America's rigid class structure and to significantly narrow the political and economic gap between rich and poor.

Anyone wanting to know why democratic and economic reforms are essential in Latin America should read Michael Reid's book, "Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul." Historical, sociological, political and economic research flow into one stream as the author uses his journalistic skills to produce a book that might be titled "Latin America for People Who Don't Want to be Dummies About the Region."

His analysis of the rise of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is especially good, pointing out how Chavez appealed to a majority disenfranchised caste to win elections and then used this popular support as a steppingstone to an authoritarian regime.

Reid also knowledgeably delineates how the U.S. preferred, during the Cold War, to thwart democracy in favor of right-wing military governments as the best bulwark against communist infiltration of the hemisphere.

Although the book is subtitled "The Battle for Latin America's Soul," Reid is not talking about its spiritual or religious heritage. Despite the Catholic Church's centuries-long influence, Reid is referring to the region's political and economic soul which he sees embodied in the establishment of a sturdy democracy and an enlightened capitalism that stresses internal production and an opening to international trade.

The church's role is only mentioned in passing and will seem superficial to those knowledgeable about Catholicism in Latin America. He notes that the institutional church was basically part of the power structure during the colonial era and for much of the independence era. Reid mentions how the rise of liberation theology in the late 1960s and its flirting with Marxism cut into this image and gave some moral credibility to leftist movements.

Reid is editor of the Americas section of the British weekly The Economist. He has reported from Latin American since 1982 and has lived in Brazil, Peru and Mexico.

Avoiding ideological overlays, Reid says a mixed bag of reasons has joined to keep democracy from taking firm root. These include foreign domination by the United States and Europe, a colonial legacy of economic and political power concentrated in an elite class, and a disdain by rightist and leftist movements to use elections to gain power.

On economics, specifically regarding the foreign debt crisis, one major flaw is a failure to mention that many Latin American countries dug themselves into a hole by agreeing to terms in which their annual payments to international lending institutions and foreign governments covered only interest and service charges. This means that the principal was never reduced and countries often found that after they had paid off enough money to cover the original loan, they still owed the same amount as originally borrowed.

But Reid is hopeful and sees the peaceful election of left-leaning presidents in Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina as a sign that democracy is stabilizing as the left is accepting elections as a way to power and is reaching out to other sectors of society to form broader based political coalitions. Reid also cites numerous statistics to indicate that economic opportunities are also on the upswing.

His views may sound optimistic, but they are well-researched.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops