“Latin American Relations: Is Democracy At Risk?”

Speaker: Professor Richard E. Feinberg

Date of Event: 8/11/04

Author: Jennifer Molina

Professor Feinberg began his presentation, like most professors do, by defining the four important elements that define democracy: 1- Elections 2- Elections, and the need to have a bill of rights. Strong institutions and political parties that equates to governmental checks and balances; 3- All of the above, with the addition to active participation by the non-governmental organizations, basically a civil society; 4- All of the above, in addition to social justice.

Professor Feinberg then switched gears and began talking about the current situation in Latin America. He explained how to bring those four fundamental definitions of democracy and apply them to Latin America. Elections in Latin America have been defined as the person who gets the majority votes actually wins the election. This would be considered a normal outcome. However Latin America did not always have this luxury. For years during the dictatorships in the sixties and seventies there were no elections held. However, Latin America has undergone major changes, in regards to elections where such countries as Mexico now have advanced computerized systems to carry out the voting process. This would have been a dream twenty to thirty years ago.

The next topic, checks and balances, was then explained. Professor Feinberg informed the audience that in Latin America, the judiciary systems are very weak. The judicial systems are slow and bribes have been frequently used. Bribery is a problem for many of the businesses in Latin America, whereby business contracts are either invalid or negotiated to the highest bidder.

In regards to checks and balances in Mexico, the current Congress is in a political party in opposition to President Fox. This causes great difficulty for President Fox to pass bills he deems necessary. In the past six years Mexico has lost out on the global scale because their executive branch refuses to work in coordination with the judicial branch in order to achieve.

As far as checks and balances are concerned with law enforcement, Colombia is an example where law enforcement is lacking. Colombia is plagued by over 1500 kidnappings a year. The trend tends to be that personal security is becoming the most important and biggest problem in Latin America. However in Chile, probably one of the most advanced Latin American countries, you see an honest judicial system where the police are uncorruptable. Chile is characterized by a sophisticated and advanced political system in respect to the other Latin American countries. So why is Chile so successful? Professor Feinberg explained, unlike Argentina, Chileans have learned from their mistakes and made out for the better.

The final topic addressed was civil society in Latin America and if any actually exists. Professor Feinberg explained that traditionally Latin American countries had no such groups but over the past twenty years they have been flourishing. Civil society groups are predominately middle-class based with some of the biggest groups existing in Venezuela (the opposition party to President Hugo Chavez); and in Argentina demonstrations have also been led by the middle class. Some exceptions to these groups are seen in Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador with the landless movements being characterized by the lower class.

Overall these civil society groups are being seen as a positive thing for these countries as people are starting to come together to get things done even if they are not always pro-democratic. Overall Feinberg stressed that even with all these four points being achieved for democracy there still continues to be a lot of discontent in these countries. The people of Latin America are uncomfortable with how their country’s economies are not growing strong enough. They believe that democracy has been unable to deliver the goods. So the problem remains, and this is where the danger lies, where Fienberg expressed that Latin America could inherit a mystic salesman. Basically he means that leadership will remain key for the Latin American countries to stay on the right course.

So what does this have to do with the United States? It all comes back to the fact that the U.S. can play a role in making a difference for Latin American democracy. For example with elections, Fienberg expressed that the United States needs to continue to support them. We can train their politicians and teach them how to use the media, its resources and expertise. Our USAID department can assist in building better police forces and implementing specific programs that are needed in those countries. We need to encourage institution building, for example women’s groups, and having both the public and private sectors working together. This all seems wonderful though the problem is that even the U.S. does not have all the money needed to make a real difference for what is needed in Latin America. In order to see any real changes in these countries for the coming years there is going to need to be an achieved effort from within.