Thread: Immigrants cast doubt on Latin democracies

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Immigrants cast doubt on Latin democracies

By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer
Posted May 30 2005

He went to a university under a repressive military regime, and now looks on from Boca Raton as his country leans left under a president who once worked in an automobile parts factory.

But Brazil's shift from authoritarian rule to a freely elected man of the people has not convinced Dercilio Schultz that democracy is alive in his homeland. Asked what democratic reforms could combat the country's uneven distribution of wealth, he suggests the government is long on appeasement and short on solutions: "Soccer and samba ... I don't think Brazil is a democracy at all," he said.


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Schultz's disillusionment with the democratic process echoes the sentiments of Latin American immigrants throughout South Florida as Fort Lauderdale prepares to host the three-day, general assembly of the Organization of American States from Sunday through Tuesday. The summit's theme is "Delivering the Benefits of Democracy," but as Schultz's comments suggest, many feel their countries' democratic conversions are paying small dividends.

"We've tried everything, but it's a circle," said Shultz, from the recreational center in Boca Raton where he offers classes in hip-hop and capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. "No matter who comes to power, once they are there they protect each other."

Analysts cast Latin America as a region of fledgling democracies, with many countries making dramatic transitions over the past three decades from brutal authoritarian rule to elections and equal representation. Guatemala, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, for example, swept aside military rulers, decentralized government and strove toward independent courts.

But democratic reforms have proved a nervy dance of two steps forward and one step back. Poverty has not abated with citizens' access to the polls, and many Latin American countries have been dogged by street protests, chronic Cabinet shuffles and overarching leadership crises. In Ecuador, three presidents have been forced from power in eight years. In Bolivia, President Carlos Mesa offered to resign over demands that he levy heavy tariffs on international energy companies. Haiti is so mired in violence and poverty that some immigrants have called for their homeland to seek a commonwealth relationship with a more stable country.

Among Latin American democracies, "there is a general disillusionment with the political establishment, a sense that they are not delivering the goods," said Angelo Rivero-Santos, a political analyst with the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. With few exceptions, he said, statistical studies showed salaries failed to keep pace with cost-of-living increases and the widening poverty gap. New jobs haven't materialized. Basic services are still patchy.

For Ana López, who runs the Boards Entertainment book and music shop in Weston, Latin America's problems are less about poor leadership than about a populace that hasn't made thoughtful choices at the polls. "It's as if we were waiting for a messiah to solve our problems," López said. "If there's a flood, or a house falls, people say, `We're waiting for the government to help us.' The citizen doesn't feel the solution is also in him."

Like many Venezuelans living in Florida, López opposes President Hugo Chávez and thinks he has mangled the country's democratic system by meddling in the courts and rewriting the constitution. His fiery anti-American rhetoric hasn't won him any friends in Washington, either. But he enjoys loyal support -- one recent poll gave him a 70 percent approval rating -- especially among poor Venezuelans who had been cut off from their country's huge oil wealth.

For Haitian immigrant Dr. Joseph Fanfan, a Fort Lauderdale family physician, political disillusionment runs so deep he supports radical reforms to get his homeland back on track.

Haiti's streets are still simmering after an uprising that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004. On top of the political strife, storm damage drove the country deeper into poverty.

One solution, Fanfan said, might be a "progressive dictatorship" to mend broken institutions and improve policing. Another would be to sacrifice sovereignty for security.

"Sometimes you feel that Haiti is so far back that we need to begin somewhere. I wish someone would start a commonwealth relationship with us, like what Puerto Rico has," Fanfan said.

Rivero-Santos, the analyst, said such sentiments were uncommon, and that Latin Americans generally don't favor a return to the iron-fisted regimes they associate with military dictatorships from the past.

This, at least, represents a toehold for democratic reforms, he said.

"It's easy to be pessimistic and throw up your arms and say forget it," he said. "But if what we're seeing is about redefining a development process that addresses structural issues ... what the role of the markets should be, [then] there's reason for hope. I don't know any successfully democracy that hasn't gone through this process."

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4691.

Does anyone know what THIS IS?

general assembly of the Organization of American States

I am sick and tired of hearing sentiments about somebody's homeland. I don't care! If these illegals (and legals from elsewhere) care more about what is going on in their homelands more than America, then GO HOME, PERIOD!

There's no point to democracy without rule of law and property rights.

Why invest in a country & create jobs there if the Generalisimo's Brother-in-law is going to steal your money & put it in a Cayman Islands' bank account?

City of Fort Lauderdale Web Site
http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/oas/

Organization of American States General Assembly

XXXV OAS General AssemblyThe Organization of American States (OAS), a global organization that brings together the countries of the Western Hemisphere to strengthen cooperation and advance common interests, will conduct its 35th General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale from June 5 to 7, 2005.

The conference will mark the first time since 1974 that the U.S. will be hosting an OAS General Assembly, the highest decision-making forum that will include the participation of as many as 35 foreign ministers and delegates, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Topics the foreign ministers are expected to examine in Fort Lauderdale include: fulfilling the promise of the Inter-American Democratic Charter for all the peoples of the Americas; promoting a democratic culture; advancing in the fight against illegal drugs; improving the status of indigenous peoples; strengthening the inter-American human rights protection system; combating transnational criminal youth gangs; and making 2006 the Inter-American Year of the Fight Against Corruption.

Security in and around the City of Fort Lauderdale will be heightened during the General Assembly to ensure the safety of citizens, guests and visitors. Residents should be prepared for temporary street closures and the rerouting of traffic particularly in the area surrounding the Broward County Convention Center. As we move closer to the event date, please monitor the City of Fort Lauderdale website, Comcast Cable Channel 78, and the HARS 1610 AM radio station for the latest updates and information regarding road closures, traffic information and other safety procedures.

Organization of American States General Assembly Web Site
http://www.oas.org/xxxvga/english/default.asp

Thank You, JP!

Organization of American States General Assembly

XXXV OAS General AssemblyThe Organization of American States (OAS), a global organization that brings together the countries of the Western Hemisphere to strengthen cooperation and advance common interests, will conduct its 35th General Assembly

35 years!!!

35 Years and I have never heard of them????

Wait a minute! I've seen "OAS" in my research over the past few years. For the life of me I can't remember where! I've seen this, JP.

"AMERICAN STATES".........I was under the impression that the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ---was the AMERICAN STATES!

JUDY............catch this! My instinct tells me this is important. Somewhere in this organization's past might be some answers that we've been searching for. JUDY---this might be a small key.

a global organization that brings together the countries of the Western Hemisphere to strengthen cooperation and advance common interests

Kind of sounds like the FTAA and ending the sovereignty of the USA.

http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/oas/

The U.S. and the Organization of American States
The U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) is headed by Ambassador John F. Maisto, who has served as Permanent Representative to the OAS since July 31, 2003. The OAS is the premier multilateral forum in the Western Hemisphere. Its 35 members are countries from North, South, and Central America, the Caribbean, and Canada. The charter of the OAS states that its basic objectives are to:

strengthen peace and security;
promote the effective exercise of representative democracy;
ensure the peaceful settlement of disputes among members;
provide for common action in the event of aggression;
seek solutions to political, juridical, and economic problems that may arise;
promote, by cooperative action, economic, social, educational, scientific, and cultural development; and
limit conventional weapons so as to devote greater resources to economic and social development.

As a member of the OAS, the United States is committed to strengthening and working with the organization. This reflects the U.S. Government's determination to make optimal use of multilateral diplomacy to resolve regional problems and to engage its neighbors on topics of hemispheric concern.