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Caution! Democracies
in danger
By
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
secnobel@serpaj.org.ar
The
earth's crust has reheated and the temperature tends to
rise, not only because of the irrationality and the lack
of preservation of the environment but also because of
the increase in armed conflicts and the social,
political and economic instability. The string is
tightening and the madness of the powerful does not
gauge the consequences for the lives of the people who
are ignored in the struggle for power.
Latin America and the Caribbean have a long and painful
experience with wars and low-intensity conflicts. Some
wounds have not yet been healed and the memory of the
people tries to overcome the drama they have lived, and
so they fight for Truth and Justice. They keep up their
resistance so they can build democracies.
Haiti
has been a devastated, hungry country for many decades;
it is the poorest country in the entire American
continent. As well noted by Rodolfo Mattarollo, who was
United Nations director in
Haiti for five years, “deposed President Jean Bertrand
Aristide could only redistribute dreams,” without help
and with an imposed blockade, without projects and with
serious structural problems, subjected to the
impositions of the United States and the clash of
interests of a powerful Haitian minority that lives
abroad.
Haiti
is an ungovernable country suffering from profound
social and state decay. One of the factors of this
situation was the lack of dialogue by the government
with sectors of the political opposition, which earlier
had been allies of the government. Aristide's government
underwent a permanent demolition and a constant
conditioning.
Those who headed the armed coup that toppled the
president are responsible for grave violations of human
rights; they are murderers at the service of great
economic and political interests. The deposed president
pointed out in his statements that
U.S.
forces led him out at gunpoint. It is a clear coup
d'état and a foreign interference in Haiti.
It
is proper to ask: Who armed the insurrectionists in
order to overthrow a constitutional government? Once
again,
U.S.
and French troops occupy that country claiming they
defend their interests and the democracy they have
trampled. Evidently, the low-intensity war that is
spreading throughout the continent is a sound of alarm
for all democratic governments, as noted by Stella
Calloni, a journalist with a renowned trajectory in the
analysis of processes in the American continent.
Another of the worrisome developments is the constant
siege and violence aimed at overthrowing the democratic
government in Venezuela presided by Hugo Chávez, who
resists and confronts an opposition that resorts to all
means to achieve its objectives, an opposition that
generates violence and therefore wreaks grave harm upon
the country.
That low-intensity war is waged by the communications
media, which seek to demonize the government and justify
the actions of the big economic and political interests.
The coup that placed the government in the hands of
Carmona, a powerful entrepreneur, failed thanks to the
actions of the people and international support. Today,
the Venezuelan government finds itself besieged by new
attempts to achieve the ouster of Hugo Chávez. The
violence that has been unleashed – and its toll of
people dead, wounded and arrested – is weakening the
country.
The government of Hugo Chávez is placed on the defensive
by the intervention of the
United States
and the support it gives to the opposition, headed by
businessmen and the communications media. This raises
serious questions about these kinds of “low-intensity
wars” that seek to topple governments elected
democratically.
There are many questions about what might happen
throughout the Latin American continent as a result of
the foreign interventionism that assumes for itself the
role of “regulator of other countries’ democracy” and
sets a grave precedent for other countries. Case in
point: Colombia, racked by the tension and violence
inflicted by the government and the guerrillas for more
than 40 years. However,
Colombia
is considered to be a democratic country, simply because
its citizens vote, not because of any respect for
citizen and human rights.
One
of my concerns is that pilot programs are being applied
to control unwieldy governments that do not respond to
the interests of the centers of power.
What might happen to the governments of Lula and
Kirchner if they attempt to touch the interests of the
big corporations or confront the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank? The media campaigns, the rumor mills,
the lobbies have the experience to topple governments
they consider to be undesirable.
The
U.S.
ambassador in Brazil said that her country will tolerate
some of Lula's positions, except those that affect U.S.
policy toward Latin America, for example, supporting
Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. The great power's
democracy extends only to the boundaries of its
interests, i.e., only as far as it's convenient.
It is worrisome to hear some Argentine ministers say:
“We're waiting for Bush's approval to pay the IMF the
interests of the foreign debt. He has to give us a sign
of approval.” Emperors don't look at, or listen to,
their slaves and subjects. They just use them whenever
they need them.
In other words, they're waiting for Emperor Bush to
raise or lower his thumb. Is that the kind of country we
want? The Roman circus is open, and the beasts are
hungry, and there are many of them on the arena, and the
vultures are waiting for the spoils. But Spartacus will inevitably
rise and fight for freedom.
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, architect, sculptor and civil
rights leader, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980. He was
born in Argentina in 1931. |
