Articles and opinion columns by Latin American analysts who take an unwavering stand for freedom, including members and directors of the IID.

A Place to Transform Aspirations into Achievements

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The national identity of the United States is not defined by the identity of any one of the many ethnic groups that make up the U.S. population. Democracy and free markets form the sociopolitical environment that allows us to transform our aspirations into achievements. And, for most people, the United States is the place that epitomizes both democracy and free markets. Thus, the United States has become the archetypical “nation of immigrants.”. The United States as a “tribe of tribes,” with citizenship equally open to anyone born on U.S. soil, independently of their ancestry. In the U.S., one can be intensely patriotic as a Mexican-American, Japanese-American, Cuban-American, and the like. However, elsewhere in the world people are not similarly assimilated; we do not speak of Mexican-French, or Japanese-French. In the United States, immigrants from all sorts of ethnicities, become American in short order. Democracy and free markets are the fairest and most efficient political and economic systems ever developed. They are also the most respectful of our individual liberty.   Our national identity is strong and capable of embracing immigrants and natives together, as one American people.

BOLIVIA, FROM TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY TO DICTATORIAL CONTINUITY

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In Bolivia, the dictator was ousted but not the dictatorship.  The process of the transition towards democracy that started with Evo Morales’ resignation, is inexistent.  Interim President Janine Añez’s decision to run as a presidential candidate in elections she was supposed to ensure, has taken her from her role of directing the finding of a solution to be an important part of the problem. Now, instead of a transition to democracy there is dictatorial continuity. Personal ambitions and power feuds have eliminated the national agenda for the transition to democracy earned by the civil resistance movement which ousted the dictator.  The squabbling between contenders has displaced ideas and democracy is still missing.   Bolivia today has a government comprised by those who were opposition members functional to the dictator and who, while ignoring the historical opportunity, chose to keep the dictatorial system that in this way, only changes hands but not essence. The dictatorship can win the elections’ first round and keep itself in power, functional opposition members are in the government and campaign to retain it, Judges and Prosecutors are the same, the accused and persecuted by the dictatorship continue to be compelled to “prove their innocence” instead of being presumably innocent.   Human Rights continue to be violated, there is no Rule of Law, there is no separation and independence of the Branches of Government, there is no guarantee that elections will be fair and clean. Exile is a testimonial to the absence of free political organization and affiliation, and more crisis is on the way.

The Economic Value of Truth

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The Prince Harry story and the Corona virus outbreak illustrate the economic value of truth. This is particularly significant in an age where according to Mac MacManus we live in the Post Truth Era.  But where the value of truth will be crystal clear is on the impact of corona virus not only upon China but upon the world. Starting with China the cost of covering up the out break will hit its growth rate by at the very least one percentage point or 10% of GDP. Next it will impact 20% of the value chain in the West and 40% of the value chain in Asia. Mongolia, Cambodia and Laos Myanmar, the Philippines, and Viet Nam come next in terms of value losses. These nations export more than on sixth of their GDP to China. As China reduces economic activity due to the virus impact imports will tend to shrink and so the GDP of these nations. One can measure the impact upon global economic sentiment through the prices of energy and minerals.  Oil prices have so far lost 20% of value and copper 7% since the outbreak. Other losses include delays in monetary unification in China and perhaps even a leadership reshuffle. Should Xi Jinping be absorbed into a collective leadership ending his all too powerful approach to governance he will most probably learn the economic value of truth.

Trump’s Mideast Plan a Major Breakthrough But Risky

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Seven months after proposing the economic plan for the solution of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the Trump administration presented a political plan. A Palestinian state would be created in the entire Gaza strip, and 70% of the West Bank. There would be connections between different parts of the Palestinian state through roads, bridges, and tunnels (including a connection between the West Bank and Gaza). Holy sites would remain under Israel’s control, but Muslims would have free access to the al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel would be able to keep existing settlements without uprooting them, but would stop new settlements for the next four years while negotiations between Palestinians and Israel occur over final status. The Trump plan is a major breakthrough; it is a major break with past negotiations. What’s unique also about this plan is that if Palestinians do not engage in negotiations, Israel could proceed to unilaterally annex the settlements and there would be also a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. The Trump Plan has broken the cycle of naïve proposals. Conceps insisting either on continuing the bi-lateral negotiations of the last 27 years or proposed a fanciful solution based on pressure on Israel. This time, with the support of Arab states the hope is that the Palestinians are persuaded to negotiate and put an end to a conflict that has worn out the Israelis, the Americans, the Arabs, and even — the Palestinians themselves.

Kobe and the silent revolution

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The sudden loss of a modern hero who embodied the grandeur and the flaws of the American people while carrying the flame of hope for new generations sunk half the country into sorrow. Mr Bryant was generous in a consistent and quiet way. From the time he dedicated to fellow team members to help them improve their techniques and achieve better marks for the Lakers to his passionate support to the homeless Mr Bryant kept returning to life the blessings he had received. After 15 years at the Lakers and having already won a place at the Hall of Fame he ripped hi Achilles tendon; had a splinter in his knee bone and dislodged his hip, all this in one year. He came back to the field with new passes and techniques to lead the Lakers into greatest victories. Mr Bryant’s death anticipates a mayor shift in the media landscape. By 2021 broadcast TV rights expire. Probabilities are high that the sports leagues will fall into the streaming attraction and follow the DAZN route. Should this happen TV as we know will virtually disappear and the Millennial Generation will take the TV stage once and for all . This will help to spread a development model that is more environmentally sound; human friendly and development inclusive.

PRESIDENT GUAIDO MUST IDENTIFY AND DECRY CUBA AS AN ATTACKING AND INTERVENTIONIST STATE IN VENEZUELA

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Venezuela has a President In-Charge recognized by nearly 60 countries and a dictator, head of the usurper regime.  Although the legitimacy and legality are bestowed upon President Juan Guaido, Juan Guaido, as Head of State and head of Foreign Affairs, make it clear and without a doubt the condition of the Cuban regime in his country, identifying it and denouncing Cuba as an attacking and interventionist state in Venezuela. Complaints, assessments, reports, news, and documents prove Cuba’s attacks and intervention in Venezuela. Complaints, assessments, reports, news, and documents prove Cuba’s attacks and intervention in Venezuela.  Despite of years of fighting, protests, sacrifices, and heroic acts, until now the Venezuelan nation has not been able to liberate itself from the Castroist Chavist usurper dictatorship, precisely because Cuban aggression and intervention, prevent this from happening.  Cuba’s intervention in Venezuela has turned into occupation, opening the doors to the intervention of Russia and China, as part of its destabilization strategy with its antiimperialist doctrine. Control over the Venezuelan Armed Forces by different means of Cuban intervention, has been proven. In the economic realm, Cuba through its intervention, has tuned Venezuela into its main source for resources and support, manipulating corruption, appeasement, and treason to the homeland. Cuba’s intervention in Venezuela, by means of the criminal partnership formed between Cuba’s dictatorship and Venezuelan operators, now-a-days called “Castrochavism”, has made -out of Venezuelan territory- its main base for attacks against the security, stability, sovereignty of other States such as; the United States, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and the entire region. All of this and much more is known by President Juan Guaido who can no longer continue without discharging his obligations when facing public and noteworthy acts that call on him to identify and decry Cuba as an attacking and interventionist State in Venezuela.  This is the least, the basic, he can do.  It is about identifying the enemy.

Stupidity and Palestine

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The Palestinian leaders immediately shattered the peace plan presented by Donald Trump. It has been another stupidity committed by the Palestinian leaders. As, gloomily, Golda Meir foresaw: “Peace will come when the Palestinians love their children more than they hate us.” That moment has arrived for the masses, but not for the leaders, who live always willing to fight battles. It will take a long time. It may never come. The Holocaust was, undoubtedly, the worst of the crimes recorded in human history. Since then, anti-Jewish stupidity, often transformed into criminal acts, never left Europe. Virtually all European nations suffered it, The great danger that lurks Israel is not the Palestinian state that may arise in its interior, but the possibility that it is not created, and that the Iranian Ayatollahs, affected by stupidity, continue to use Hamas terrorists against the Jews of Israel and against the Jewish populations of the Western world. As long as peace does not explode, Israel does very well to prepare for combat. Si vis pacem, para bellum, the classics said. If you want peace, prepare for war. They were right.

When the Nile does not flood, kill the pharaoh

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The yearly flooding of the Nile, the result of enormous precipitation on the Ethiopian Highlands, has been a critical natural cycle in Egypt since ancient times. The floods were then seen as the annual coming of the gods and the pharaoh’s responsibility.  Thus, when the Nile does not flood, it is rational to kill the pharaoh. Economist Bryan Caplan explores this topic in his book “The Myth of the Rational Voter,” subtitled: “Why democracies choose bad policies.” Professor Caplan contends that voters are irrational when it comes to economic policies, and often support, under false beliefs, “feel good” policies, such as protectionism and a minimum wage, that are demonstrably harmful to most people. Thinking people may be a minority, but it appears that democracy can function relatively well, even under a great scale of voter ignorance due to the “Miracle of Aggregation.” The Miracle of Aggregation begins to break down when voters have developed systematically biased ideas. This is the case concerning economic policy; voters base their policy preferences on a deeply mistaken understanding of economics. Citizens of poor countries are often eager to migrate to rich countries. Yet, at home or in their new country, they rarely vote for parties that pledge to implement the economic policies that made the rich countries rich. As voters, we elect politicians who share our misinformed economic biases. The result is that bad economic policies, such as protectionism or a minimum wage, continue to prosper by popular demand. Perhaps when the Nile does not flood, we should spare the pharaoh and revisit our economic beliefs.

The Journalist and the Accountant

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Hugo Machiavelli is an Argentinian investigative reporter who believes political leaders should be held accountable for their performance at public office. He has thus followed most political leaders recording their careers and their management approach to public funds. Throughout his career Machiavelli has seen Argentina rise to the challenges of modernity when for very short time spans takes the global highway only to suddenly retrench into populism. Machiavelli’s latest work is a chronicle of the corruption machinery created by the Kirchner family in Argentina which led to the end of the infrastructure modernization plan that was essential to increasing the country’s competitiveness. And while most followers of Latin American developments seldom are surprised by the presence of corruption, the truth Is that the blatancy and sophistication of the Kirchner scheme comes as a shock. Because it could have never been deployed without the support of the Argentinean society’s leadership. This leads one the believe that Argentina and Latin America are doomed to ruin . Because the triggering factor of development is the belief in rule of law . And a society whose leadership willfully participates in a corrupt organization evidently does not believe in the rule of law. Machiavelli however is optimistic about the future of Argentina By forcing prosecution, the roots of corruption will be destroyed and with it the successful political narrative of Argentinian populism. And once Argentina experiences its  ‘Lava Jato” moment the country will take Brazil’s development route. Both nations would then support each other in their quest for freedom and prosperity. I simply pray that Machiavelli is right.

BOLIVIA CANNOT HAVE DEMOCRACY WITH DICTATORSHIP’S LAWS AND JUDGES

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Interim President Jeanine Añez has given definitive proof that “in Bolivia, the dictator fell but not the dictatorship” with her decision to be a presidential candidate in the next elections. Evo Morales’ and his accomplices’ main crime to destroy democracy and the Republic of Bolivia, is the counterfeiting of a new legal system imposing a new constitution through which the President can be reelected continuously. We, Bolivians, are paying with blood, political persecution, imprisonment and exile the defense of democracy and the Republic of Bolivia since 2003 and with civil resistance to the imposition of the Plurinational State’s constitution with which they build the dictatorship. When the Interim President announces her presidential candidacy, she gives Bolivia and the whole world, definitive proof of the existence of the Castrochavist dictatorship in Bolivia. The transition from dictatorship to democracy cannot be accomplished with the dictatorship’s laws and judges.  The interim government, as part of its historic and political obligation to conduct FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS should have pointed the way and advance as much as possible  in the replacement, the return to the previous legal system in existence prior to the disappearance of the rule of law because that is what constitutes the return to democracy.