Expert: Paul Walcutt - 5/19/2002

Question
Hello,
You answered a question of mine yesterday regarding Latin America struggling with the same challenges since their independence - your answer verified my thoughts exactly.  I'm currently completing my first Latin American history class, and I was somewhat insecure as to my summation of my posed question - especially regarding the US's self-serving interventions;  on the heels of this, I have another thought and would like your feedback:
Is democracy the answer?  Now, before I begin sounding like I'm pro-communist, let me explain by using this example.  Beautiful purple and blue hydrangea flowers grow in my soil in my backyard -the acidic content of the soil in my backyard provides the right atmosphere to grow hydrangeas with such vivid and bold colors;  my friend who lives 80 miles from here grows hydrangeas with no color - their soil does not provide the acidic content necessary to produce the color.  Now, let's bring this simple example over to something much more complex (because we are dealing with people) - US feels democracy for ALL is the answer - isn't that being ethnocentric?  What if Latin America's cultures, belief systems, attitudes are not congruent to this type of system?  Or am I barking up the wrong tree?  Forgive me, if I sound as if I don't know what I am talking about - actually, I don't know a thing about politics, government systems, blah, blah, blah . . . I just can't help but feel, however, that if the US would stay out of other's lifestyles, that maybe Latin America has a chance.  I love my peacock-blue hydrangeas and wouldn't have them any other way, but my friend's white-ones are just as beautiful and work well in her garden.
Your thoughts?
Thanks.
Laurie Kellert

Answer
I would certainly agree with your analogy.  There certainly is an inordiante amount of interference by the US and governments/societies should be organized by popular will, not imposed from above.  However, I would argue that any system that isnt based on some level of representation is destined to be a failure.  So Simon Bolivar's vision of a pan-South American dictator or the traditional communist vision of the dictatorship of the proletariat are not really the answer.  On the other hand, one could argue that the US's particular version of democracy (which is actually a republic) vastly underrepresents minorities, since national/state represenation is divided by geographical boundaries and not by overall popular vote.  Contemporary US policy towards Cuba (and the Venezuelan coup) shows that when it comes to other countries, esp. Latin America, our foreign policy is largely framed within an strict adherrance to the globalized world economy and our narrow vision of the "correct" government.