2009-10-23.
Convergència Democràtica, Catalonia
(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).-
Resolution proposed by Convergència Democràtica, Catalonia
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, convening in Barcelona,
Catalonia on 19th and 20th November 2009:
Fredrich Hayek's book The Road to Serfdom opens with a quotation from
David Hume: "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once",
which is particularly apt for describing what is happening in a number
of Latin American countries that have embarked on "Bolivarian" agendas.
Now it is not just Cuba, which continues to live under totalitarianism.
All the civil rights of citizens in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and
Nicaragua are under a permanent threat that is leading them to the loss
of all their liberties.
In the footsteps of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez Frías was the first to
start a process of building "21st-century Socialism". After years of
attempting to undermine the rule of Law his efforts have resulted in
Venezuela's new Constitution, a text that violates the division of
powers and concentrates those powers in the hands of the president of
the Republic (who threatens to continue heading the Revolution until
2019!), and who is changing the territorial structure of the State and
moulding it to an ideological and military model.
Constitutional changes apart, opposition politicians suffer the greatest
harassment. Some, such as the businessman Emilio Cedeño, have been
imprisoned without due process. Others such as the mayor of Chacao,
Leopoldo López, have seen their political rights diminished through bans
obstructing them from presenting themselves for election.
And some, such as the former candidate for the presidency Manuel
Rosales, have had to go into exile. And there are even those, like the
student leader Nixon Moreno, who have to live in hiding. Neither should
we forget that the mayor-elect of Caracas, Antonio Ledesma, cannot
exercise the functions for which he was elected by the people.
Furthermore, Chavez's strategy places the media under the greatest
pressure. Radio Caracas Televisión was closed down. Others are subjected
to every kind of threat as well as dishonest competition from
State-controlled media. Companies and the right to property are also
under siege through nationalisation and extortion of every kind.
Rice-growing and metallurgical companies, banks and the entire oil
industry have already been nationalised regardless of whether this
property be Venezuelan, Japanese, Mexican or European.
The unions too are being replaced with committees controlled by the
official party. The greatest alarm, however, has been caused by the new
Education Law, which provides for figures known as Controladores de
Pensum, responsible for ideological control, to be present in all
schools, both public and private. On 5 September thousands of people
protested against this law.
Chavism, however, is only the most advanced expression of this drift
towards authoritarianism. The discourse of a large part of the Latin
American left is aimed at discrediting representative democracy in
favour of progressing towards a popular democracy.
Thus, either with or without an indigenous tint depending on the
latitude, democracy is veering towards authoritarianism and
totalitarianism. The presidents of a number of countries have promoted
constitutional reforms which would allow them to remain in power, from
Correa in Ecuador, who managed, to Zelaya in Honduras, who was not
successful.
In Bolivia, like Venezuela, the supporters of president Evo Morales
already constitute a paramilitary shock force which intimidates members
of the opposition and occupies land and factories. In Nicaragua
president Daniel Ortega also follows this model and in Managua, as in
Caracas, Eduardo Montealegre has not been able to exercise the mayoralty
despite having won the municipal elections.
LATIN AMERICA AND THE TOTALITARIAN TEMPTATION - Misceláneas de Cuba (23
October 2009)
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/article.asp?artID=23848
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