[Marxism] Latin Americans nostalgic for strongman rule!?

[Chris Brady <cdbrady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This report seems to have hit every Latin American newspaper from the
Rio Bravo to Tierra del Fuego.  The interpretation is a bit off the
mark, though.  Economic democracy is more important to the people than
some sham political process staged by the bourgeoisie...

Latin Americans are nostalgic for strongman rule

     Warren Hoge/NYT
International Herald Tribune, Wednesday, April 21, 2004
http://www.iht.com/articles/516122.htm

Quotes:

"deep popular disenchantment with democratic government, according to a
new United Nations report."

"...55 percent of people surveyed say they would support the replacement
of a democratic government with an "authoritarian" regime if it could
produce economic benefits."

"Fifty-eight percent of those questioned said they agreed that leaders
"may go beyond the law" if they have to and 56 percent said they felt
that economic development was more important than maintaining
democracy."

"...civil unrest is on the rise"

"The report attributes the erosion of confidence in elected governments
to slow economic growth, profound social inequality and ineffective
legal systems and social services. Despite gains in human rights from
the days of dictatorship, most Latin Americans, it says, still cannot
expect equal treatment before the law because of abusive police
practices, politicized judiciaries and widespread corruption."

"...disparities in the distribution of income are widening."

"...a system that is virtually a synonym for equality exists side by
side with the highest level of inequality in the world."

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