Olukorrast Ladina-Ameerikas ja põhjustest

Aprilli lõpus mainisin lühidalt kolme Ladina-Ameerika riigi USA ja vabakaubanduse vastast majanduspakti. Kogu tsirkuse eest vedajaks on Venetsueela esipopulist ja autoritaarsete kalduvustega president Hugo Chavez, kelle üha sagenevat sekkumist teiste Ladina-Ameerika riikide sisseasjadesse toob oodatud tagajärgi:

The mere association with Mr. Chávez has helped reverse the leads of presidential candidates in Mexico and Peru. Officials from Mexico to Nicaragua, Peru and Brazil have expressed rising impatience at what they see as Mr. Chávez's meddling and grandstanding, often at their expense.

Diplomatic sparring has broken into the open. Last month, after very public sniping between Mr. Chávez and Peru's president, Alejandro Toledo, the country withdrew its ambassador from Caracas, citing "flagrant interference" in its affairs.

"He goes around shooting from the hip and shooting his mouth off, and that has caused tensions," Jorge G. Castañeda, a former Mexican foreign minister, said by phone from New York, where he is teaching at New York University. "The difference now is that he's picking fights with his friends, not just his adversaries."

Kui Ladina-Ameerika riikide elanikele ei meeldi, et USA jätkuvalt ennast piirkonnas kehtestab, siis miks peaks sarnane käitumine lähemalt erineva vastuvõtu osaliseks saama? Artikkel on ürpis huvitav ja neile kellel huvi Ladina-Ameerikas toimuva vastu.

Ladina-Ameerika vasakule kaldumise teemal võtsid hiljuti sõna ka Nobeli memoriaalpreemia saanud Gary Becker:

One legitimate reason for the opposition to capitalism in Latin America is that it frequently has been "crony capitalism" as opposed to the competitive capitalism that produces desirable social outcomes. Crony capitalism is a system where companies with close connections to the government gain economic power not by competing better, but by using the government to get favored and protected positions. These favors include monopolies over telecommunications, exclusive licenses to import different goods, and other sizeable economic advantages. Some cronyism is found in all countries, but Mexico and other Latin countries have often taken the influence of political connections to extremes.

ja Richard Posner:

The appeal of left-wing rhetoric and, to a degree, leftwing economic policies in Latin America may be related not only to anti-Americanism and "crony capitalism," properly emphasized by Becker, but also to Catholicism. As Max Weber argued in his great book The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism (an argument that has been challenged but not refuted), the rise of capitalism appears to have owed much to Protestantism. Protestants rejected the authoritarian and collectivist aspects of Roman Catholicism (huge cathedrals, monasteries, a large ecclesiastical establishment, extensive support of the poor, hostility to commercial values) and emphasized literacy, thinking for oneself, frugality, and hard work as signs that one was a member of the Elect. Generally it was the northern European, predominantly Protestant countries, that led the way in the development of the modern economy. Of course much has changed since the Reformation, or for that matter the nineteenth century; capitalism thrives in many Catholic countries, such as Italy and Spain, and including Chile. But in other Latin American countries, Catholicism may be feeding resistance to capitalist values. Pope John Paul II, though fiercely anti-communist, also emphasized the social-welfare tradition of Catholicism. And "liberation theology," though opposed by the Vatican, was and may still be an influential Latin American movement led by left-wing priests.

Posner'i kommentaari tõstatab aga huvitav küsimus, kas Eesti majandusedu on osaliselt võimalik tänu suurele hulgale elanikkonnast, mis on ateistid või agnostikud?

Üldine seisukoht tundub olevat, et seni kuni Ladina-Ameerikas toimuvad demokraatlikud valitsused ei ole mõtete ka vasakpoolseid valitsusi pahaks panna. Mida ideoloogilisemalt vasakul, seda tõenäolisem, et kõik need lubadused, mida valimiste eel välja käiakse, ei saa kunagi täidetud. Inimesed ei ole lollid, kuid vahel nad eksivad - vaatavad, mis toimub nende ümber ja tahavad proovida muutusi. Proovigu!

Kui olukord aga halveneb, siis leidub üha vähem ja vähem neid, kes soovivad lootusrikkalt edasi tumedasse tuleviku kihutada. Kuni on võimalus valida on võimalus ka muutusteks poliitikas, katsetusteks erinevate reformide ja lähenemistega.