Can the Next President have a Latin American Policy?
Articles - News, Politics and Issues
With George W. Bush poised to take office without winning the popular vote or Al Gore as a result of lawsuits, does either have the moral authority to guide democracy in Latin America?
In the Americas, recent elections have been wrought with controversy. Election observers watched over one district where off-duty police had intimidated voters in earlier elections, and other districts where the indigenous were treated unfairly and still more areas where minority groups haven't been able to fully participate. Another sign of "irregularities" was that the sample ballots and the voting instructions differed from what voters actually had to use on Election Day. One candidate was threatened with arrest when he tried to attend the debates between the ruling parties. All this occurred in the United States November 2000 elections.
The United States has spent a lot of energy trying to restore democracy to Cuba through embargos and failed military action. We've invaded Panama to "save them" from a general who was responsible for trafficking drugs to the United States and to teach the democratic rule that when a candidate gets a majority of the votes, he wins. We chastised President Fujimori in Peru, who is the longest serving democratically elected leader in Latin America, for not delaying elections until international observers could ready themselves to watch over the election and because they had questionable ballots. We celebrated Mexico for electing a president that didn't belong to the most powerful party.
If George W. Bush ascends to the presidency after getting fewer votes than his opponent, will he be able to shake his finger at Latin America every time a ballot is irregular or a polling place is closed? Will Al Gore be able persuade leaders of growing democracies if he wins through lawsuits? Fidel Castro's Granma newspaper is already calling the United States Una República Bananera' - a Banana Republic. Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, from Cuba, has offered to send observers to Florida to watch over the recounts - which is exactly what the U.S. would have insisted on if this had happened in a Latin American country.
The next president will have to continue the intervention policy we have with Latin America, attempting to convince world leaders that the "irregularities" in their countries' elections are dangerous. In America, they're signs of the strength of our democracy.
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