Peace and Development in Latin America
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Peace and Development In Latin America Luis T. Díaz Müller* o r u c s o t r a u C / o r e r r e u G o d e r f l A President Calderón with Latin American presidents and governors during the Puebla-Panama Plan Summit. INTRODUCTION Underdevelopment marks the direc - re gio nal peace without democracy and t ion of the continent. Old and new the - de vel opment is possible. Peace is not just the absence of war. In ori es attempt to ex plain its causes and What is clear is that at the beginning the case of Latin America, the study of possible alternatives. The current stage of the tw enty-first century, the Latin Ame r - peace must be linked to matters of de - of globalization, begun between 1989 ican regimes have moved fro m authori - v elop me nt and democracy. This attempt and 1990, offers new elements —prob - tarianism to formal democracy without at globally interpreting the variables ably negative ones— for structuring promoting development, thus creating peace, development and democracy is peace with social justice that could be weak democracies. We can say, there - part of the framework of a neo-struc - called “ pax democratica .” 1 fore, that a lasting peace will not be tural analysis of Latin America. The relationship of bureaucratic- produced solely by the advent of a stag e author itarian regimes to development, favorable to development, but by an peace models and the democratic chal - aut hentic democ racy that makes it possi - *Rese archer at the UNAM Institute for Lega l lenge deser ves a lot of thought; plus, ble to negotiate “among equals” to over - Research ([email protected]). they prompt the question of whether a come the conflicts that may arise in the 12 POLITICS future. As we shall see, de velopment and democracy are necessary but insuffi cient prerequisites for re gional peace. A lasting peace will not be produced solely by the advent of a stage favorable to development, but by an authentic democracy that makes LATIN AMERICA : it possible to negotiate “among equals.” PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT The weakness of nation-states for deal - ing with important crises reflects the minism that manifests a peace policy A first idea is that the existence of inabil ity of political regimes to over - fos tered by ma cro -economic indi cators. the neoliberal wave, as Touraine writes , come the poverty line and, of course, What does happ en is that mili tary gov - increases and deepens the contradic - underdevel opment. One example is ern ments are more likely to tak e a milita ry tions of the globalized nation-state. 8 In Ar gen tina’s 2001 crisis under Pre si dent way out, just like the case of Argen tina that sense we can say that neoliber alism Fernando de la Rúa. with the Falklands War. 5 has failed in its promise of develop - There is an unavoidable link be - Authoritarianism, for its part, has ment, since the majority of the popu - t ween peace and development. A pax been linked with the “national” question, lation does not be nefit from its sup - dem ocratica implies the existence, exer - with nationalism, and this has resulted posed political and economic miracle s. cise and preservation of social rights, in a series of armed conflicts of diff er ent In the second place, the globaliza - the right to housing, health care, edu - dimensions: 6 this is the case of Argen - tion process accentuated ethnic and cation and work, for which compre - ti n a, the civil war in Co lombia, the poli t - nationalist conflicts. For example, the hensive de v elop ment plays a prepon - i cal violence in Peru and certain c on - Iran war “monopolized” the existence of derant role. 2 flicts in Mexico. gl obal violence. However, many ethnic The weakness of institutions and Violence organized from the state, and “internal wars” continue to exist on lack of democratic traditions are part like a modern Leviathan, has con - a national level, such as the long civil of the lack of democratic development trol led civil society, if not made it com - war in Colombia, a far cry from the now in the region. 3 Without falling into “d e - pletely disappear. Permanent eco nomic defunct Cold War. A third effect of ter minism,” it is logical to think that, crisis has created instability, emigra - globalization, because it exacerbates as trends, the lack of development and tion and violence. 7 Once again, the bu - con flicts and asymmetries between the democracy brings with it an absence reau crat ic authoritarian state imposed center and the periphery, is that it has of regional peace reflected, for exam - in Argen ti na by Héctor Cám pora in the increased the risk of conflicts be tween ple, in coup d’états. 1970s is an ominous example of this powers, states and ethnic groups, as wel l Poverty, a characteristic of under - state terrorism. as sub-regional wars like the Iraq War. development, becomes the main cause Lastly, neoliberalism should be of the lack of comprehensive demo - link ed to worsening conditions for pe ace cratic development. In El problema de la LATIN AMERICA : G LOBALIZATION , and Latin American regional de velop - gu erra y las vías de la paz (The Pro blem PEACE AND NEOLIBERALISM ment. Privatizations, the su pre macy of of War and the Road to Peace), Nor - the market, ad hoc struc tural adjust - berto Bobbio writes that war is a blocked It is commonplace to say that Latin ments and the dismantling of the wel - ro ad that creates enormous confidence Ame ri ca arrived late and unequally to fare state are all associated with glo ba l - in the balan ce of terror: the impossi - the beginning of globalization. What is ization policies and offer a different, bility of war. 4 worthwhile asking is to what extent glob - hege monic vision of natio n al problems But, are there economic growth rate s alization and neoliberalism affect the and the global socie ty. In t his sense, th at are more favorable for keeping the peace of our societies. However, there is they cause a move from classic wars to pea ce? I do not think so. The re is no no causal relationship between the tw o “globalized,” “trans- state” wars, wh ether such thing as a polit ical-economic de ter - aspects of the problem. they be civil or ethnic wars. 13 VOICES OF MEXICO • 79 DEMOCRACY AND PEACE IN THE REGION : T HE PEACE AGREEMENTS At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Latin Ame rican Peace agreements have become fash - regimes have moved from authoritarianism to formal iona ble: for example, ETA ’s negotiations democracy without promoting development, in Spain. But, what would a stab le peace thus creating weak democracies. loo k like? 9 A positive peace is the gua r - antee of a stable peace in which there is a state monopoly of power, the rule poverty and inequality not only con - cent, half of the figure attained dur - of law, social justice, democratic parti c i - tinued, but actually increased. 11 As ing state-led industrialization in the pation, a culture of constructive co n flict we know, poverty and domestic social 1950s and 1960s (5.5 percent). Even and self-control of countries due to their pol arization have awakened sharp con - the best performance of the “new-style interdependence. tradictions in Latin Amer ican societies, 12 development,” between 1990 and 1997 , The national question plays an im - incurring high social costs, ex clusion, only produced a 3.7 percent annual portant role in globalization conflicts. tension and frequently a clash of in - growth rate, very much below what Lat - Certainly, in many cases, these con - tolerant ideologies. 13 in America experienced until the debt flicts take on a markedly ethnic slant, The pax democratica is a difficult crisis. 16 and they have become a characteristic eq uation to conceive. According to La t - This made a paradoxical advance of the globalization process: Ireland in-Barómetro, while in 2002, 57 per - pos sible: Latin America became the re - (a s a national movement), Kosovo, Bos - cent of the population thought that gion that most clearly combined the ad - nia Herzegovina and Latin Amer ican democracy was the best form of gov - va nce in representative democracy with indige nous movements are examples. er nment, only 33 percent was satisfied market liberalization. All this poses a with its functioning. “It is not very believ - question: Is it possible to achie ve pax able that the disrepute in wh ich de mo c - democratica under a neoliberal regime ? POVERTY : D EVELOPMENT , racy is held in our region corresponds GROWTH AND PEACE to a preference for dictatorships. Latin American citizens are very familiar with NEOLIBERALISM : It is tempting and fascinating to think the horrors of dicta torships, whether PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT abo ut the relationship between growt h, directly or indirectly, and they long for development and peace. Metho do - effective democracies that fulfill the Neoliberalism places the market at the lo gical ly, it can only be thought of as a principles that inspire this form of gov - center of public affairs. Ocampo esti - trend, rather than an inextricable, me - ern ment.” 14 mates that a new equilibrium is need - ch anical, causal relationship. The crisis of the 1980s deepened ed between the market and public in - The proposal of neoliberal mod els, poverty and inequality.