of as many different types of government, mostly dictatorships.
Mostof South America won independence from Spain and Portugal between 1810and 1824. In 1823, President James Monroe enunciated the first USpolicy on Latin America. The Monroe Doctrine warned European nationsagainst interfering in the affairs of independent nations in theWestern Hemisphere. In 1904, Roosevelt’s Corollary said the US wouldact as a “policeman”, intervening militarily when US interests were atrisk. After W.
W. II, the independent countries of the WesternHemisphere formed the Organization of American States, a militaryalliance to prevent aggression against any American nation. SouthAmerica is the fourth largest continent. It ranks fifth in population. The continent is divided into 12 independent countries and twopolitical units.
The countries consist of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela,Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana,Surinam, and French Guinea. In the 12 countries of South America,democracy has slowly been on the rise since 1959. The rise started inVenezuela and ended in Surinam last year. One by one South America’scountries have turned form dictatorships into democracies where thevoters control the elections. Even with democracy taking control, the countries still havemany problems. The largest problem is the tradition of corruption ofthe political leaders.
The corruption has mainly been the use ofbribe-taking and bribe-giving. “By definition, democracy presumesequal opportunity; bribery and corruption make the playing fielduneven and weakens democracy’s foundations. ” Recently, corruption hasreached into high places in Venezuela and Brazil. President CarlosPerez (1993) and Fernando Collor de Mello (1992) were forced to resignwhen faced with corruption charges.
The large drug trade has also caused problems for the rise ofdemocracy in South America. Each year, hundreds of tons of Cocainefeed an illegal US drug market. It is worth an estimated $38 billion ayear. This illegal money has found its way into the pockets of manypeople in high places.
In Columbia, a major source of illegal drugsfor the US, President Ernesto Samper was accused of taking a $6million bribe to allow drug trafficking to continue as usual. Laundered drug money has financed development in many South Americancities, but it has also brought bloodshed. The large gap between rich and poor of South America haspresented another challenge for democracy. In South America, the richkeep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. But since therise of democracy economic conditions have not worsened. Recently, thepoor have been taking their demands for better economic conditions tothe streets.
In Argentina, workers have protested the privationpolicies of President Carlos Menem. They are demanding job security togo back to “the good old days” of the Peron era. The military also threatens democratic systems in South America. Today the soldiers are back in their barracks, “but in most nations,the possibility remains that the generals, heeding a real or imaginedcall to restore order, will impose military rule. This threat isillustrated by Chilean President Eduardo Frei’s problems with Chile’sformer dictator, Gen.
Augusto Pinochet who still controls the militaryuntil the year 1998. Each country in South America has faced someaction that has tried to return them to what they oncewere–dictatorships. In Venezuela, which has the oldest civilianregime in South America, suffered two coup attempts byarmy officers in 1992; both were unsuccessful and were put down. In Chile, Gen. Pinochet still commands the armed forces, but becauseof free elections he is no longer the head of state.
With democracyhaving a hard time in South America, “only Chile seems to respect therule of law. “In Bolivia, which had 189 military coups in its first 168 yearsof independence, has become a country with stable democracy. Voterselected President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to be the head of state intheir new democracy. Columbia, the most violent country in SouthAmerica, has had the hardest time dealing with corruption in theirdemocracy. This is due to their booming drug trade. It has 83 murdersper 100,000 inhabitants, nine times the US murder rate.
Someone getskilled in Bogota, the capital of Columbia, every hour. In Medillinit’s every half hour. Columbia has a type of “narco-democracy” inwhich drug traffickers have achieved control over the top levels ofgovernment through bribery and intimidation. Brazil is another country where violent actions have played apart in the corruption of their democracy. Legislator Edmundo Galdino,paralyzed from the waist down by a hired gunman, said, “. .
. its’easier, cheaper, and more certain of success to hire an assassin thana lawyer to sue someone in court. ” His government commission recentlyconcluded that contract killers have 99% impunity, only 1% are everconvicted, making it the safest job in Brazil. Brazil’s corruptiondates back to its colonial days (1500-1822) when rich landownersdeveloped a system of “exchange of favors.
” Brazil has come to becalled the capitalist version of Russia. After 11 years of democracy, Argentina is no longer in danger ofa military takeover. Elected President Carlos Menem has tried to bringchanges for the people, but has overlooked the fact that most of thepeople are suffering from the terrible economic conditions. South America’s most recent “coup” was in Peru in 1992. PresidentAlberto Fujimori fired congress and imposed martial law, “saying hecould not tackle the country’s pressing economic problems and Maoistinsurgency under the constraints of democracy.
” Guerrillas thatterrorize rural Peru have played a big part in hurting Peruviandemocracy. Most recently, in Lima, terrorist captured the Chineseembassy. They were put down after an extended stand off in late Aprilof 1997. For the first time ever, all twelve South American countrieshave democratic governments.
South America, “a continent famous forcoups and military dictators, has embraced civilian, democraticleadership. ” South American democracy is very fragile. Asmodernization, the exchange of ideas, and trade with other democraciesbegin to happen, “South Americans are hoping their democraticexperiments will succeed.”
