No Más: Combating Anti-Americanism in Latin America
PJM Indianapolis: Is anti-Americanism rampant in Latin America, or is it simply hyped by the international media? Ari Kaufman writes that not all Latinos think like Hugo Chavez.
I recently had the chance to attend a unique symposium at downtown Indianapolis’ historic Columbia Club, titled “Combating Anti-Americanism and Populism with Education in Latin America.” Speakers from more than half a dozen countries in North, Central and South America collaborated to present views germane to their homeland and the troubling infiltration of populism into said societies. The key question was essentially whether ignorance is at fault for the unfortunate trend toward the far left-wing corruption of a Chavez type, or if many Latin American nations (Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, etc.) are guilty of an endemic predilection toward those populist tendencies.
Presenters at the symposium (which was sponsored by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Indiana-based Sagamore Institute, and the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation) highlighted good and bad news about the progress of education and the economies throughout Latin America. Though in fact, positive trends were clearly in the majority. This was made clear during the ebullient opening comments from Atlas’ CEO Alex Chafuen, who confidently declared that most Latinos are very pro-American “although you won’t hear that on CNN.”
Maria del Carmen Ace√±a, the Minister of Education in Guatemala and the keynote speaker, presented information on the overwhelming educational concerns of the 13 million residents of Guatemala, 45 percent of whom are under the age of 15. Ninety-thousand teachers are currently unemployed in the nation immediately to Mexico’s south, which has a 40 percent indigenous population who primarily speak languages other than Spanish. Over one million Guatemalans now reside in America, where they mainly seeking work and education, due mostly to the corrupt leadership of Alfonso Portillo from 2000-2004. Under his watch, the central government grew out of control, filling his and his comrades’ pockets. Meanwhile, teachers were hired not on merit but via political “favors” to the populist regime. Education of the masses, for obvious reasons, was a non-priority.
And that was the theme of the day. Removing corrupt, populist leaders who are hostile to America, brainwash the citizenry, ignore innovation, fear accountability and are the enemy of freedom is imperative for progress in any nation. Negative attitudes and lowering the populace’s self-esteem seem endemic in certain heads of government, who too often view the rogue Hugo Chavez as a model leader.
The vicious cycle we read about in our history books may sound clich√©, but in numerous nations to our south it’s daily life. As the small percentage of wealthy citizens, often those loyal to the current leaders, constitute the private school student body, the poor become ignorant, angry and eventually supportive of nefarious politicians who blow up the size of federal programs, buy votes and engage financial corruption. The USSR has made its way southwest.
Guatemala borders Mexico directly to the south, and as Chafuen noted, the geographically closer you sit from America, the more favorable the views are of America. For the record, Chafuen stated that only Chile has low government corruption and a rising GDP; and that along with it, Uruguay and Costa Rica are the best Latin American examples of American-style democracy.
Vouchers, which the Friedman Foundation has been supporting for half a century, were shown to serve as the most prominent way to expedite quality education in Latin America. Many of these nations’ public education systems make America’s troubled schools look like New Hampshire’s prep schools in the 1950s. Most speakers stressed that only an eagerness for educational excellence will catapult not only a disdain for the autocrats like Chavez, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Ecuador’s young Chavez-phile Rafael Correa, but a yearning for American style leaders and governance.
In later sessions, Carolina Romero de Bolivar of Mexico’s economic public policy institute, “Instituto Cultural Ludwig Von Mises,” and Venezuelan Jes√∫s Eduardo Rodr√≠guez reiterated the upward march. Bolivar offered effusive praise for the election of Felipe Calderon in the summer of 2006, claiming that “while Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador are going backwards with insane candidates…five more years of Calderon will perfect democracy and improve the situation {in Mexico}.” She called Andres Lopez Obrador — the far left politician who was defeated by Calderon amidst wild, violent protests by his “revolutionary” supporters — a “poison” who fed on ignorance and would have undone six years of past leader Vicente Fox’s hard work.
Rodriguez, of the Caracas-based Centro de Divulgacion del Conocimiento Economico (CEDICE), a center also intent upon spreading economic knowledge, was terse but vehement in noting that emulating America is the best path to freedom and democracy in his country. With 90 percent of the media under government control by coercion and no opposition political parties allowed to exist, Rodriguez said informally educating the masses is key. Whether it comes from Church preachers or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which he called “one of the best invention by civilized society,” informal education is key as “people need to listen” in order to understand each week’s biased referenda from the populists in charge. They can then operate instead under a pro-free market, global society that follows America’s lead. He was rather harsh toward Hugh Chavez, and he closed by by noting “it’s a struggle for democracy each day–a living process.”
Little at the meeting changed any convictions of those nearby me that the glass is definitely half-full despite the scaremongers who predict horrific catastrophes in the so-called “Third World ” to our south. It was clear from the Rodriguez speech that a high majority of his countrymen deplore Hugo Chavez. But as is the tragic case in the Middle East, Cuba and other rogue nations, elections, government-censored television and CNN International do not publicize that.
My future in-laws hail from Colombia, which has been involved in a guerilla civil war with Venezuela since Chavez took office next door. They support the rationale behind the anti-Chavez sentiment. Seeing Chavez (or Castro’s ilk) up close puts things into perspective, as a one-day visit by Steven Spielberg can’t do. There’s clearly a reason so many Communist dissidents from the former Soviet Union and Latin America have right-leaning politics and support democracy. And there’s a reason private school educated folks like my fianc√©e and her family can come to America and succeed extremely rapidly.
Getting the preponderance of Latin Americans to a similar juncture is the challenge.
It then seemed fitting that an eternal optimist like Milton Friedman, known for, among so much else, advocating a minimal role of government in a free market as a means to create political and social freedom, had his foundation sponsor this event. And it was rather enlightening to see that in a world where American media outlets like CBS seems preoccupied with making these dictators seem friendly, my city of residence could put the resources together to have meaningful presentations and discourse on such matters of urgent importance.
Ari Kaufman currently resides in Indianapolis where he is a military historian for the State of Indiana’s War Memorials and an Associate Fellow at the Sagamore Institute. A former Los Angeles schoolteacher, he is the author of Reclamation: Saving our schools starts from within.
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19 Comments
1. Bruno:There’s a reason–like you say– that private school educated folks like your fianc√©e and her family can come to America and succeed extremely rapidly. That reason is wealth. There’s a reason that L√≥pez Obrador almost won the elections in Mexico last year. That reason is poverty.
“Perfecting democracy” in Mexico by Calder√≥n? Let’s wait and see. In any case, “perfecting democracy” is a rather “populist” goal in the first place. “Improving the situation”, on the other hand, if this means the “economic situation” of the vast majority in Mexico is life-or-death for the nation. If Calder√≥n fails here, then L√≥pez Obrador will win in 2012.
As for the six years of so-called hard-won progress by Fox, well, from close up it looks more like six years of effort to elevate the image of Vicente Fox to heroic status. I don’t think there’s a better example of such a brilliant politican becomming such a failure as a statesman. The result of all his hard work was L√≥pez Obrador. He has to take responsibility for that, since what you like to call the ignorant masses would not vote against Fox’s party if they had more prosperity, or even the hope of more prosperity.
Of course Mexicans are not “anti american”. There’s a reason why they go the the US and that reason is the failure of the Fox government to create an economy that would give them hope.
Nov 24, 2007 - 3:35 am 2. AJ Kaufman:I don’t think it’s as simple as saying “wealth” and wealth only is why some Latinos can come here and succeed. How did my in-laws, who are middle-class here at best, get the means to move here? What was the focus of the conference? EDUCATION. When my fiancee’s Italian grandfather left Italy after the Second World War, as the cliche goes, he had nothing literally. Nor did her Spanish ancesotrs when they fled the barbarism of Europe. They educated themselves, and thru generations, succeeded in relocating to the fairest, freest country the world has ever know—despite what the media says. So remove the ignornace, poverty and hatred via education, and very slow progress will ultimately be realized. But you cannot do that with socialist, populist leaders. And you surely cannot do that when the Western Media is apologizing for these rogue men, and going out of their way—in a dishonest style that only the BBC and CNN know how—to avoid boosting up America and avoid mentioning how few Latinos actually respect the Castros and Chavezes of the world.
As I type this from a small hotel room in the rural Appalachian hills of Southern Kentucky, do you think the people here are not dirt poor? They are. And do you think a lot of them go to college? Well, more and more each generation, but not a great deal. But with out of class “qualitative” education (if you will), religion, morals, parental guidance and astute avoidance of left wing media, they know what America can offer them. And they take advantage of it via the National Guard, community college and do not abuse welfare or turn angry without first looking at themselves. People in Colombia and other South American countries do that, but it’s not easy. We can help, but we need all members on board. This conference was a great start. These South Americans want everyone to have opportunities. Their leaders, and our far left, anti-american media (Hollywood, George Soros, John Edwards, et al) surely do NOT. They just want votes and adulation. It’s the Jesse Jackson syndrome and we need to curtail it.
Nov 24, 2007 - 6:39 am 3. Iv√°n:I support America from Argentina, but it’s true a lot of people hate your country roundhere.
But don’t worry, I think is a matter of envy and ressentiment. You are a great country and should avoid listening whatever other envious people say.
America, eres un gran país!!!
Nov 24, 2007 - 8:12 am 4. Edmund Jenks (MAXINE):… and then there is this item from TownHall:
WASHINGTON — After Congress recessed for Thanksgiving with urgent unfinished business that included facilitating income tax refunds and providing veterans benefits, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid left on an eight-day government-financed trip through Latin America.
Reid was scheduled to leave the Sunday after Thanksgiving and return the following Sunday. His itinerary included Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Paraguay. His staff told this column Reid made the trip because of “stagnant” U.S. policy in Latin America under the Bush administration.
Does anyone think that this will advance the cause to combat anti-American attitudes to the South?
What is unfortunate is that Harry Reid has opinions closer to Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, and Rafael Correa than most of us would like to admit.
Nov 24, 2007 - 8:26 am 5. buck smith:The Latin American countries are held back by something cultural related to one or more likely all three of Spanish governance, Catholic influence and Native American practices.
Nov 24, 2007 - 8:55 am 6. gcblues:MAXINE
you make a good point and so does the article above.
1. it is the same in the USA. almost half of all Americans hate America. duh. they see it’s past as sordid and evil and it’s future needing to become more socialist.
2. public, or government education is EXACTLY the number one problem in all of the Americas. unionized political power in pseudo teacher hands has proved disastrous everywhere. unionized government employees that know nothing of private sector wealth creation certainly can never prepare students for any future except further state dependence.
i am an ex pat, i own property and live in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. it is rare that a week goes by down here without one strike or another. all the schools here teach communism. this is even true in Costa Rica where the anti free trade socialist movement is led by government teachers and professors. in Nicaragua public schools teach the history of the cold war, the wonders of Fidel, and the benevolence of Che. they also teach that the USA is evil. they have no idea of the history of the USA and the liberty of man. they cosnider rights, or derechos as what is owed to them by the state. money, food, homes, health care … those are rights here. Daniel’s power base is the government employees that he caters to. add this to the racism taught from home and the low level education even graduates have and you have, you have, well you have exactly what you have in the USA. increasing ignorance and a desire for free stuff and a hatred of anyone successful and the desire to kill the rich. you ban public schools from the world and socialism will disappear.
Nov 24, 2007 - 9:19 am 7. RSM:The parallels between Latin America’s problem in educating its populace and, say, the similar problem in the Middle East are eye opening. If one doesn’t believe substandard education breeds poverty and dependence all they have to do is look at any urban area in the US. Lack of educational opportunities may not be the sole culprit, but I suspect it is the primary contributor.
It’s interesting that vouchers “were shown to serve as the most prominent way to expedite quality education in Latin America.” I long for the day when Americans wake up and see that vouchers are the way to go in the States.
Nov 24, 2007 - 10:44 am 8. Edmund Jenks (MAXINE):Hear! Hear!
Nov 25, 2007 - 8:55 am 9. BMoon:As an ex-pat residing in Mexico for twenty years, I second some of the comments. Most anti-Americanism I experience stems from two sources – 1.) unacknowledged and imperialistic policies from the past, that are, incredibly, unknown of by most Americans, and 2.) abject ignorance because of an inept, corrupt, and biased education system in LA.
A couple of anecdotes to make my point: Last month a group was visiting us here and as we toured the city we drove past the Convento de Churrobusco, where the US Army under Gen. Winfield Scott finished up on the Mexican Army after a two pronged invasion from the north and east in an unprovoked war instigated by southern “Filibuster” congressional agitators looking to increase slave states. Ulysses Grant, a lieutenient at the time, called it the “most shameful act” in US history, regretting his participation in it. But many US citizens. like my friends on the bus, know nothing about this war that raped mexico and stole one half of its land from them. We forget. Mexicans don’t. The mexican-American War, while a sidebar in most US history courses, is a defining event in US-Mexican relations and perspectives even today.
The other anecdote points to a hopeful solution. Here in Mexico City, there are many Chilean political refugees from the Pinochet coup d’etat. One of them is a new member of my church here. Last month she came up to me and my wife and said, “I have a testimony for you two – my husband and I were militant Communists and atheists. Because of the 1973 American imperialist participation in the golpe de estado, I hated Americans. Nobody ever would have thought, much less myself, that I would end up, as I stand here today, a new Christian, and with American pastors whom I love. Only God can do that!”
Nov 25, 2007 - 10:42 pm 10. Ari Kaufman:The history lesson is appreciated. I know about that battle and unfortunate episode very well, and agree that 98% of Americans not only do not know but have never heard of Winfield Scott. Heck, most college kids don’t know who Milton Friedman or Neville Chamberlain was. I don’t know that the average 23 year-old Mexicano remembers Mr. Scott all that well, however. Scott also commanded forces in FIVE wars (over more than half a century) and was very respected, so I don’t think ill of him certainly.
Well put though. And I agree with your ending.
However, I’d also like to note that EVERY major power has skeletons in the closet, and America surely has the least.
Nov 26, 2007 - 6:13 am 11. BMoon:Ari,
So then let’s look a little closer to home. Considering the historical context, think of what it means for a Mexican to see the retailing giants and food purveyors invade and take over almost every block – McDonald’s, Burger King, Strabucks, Walmart, CostCo..ETC., ETC. Think of what they think when they know that, while the same prices are charged for their products, the wages paid are more than half as less. Don’t get me wrong. I have been an Austrian school enthusiast from my youth (well aware and supportive of the fact that Milton Friedman went to Chile to support the Pinochet regime – a detail I left out of my chat with the Chilean ex-socialist church member.)
My last point was indicating that, as DeTocqueville pointed out with democracy and morality/religion, capitalism without morality and social justice, to paraphrase Einstein, is lame.
Nov 26, 2007 - 7:27 am 12. Mark:“what it means for a Mexican to see the retailing giants and food purveyors invade and take over almost every block ”
In wealthy areas only.
Maybe one should also think what it means for Americans to see illegal aliens invade and take over almost every block of neighborhoods from coast to coast….
Nov 26, 2007 - 11:30 am 13. PDK:As a minor student of the English language I found it most interesting to note a dictionary entry attributing the roots of the term “populism” to a term in useage in about 1890-95, to wit: “Americanism.”
I am certainly no fan of Hugo Chavez, but it seems abundantly clear to me that as, at least relatively speaking, fat cat Gringos it’s difficult for us to grasp the poverty prevalent in much of Latin America, which engenders envy and desparation.
Nov 26, 2007 - 11:53 am 14. Ari:To respond to BMoon, true, esp re Milton and the Chicago Boys no doubt, but I hardly think the average Mexican should complain about fast food/capitalism, when in fact it IS another form of employment, revenue, etc.
Mark, exactly. When you have a busted water pipe in your house, do you first plug the hole then call the plumber or do you think, debate, ponder whether you’re being “insensitive” and then decide? Needless to say, astute folks do the latter.
And to PDK, well, that’s a lefty stance. I assure you that NO ONE here understands the poverty there, especially the liberal elite, but we do know that those who flee those nations—surely not all of whom are wealthy or educated—appreciate America and loathe Chavez. They also tend to be patriotic and vote Republican as they know the horrors of populism, socialism and communism.
Nov 26, 2007 - 12:24 pm 15. BMoon:So do not apologize for him is such a coy way, especially from the comforts of your American (coastal?) home.
Mark ( and Ari),
American businesses are not just in wealthy areas, as here economic stratas are pretty much mixed up anyway. 7-11’s are popping up everywhere. As for the illegals, I agree wholeheartedly, and use that very argument with my Mexican friends. It usually leaves them as contemplative as a Trappist monk. It does not, however deny the appearance of American comercial imperialism, which does not necesarily bring new jobs, but just replaces them -Mexican companies or small businesses for huge American conglomerates.
Nov 26, 2007 - 1:52 pm 16. Clark Baker:Educated populations are harder to control than uneducated ones. That’s why competing ideologies target education to destroy thriving democracies.
Children who grow up poor and uneducated often rely on emotional cues rather than intellectual ones. So when the lights dim in Egypt, Syria, or New Orleans, they’re more likely to blame Jews and George Bush for the tyrannical mediocrity they endure. Tyrannical governments cannot survive without uneducated laborers, which is why primitive Muslim governments restrict education. But this is not a recent invention.
Democrats outlawed black education because they feared the loss of control over their slaves. When Republicans forced the end of slavery in 1865, Democrats used racial segregation to slow black education. And when Republicans forced the end of segregation in 1954, Democrats turned our public schools into asylums, far from the private schools that their own children attend.
Today, K-12 education in America is far below that of many poorer democracies – and many of our universities are headed in the same direction.
This might explain why Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Zawahiri and many Democrats share a mutual respect for one another, and ignore the pro-democracy students and activists who risk their lives demanding freedoms that uneducated Americans now take for granted.
Because I lived, worked, and traveled around the world, I know that there is much more to Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela than their saber-rattling dictators. I know little about Democrats like Pelosi, Spielberg, or Penn, but we get a pretty good idea from the people they associate with – and from a good understanding of their party’s history.
Nov 26, 2007 - 3:03 pm 17. Clark Baker:As if on cue, the LA Daily News reports that Democrat activism has gained prominence in the former Republican stronghold of the San Fernando Valley. Is it coincidence that school performance has been in a freefall during the past 40 years?
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7557724?source=email&_requestid=4129009
Nov 26, 2007 - 3:29 pm 18. Ari:As a former Valley resident and one who went to grad school there, that’s an interesting article. Compared to West LA, the Valley may have once been conservative, but please, it’s So Cal; it’s been left leaning for decades.
As for the content, what is so “progressive” about that? Where are the articles about conservative grass roots movements like the blogosphere, talk radio or the new GOP mayor of Indianapolis?
http://spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12335
And further, if you look at Baker’s comments, he shows the left is anything but progressive in terms of its history. With Brown Univ and others asking for reparations, the welfare states, and the strict status quo at all times in public education, they are the antithesis of “progressive.” Same party, new foolish term. Howard Dean is the main culprit. What he has done to that party is appalling. Ask Joe Lieberman.
Nov 27, 2007 - 9:39 am 19. AJK:I’m still laughing at how long and uninteresting that LA Daily News piece was. Looks like that paper, once right-leaning, has moved left. If I know Weinkopf is still their editor, this might be the case as he, once a staunch TNR conservative, backed out of the pro war camp long ago.
But again, a bunch of college hooligans passing out fliers for some rich left wing candidate is hardly grassroots, in comparison to the little shack a block over from my office here in downtown Indy that won a mayoral race:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Ballard_%28mayor%29
(Greg) Ballard was outspent in the campaign. As late as October 14, he had run no TV ads.[4] An October 19 campaign finance report showed that Peterson had raised $1.5 million since April, and still had that much to spend. Comparatively, Ballard only had $51,000 left, meaning that Peterson had 30 times the funds Ballard had during the last three weeks of the campaign.[5]
On November 6, 2007, Ballard won the race to become mayor of Indianapolis, despite having a meager $300,000 in campaign funds and low name recognition when he began the race.[6] In comparison, Peterson already had $2.9 million in April (Ballard had $9,560 at the time).[7] Unhappiness with rapidly increasing taxes and crime were seen as the biggest reasons for Peterson’s defeat. Republicans also recaptured control of the City-County Council for the first time in four years. In his acceptance speech, Ballard told the audience he considers this campaign “the classic, if not the ultimate, example of grassroots politics!”[8]
Nov 27, 2007 - 10:27 am