Andres Oppenheimer, columnist for the Miami Herald, and a native of Argentina, has an interesting perspective on the Maradona-led rally against the visit of George Bush to Argentina this week:
It’s sad to see that Argentina’s left, which suffered a dictatorship only three decades ago, can’t protest against Bush without embracing Castro. They seem to have forgotten that there is no such thing as a good dictator.
It sets a bad precedent for this country: Today they admire Castro, tomorrow they may embrace another ”savior of the fatherland” who could jail peaceful oppositionists at home.
I’m certainly no supporter of Bush and I’m not a fan of Castro, either. And I’m going to try not to comment on Peron, who is still very admired in this country. But Argentina’s history is full of authoritarian governments and it seems that the climate here is right for another one to develop.
November 3rd, 2005 at 8:34 pm
Hey Jeff – Glad to see you’re back to posting here. I began to wonder if you had packed up & left San Telmo 🙂
I’m not sure I get your point here. Most ppl don’t admire Castro for what he’s done in Cuba but for his constant stance against the US. When Castro spoke here a few years ago, I went to see what he had to say… he was a bit more lucid then. But the crowd was full of young, idealistic law students & the assorted anarchist. Not much of a support base. But more than anything else, after the last dictatorship I doubt that anyone would willingly turn the government over to an authoritarian regime.
Kirchner’s recent electoral sweep gave him – as Carrió said – a blank check to do with as he pleases. Since he’s center-left, I don’t see the pendulum swinging back to the right any time soon. Other evidence would be the government change of Dec 2001 – for the most part peaceful & inspired by De La Rua announcing a state of emergency… no one wanted the police to run around unchecked, saqueos or no.
At least that’s what I like to believe 🙂
November 3rd, 2005 at 9:50 pm
Hi Robert…I’m more concerned about the long-term than the immediate future. Part of the point is that authoritarian governments and elected dictatorships are not always right-wing.
My thoughts on this are quite complex, not easily expressed in a few sentences (particularly since I’m rather left-leaning myself). Eventually I’ll get around to writing an essay on the topic.
November 4th, 2005 at 8:38 am
Well, it’s certainly true that however you want to label Kirchner, he still uses the same tried-and-true tactics.
I’d definitely be interested in hearing your POV… I’m about as left as they come. Almost…