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Dispatches from Latin America | Author Article
CHÁVEZ: HE
DIDN'T DO IT ALONE
New York
City
[The Nation writer] Daphne Eviatar’s “Latin Left Turn” [Dec. 25, 2006] rightly points to the failed economic policies
of the so-called “Washington Consensus” as the principal root of Latin America’s
dramatic political shifts in recent years, culminating in the re-re-election of
Hugo Chávez.
However, she overstates Chávez’s influence in the energy
policies enacted by neighboring governments that seek to wrest greater
government control from private oil and gas companies. Eviatar suggests that Evo
Morales’s renegotiation of gas contracts in Bolivia and Rafael Correa’s “promise
to do the same” in Ecuador are the result of Chávez’s encouragement. Chávez has
certainly vocally supported these moves, but these policies were instigated by
years of massive mobilizations by these two countries’ predominantly indigenous
social movements.
Attributing Latin America’s hopeful political changes
to Chávez’s meddling echoes the many erroneous accounts in the mainstream media.
And it belittles the fact that these changes have been brought about from below
by ordinary citizens.
TEO BALLVÉ
Co-editor, Dispatches From Latin
America
EVIATAR
REPLIES
Brooklyn, NY
Teo Ballvé
is absolutely right: Both Bolivia and Ecuador have seen mass mobilizations in
recent years demanding that their leaders take over control of oil and gas
industries to insure they produce real benefits for the masses, not just the
elite. Still, there’s no question that Chávez’s bold moves in forcing major
multinational oil companies to renegotiate their contracts and return control of
the industry to the Venezuelan government have strongly influenced Evo Morales
in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador.
Chávez’s influence isn’t just
bluster: Venezuela has plenty of oil money Chávez can use to back it up. That’s
allowed him to provide cash, fuel and technical assistance to countries that
oppose US-promoted policies and could suffer reductions in foreign aid or World
Bank loans as a result. Chávez’s influence isn’t the reason leaders in Bolivia
and Ecuador want more control over their oil and gas industries; but he’s making
it a whole lot easier for them to follow through on their
promises.
DAPHNE EVIATAR
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