morals and morales
so, many folks know that I lived in bolivia as a wee one, on and off for my first 5 years is the way I describe it, but really I think it was more like my first 4.
anyway, I've been following snr morales for a while now, both in the press (financial and otherwise) and via conversations with folks who've been there (most recently Tazhay, who has a bunch of photos on participatory democracy based there - among other places).
A lot of people talk a lot of smack about the new lean left in south america, but I'll point out that it's the law that people vote in bolivia, and for some that means hitchhiking for days to the nearest polling place. for american foreign policy to miss the implications of this is just incredible shortsightedness.
I do feel that much of american foreign policy/development/outreach is geared toward making suddenly appeared little americas (circa 2006) - it's just not reasonable.
as for snr morales' apparent course of action, I suspect he's overstepping on a sustainability front, but to justify that assessment I'd need a lot more than a blog post.
I do think that chavez's unasur free trade zone may actually be a better model for the developing world than NAFTA/WTO style arrangements. I'm not convinced unequally developed countries should partner equally, especially with regard to natural resources for which there is no domestic market - it smacks of theft, which is just what snr morales is reacting to. it just happens that chavez is offerring advice and perspective that fits better with that model than brazil or the US is (if that's based on his own self interest or some abstract bolivarian world view doesn't matter)
anyway, I've been following snr morales for a while now, both in the press (financial and otherwise) and via conversations with folks who've been there (most recently Tazhay, who has a bunch of photos on participatory democracy based there - among other places).
A lot of people talk a lot of smack about the new lean left in south america, but I'll point out that it's the law that people vote in bolivia, and for some that means hitchhiking for days to the nearest polling place. for american foreign policy to miss the implications of this is just incredible shortsightedness.
I do feel that much of american foreign policy/development/outreach is geared toward making suddenly appeared little americas (circa 2006) - it's just not reasonable.
as for snr morales' apparent course of action, I suspect he's overstepping on a sustainability front, but to justify that assessment I'd need a lot more than a blog post.
I do think that chavez's unasur free trade zone may actually be a better model for the developing world than NAFTA/WTO style arrangements. I'm not convinced unequally developed countries should partner equally, especially with regard to natural resources for which there is no domestic market - it smacks of theft, which is just what snr morales is reacting to. it just happens that chavez is offerring advice and perspective that fits better with that model than brazil or the US is (if that's based on his own self interest or some abstract bolivarian world view doesn't matter)
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