Even before Hugo Chavez revealed he is battling cancer,
his political star was on the wane in Latin America. More and more, voters in
the region have simply realized that class warfare, polarization, and
centralization of power are not prescriptions for economic growth and political
stability. (As a case in point, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, a one-time
Chavez acolyte, couldn't run away fast enough from the Venezuelan leader during
his recent successful campaign - even if he had no qualms about taking Chavez's
cash.)
Still, the fading appeal of the Chavista model
is of cold comfort to those still suffering under radical populist rule
elsewhere in the region. Specifically, in Ecuador, Rafael Correa continues to
trample democratic institutions, although regrettably nowhere to be found is
any expression of concern by the Obama administration.
In late July, in a "trial" that lasted less than a
day, a cowed Ecuadorean judge sentenced prominent newspaper columnist Emilio
Palacio and three of the directors of his newspaper, El Universo, to
three years in prison and fined them $40 million for publishing a column
critical of Correa last February.
The defendants said they will appeal -- but so did
Correa. He says he wants the full $80 million in damages he requested when he
filed his defamation suit.
"We're making history, my friends, we
won't retreat," he said after the verdict. "There's
no room for magnanimity in the face of such miserable humanity."
Even as Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, and every major international media defense organization
denounced the verdict, nary a word of concern has been expressed by the Obama
administration.
Intimidating the media and using the judicial system
to quash freedom of freedom expression are hallmarks of Chavismo, ones
that Correa has embraced with relish. He has sued, fined, and seized control of
numerous outlets since his rise to power in 2007. Where the government once
owned one media outlet, under Correa it now controls
19 television and radio stations and newspapers.
It gets worse. Last May, Correa won a referendum vote
granting him the power to restrict media ownership and to create a government
oversight body to regulate "excesses" in the media under threat of sanction.
Moreover, the same referendum gives Correa the right
to restructure Ecuador's judicial system by overseeing a commission that will
select new judges, compromising the entire integrity and independence of the
system. Until then, any presently sitting judge who hopes to have a job in the
future is rather unlikely to cross the president - as in, reversing the El
Universo verdict on appeal.
Of course, expressions of concern from Washington are
unlikely to discourage Correa from his destructive, anti-democratic course
(just days ago, he threatened to dissolve
Congress and call new elections if his candidate wasn't
elected to head the assembly; his candidate won), but they do matter.
Contrary to what most professional leftists in the
region want you to believe, most Latin Americans do want good relations with
the United States, for a whole range of reasons - economic, family, education,
among others - and it registers when those relations are seen to be off-kilter.
Struggling democrats, as well, rely on expressions of solidarity from the
United States to sustain their courageous efforts.
The sun may be setting on Chavismo in Latin
America, but that's no excuse for inaction. Rebuilding democratic institutions
will take a lot longer than bringing them down. The Obama administration needs
to have a policy of making sure the situation doesn't get worse before it gets
better.
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