Salvadorean “leftists” and “rebels” are back in power.
Lovely. Now we get them elected. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the extreme right, extreme capitalism that was rampant in the region before, plus all the corruption, is slowly turning the region “pink” -I won’t dare to say red. Mostly, it is the legacy of lack of education, social mobility, economic oportunities… Of course, what we need, if you ask them, is “free market”, which means free of the regulations and laws that prevent national monopolies in the hands of few. Maybe is dissilussionment, maybe it is just plain old historical sarcasm. Most blame it on Hugo.
Salvador was being hailed as one of the potential Latin American tigers. It has the best infraestructure in the region. Also the highest costs and abject poverty. A wait and see attitude is tempered by the slow realization that a populist government has nowhere to go south of Nicaragua. Here we go again. Central America will be back in the headlines, like a deer caught in the headlights.
Icon, do you think perhaps a state sometimes reaches the point at which it needs a reset button? I think some states have managed to work themselves doggedly into a position of dysfunction from which they cannot possibly extricate themselves. They have ended up with a dysfunctional environment which produces, overwhelmingly, the kind of people who will live their entire lives in such a way as to ensure that the dysfunctional environment is perpetuated.
I do hope for the best -and that external forces, from the north or south, keep their paws out of an already unstable situation.
Actually, it might not be as bad as I thought. Too much money involved, I guess, but also some changes are necessary. It would be lovely to hit: RESET, but unfortunately, we have to live with teh effects of centuries old massacres and ethnic/social divisions.
If we can learn to push ahead in the same direction, maybe there is a chance. I fear that the groups that have held to power through brute force will attempt anything foolish, more than any of the more moderate -and tired, and discredited- rebels-wannabes can do. Populism we can stand to a certain point. Anyway, there is always a next time, next election.
I want to see Salvador as a Central American tiger, facing the future where everyone can participate in the economy. That is all we are asking for. Imagine if all the exiled Salvadoreans could invest -money and brains- in the country like the Taiwanese did in the 50s, 60s, 70s. However, this means many monopolic holds on business opportunities, based on pedigree more than knowledge, would have to be given up. And that, while plausible, is close to impossible. Nevertheless, there is always hope.