THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Chile's new leader vows to speak out for democracy
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com
Chile's president-elect Sebastian Piñera, the right-of-center
billionaire who is scheduled to chair the 23-country Rio Group of Latin
American nations, sounds like he will not be shy about pushing for the
collective defense of democratic freedoms in Venezuela, Cuba and other
autocratic countries.
In his first interview with a foreign journalist, Piñera told me that
once he takes office on March 11, he will follow Chile's traditional
foreign policy of noninterference in other countries affairs, and said
his priority will be seeking closer ties with Argentina, Peru and Bolivia.
But when asked if he will be more vocal in speaking out for fundamental
freedoms in Venezuela and Cuba, he responded with a resolute ``Yes.''
``Prudence is a virtue that presidents must practice, but so is
frankness,'' Piñera said. ``I believe that Cuba is not a democracy, and
I also think that human rights are not respected in Cuba. . . . That's
why, as president of Chile, I aspire to do as much as I can to seek that
the Organization of American States Charter and the OAS mandate to
defend democracy and human rights be made more effective.''
Piñera, a Harvard Ph.D in economics who opposed the dictatorship of Gen.
Augusto Pinochet, noted the OAS Democratic Charter does not effectively
allow member countries' legislative or judicial branches to seek
regional support when under assault by autocratic leaders.
He vowed to push for these changes within the Rio Group, which Chile
will chair for two years starting later this month. The group, in which
Cuba plays an active role, was created in 1986 as a Latin American
consultation group to discuss regional issues without the United States.
STATION SHUTOWN
Asked about the Venezuelan government's recent move to shut down RCTV
television's cable station, Piñera said, ``I can have my opinion, but I
won't interfere with other countries' internal affairs. But I will
always defend, very forcefully, the values of democracy, freedoms and
human rights.''
It sounds like you are defending two principles that contradict one
another, I told him. When forced to choose between noninterference and
the collective defense of democracy, where will you stand? I asked.
• Piñera: ``Definitely, I will always be on the side of the defense of
democracy and human rights, which by the way, is a commitment that all
Latin American countries have made in the OAS Charter, which
specifically states that it is the responsibility of all countries to
defend democracy and human rights across the hemisphere,'' he said.
• Asked whether he would travel to Cuba and not meet with members of the
peaceful opposition, as outgoing President Michelle Bachelet did last
year, Piñera said, ``Diplomatic relations are neither conducted among
people nor governments, but are conducted among countries. One doesn't
only go to countries that share all of one's points of view. One can
also visit countries with which one has differences. But if I were to go
to Cuba, I definitely would have an enormous interest in being able to
also meet with people who don't share the Cuban government's views. I
have visited Cuba on some occasions, and I have always met with the
dissidents.''
• Asked about his priorities on the domestic front, he said that ``the
big goal we have set for ourselves is that within eight years, by 2018,
Chile becomes perhaps the first country in Latin America that with great
pride, but also with humbleness, will be able to say, `We have defeated
underdevelopment. We have defeated poverty.' Chile today has a per
capita income of about $14,400 [a year], and we hope to reach to $24,000
by 2018. . . . If we manage to grow at 6 percent a year, which is our
goal, we will be able to become a developed country by 2018.''
MORE EFFECTIVE
My opinion: I have always admired the center-left leaders that have
ruled Chile for the past 20 years. They have been democratic, and they
have proven to be much more effective in reducing poverty than the
narcissist-Leninist demagogues of Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
The secret of Chile's success has been that its left-of-center
presidents, instead of turning everything upside down and leading
autocratic ``revolutions,'' have stayed the course, each one building
upon the good policies they inherited from their predecessors.
Piñera's biggest challenge as Chile's first center-right president in
two decades will be doing precisely that: building upon what has worked,
instead of coming with a bulldozer and trying to reinvent the wheel. If
he does that, he has extraordinary academic and business skills to meet
his goal of turning Chile into a First World country by 2018. And if he
meets his vow to work harder than Bachelet for the collective defense of
democracy in the hemisphere, that would be a great plus. Unless
democratic presidents start speaking out more forcefully against attacks
on fundamental freedoms in neighboring countries, they will be creating
dangerous precedents for the break of democratic rule in their own
countries.
For a transcript of key portions of the 45-minute interview, check
www.miamiherald.com
Chile's new leader vows to speak out for democracy - Andres Oppenheimer
- MiamiHerald.com (14 February 2010)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/andres-oppenheimer/story/1479531.html
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