I'm just finishing up Guide To The Perfect Latin American Idiot (Idiot), by Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, Carlos Alberto Montaner and Alvaro Vargas Llosa.
In Chapter Three, the authors discuss how the Latin American Idiot's Bible (Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano of Uraguay) suggests on page 13 that; "The strength of the imperialist system as a whole rests on the necessary inequality of it's parts, and this inequality assumes ever more dramatic dimensions. (p. 13)"
To my delight The Bahamas was used as an example to refute this idiotic sentiment. They tell us:
"By definition, almost every community now in existence can find its own survival niche, since if this were the case the community would not exist. What country in the Americas - aside from Canada and the United States - has the highest income in the New World? Answer: The Bahamas. A few small islands with sand and palm trees placed by God in the Caribbean, inhabited by 200,000 dark-skinned people who receive a few million visitors each year..."
Published in 1996, Idiot, had no idea how the institutions promoted in the book; the rule of law, free markets, education, comparative advantage and sound monetary policy etc would be under the threat the way they are today in The Bahamas. But it proves the point that the new leaders emerging in Latin America today like Chavez and others that mimic Cuba's Castro, are really not helping the poor in their countries. It's merely their grab for power.
'Nough said for now. Please buy the book.
Read Alvaro Vargas Llosa's recent essay, The Return of The Idiot here... at Foreign Policy Magazine.
Buy the book here...
