There's an interesting column by Andres Oppenheimer in today's Miami Herald. It asks if Mexican president Felipe Calderón can and should raise his voice against the thuggish antics of the red-shirted lunatic in chief of Venezuela, (T)Hugo Chavez. Oppenheimer thinks yes and with good reason.
Right now, Chávez seems to have the monopoly on Latin America's headlines. New York University professor Patricio Navia notes that while recent elections in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and other countries were won by the most pro-globalization candidate, nobody is consistently countering Chávez's daily anti-globalization tirades.
''Latin America is waiting for a spokesman for market-friendly policies,'' Navia told me this week. “Of all possible candidates, only Mexico's Felipe Calderón is in a position to assume that role.''
Calderón may become a regional leader by default, Navia says. Brazil's President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva cannot afford to antagonize his leftist constituency at home by openly squabbling with Chávez.
Argentine President Néstor Kirchner is hoping Venezuela will buy an additional $2 billion of Argentine bonds, on top of the $3.5 billion it has already purchased. Colombia's Alvaro Uribe is too bogged down in his country's armed conflict, and Chile's President Michele Bachelet is not showing much will to become a regional leader.
Costa Rican President and Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias has spoken out against radical populism, but his country is too small to make a big splash in the region.
Will Calderón carry the torch? On Jan. 26, Calderón noted that, unlike countries such as Venezuela, Mexico welcomes foreign investments.
When Chávez predictably replied by calling Calderón a ''caballerito'' (little man) ''subordinated to imperialism and world capitalism,'' Calderón rightly responded that countries should openly debate political issues ''without incurring personal attacks.'' His implicit message: If Chávez is entitled to speak his mind daily on world events, so am I.
Oppenheimer points out that the leftists inside Mexico's government as well as at least one former president have denounced Calderon's stance. And those denunciations will continue or worsen if Calderon allows himself to be cowed into silence. On the other hand if he keeps attacking Chavez's bad policies, he will be sending a positive message to the world's investment community. And he will become the regional voice to oppose Chavez's increasingly thuggish regime and its influence.
