What Does Bolivia Teach the OAS?
The OAS can draw two critical lessons from Bolivia’s current crisis. The first is that democracy cannot be imposed or expected to function smoothly unless it is grounded in a country’s socio-economic reality and reflects it. Nothing in the proposed Declaration of Florida, including its measures calling on OAS members to apply almost-punitive sanctions on countries experiencing democratic set backs, would resolve the situation in Bolivia. Second, hemispheric countries would do well to stop confusing democracy with economic development. The rhetoric of the last fifteen years has created a clear link in the Latin American public’s mind between the adoption of democratic practices and rapid private sector-driven economic growth. While the two reinforce each other, democracy by itself does not create economic growth. Therefore serious attention needs to be given to expanding grassroots economic initiatives; these may necessarily fall beyond the fencing being staked out by the large trade ar
