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1
EIGHT
POLITICS POWER
INSTITUTIONS
ND CTORS
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i
1
Power
moves
politics
in
Latin America,
and
naked
power
often rules. As we
suggested
in Chapter
5, politics in Latin America has to do
with
powerful
political
and
economic actors.
Powerful politicos (and
the ocassional
politica)
have
dominated
most Latin
American
societies since classical
Mayan and
Aztec times. Dictators
such as Santa Anna in
Mexico,
Juan Peron in r-
; ;
gentina, and Anastasio Somoza
in Nicaragua have ruled
absolutely. Oli-
garchies
such as
the
fourteen
families
in
El
Salvador
have
dominated
poli-
tics
and brutally suppressed
those
who
challenged them. Military
juntas
have monopolized power, cancelled elections, imprisoned
and
sometimes
eliminated the opposition,
and ruled
for decades. The military
and other
groups
have
ignored constitutions and seized power forcefully, as when the
Chilean military
bombed
the presidential palace
to overthrow
Salvador Al-
lende in 1973.
And power
can also
come
from the mobilized masses,
demon-
strations,
or
general strikes
that
force a
government out
of office
or
a dicta-
tor to resign. There have
been more than
200 extra constitutional assumptions
of power in Latin America since the republics became independent. Indeed,
it
has
been
the constellation of
power
and
not
constitutional constraints
that
has conditioned the conduct of politics
during most
of Latin American his-
tory.
It
is the
powerful individual, group,
institution,
or party that most
of-
ten
rules.
Only
those who
know
how to use
power
can be serious players.
Yet as Latin American societies
have become more
complex, those
who
rule
do
so through
the
apparatus
of the state
and
its interaction
with
polit-
ical parties, political movements, individuals, and interest groups. Those
who aspire to
power must
take
over the apparatus of the
state
and use
it to
rule. This can
be done
by a
coup
d'etat, a
fraudulent
election, a political
agreement among
political
or
economic elites to
share power, or
a relatively
honest
election
with
some real political competition.
However
the state ap-
paratus
is taken over,
any
discussion
of the
nature
of political systems in
Latin America
must
begin
with
a realiza tion of the greater role
that has been
177
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78 Politics o Latin America
traditionally assigned to the state, particularly as compared to classical mod
els of liberalism. John Locke and other classical liberal thinkers believed
that
the
best
government was
that
government
that
governed
least. They
were
reacting to that absolutist configuration of the state that monarchies like
Spain
used
to rule domestically and over their colonies in the sixteenth, sev
enteenth, and eighteenth centuries. Yet it was precisely this absolutist state
that served as the model for Latin American rule.
ts
use
and
misuse
in
Latin
America
have been
quite different than the way the liberal state developed
in Great Britain or the United States.
When the Latin American nations gained their independence in the early
nineteenth
century there
was
a serious struggle over the political forms that
would be adopted by the newly independent nations. During the colonial
period
the region experienced different forms of authoritarian rule and state
absolutism. The traditional elites who retained power, now independent
from Madrid and Lisbon,
had
little if any democratic experience. Indeed,
since the conception of the state
that was
projected from
Madrid or
Lisbon
was
absolutist during the colony, the elites had to find informal, noninsti
tutional and not institutionalized , more personalistic ways to assert their
authority and
adapt
to local conditions. They were short on practical
democratic models. Indeed, after independence, several countries experi
mented with monarchical and/or dictatorial rule.
The
constitutional structures of
the newly
independent states
were nom
inally democratic and modeled on the liberal constitutions of France, the
United States, and
the
Spanish liberal const itut ion of 1812. Yet political prac
tice
and
political culture tended to be
authoritarian
and absolutist, even for
committed democrats like Simon Bolivar. Gradually, new groups emerged
and democratic practice engendered more democratic and less absolutist at
titudes-although
the latter have persisted to the present day. As a result,
a
strange hybrid
resulted. Most countries
adopted
a republican, democratic
form of government,
but
in reality traditional
authoritarian patterns
were
most often
employed
by the elites
and
suffrage was
very
limited. In the cen
tury
and
a half after independence, suffrage
was gradually
expanded,
but
there was frequent reversion to
authoritarian
politics and elitist, if
not
dic
. tatorial, rule. Much of the course of Latin American history has
been
an al
ternation between
the
authoritarian tendencies that were acquired during
colonial and even pre-colonial times
and
the democratic ideas and ideals
that were interjected at the time of independence. Democracy has been gain
ing ground in recent years,
but
reversions to authoritarian rule are frequent
and decision-making practices continue to reflect the authori tarian aspects
of
the
political culture.
onstitutions
Jurisprudence is a highly developed art in Latin America. Legal docu
ments are beautifully
written
and comprehensive. Latin American con
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Politics Power Institutions and Actors
/79
stitutions
are
no
exceptions.
They tend
to
be
long,
detailed,
flowery
documents with a large number of articles (the
Mexican
constitution'
j
of
1917
has
well over
100 articles)
covering
a
great many
specific
situa
tions. As such,
they frequently need to be
modified
or replaced.
Based
on code law, they are
not
open to case-based interpretation, as is the case
with Anglo Saxon
case law. Nor is legal
precedent part
of the judicial
system. Constitutions have historically been more a norm to strive
ward
than a strict
basis
for the rule of law. Presidential power and pre
;;1.
rogative
are often more important than
specific
constitutional provisions
is
I
or
prohibitions.
• I
ike
the
idealism of Don Quijote that
permeates
the culture, Latin
ican constitutions represent
an
ideal
to which
those
who govern and are
"
..
governed aspire. There
have been
times
and
places in Latin American his-
tory where they have been carefully followed (Costa Rica
from
1950 to the
present, Uruguay
and
Chile in
the
1960s),
but they
are frequently subordi
nated
to
the power
of the
strong
executive, dictator,
or
military
junta. Those
who
rule
have
and use
power and
are less likely to be constrained by
the
constitution or other legal codes, although
they may pay
lip service to them.
Like Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s, they are more likely to find
ways
to massage the courts
and the
constitution to achieve desired policy
::.:-:
results. The political tradition in most of Latin America is of strong-man
"
rule and the
subordination
of law
and the
courts to
the
executive
and other
powerful
political
and
economic actors. T he concept of the
rule
of
law and
I
f.
".
- . : , j
.\
protection of the individual against the arbitrary
power
of
the
state (through
government)
that
classical liberals from
Hobbes on espouse
is
not
well
de
' :;
veloped
in most of Latin America. Rather, power and the powerful have
'
"
'
generally ruled.
Only in recent decades have supreme courts become apt at delimiting
presidents' interpretations of what is permissible
under the
constitution.
I t
should
be noted, however,
that
the process of democratization
based on
Western concepts of classical liberal democracy that has recently spread
through the
region has strengthened democratic aspects of political cultu re
in all countries where it is practiced and has begun to place a greater em-
phasis
on
the
subordination
of power
and
the
powerful
to the law. None-
theless, practice is often contradictory. In 2000 the Chilean Supreme Court
stripped
former President Augusto Pinochet of his congressional immunity
so
he
could
be
tried for
human
rights violations during his
brutal
dictator-
ship-as had
been the case earlier for a former general
who
ruled Argentina
during
the Dirty
War-but Peruvian president
Alberto Fujimori
was inau
gurated for his third term after fraudulent elections were held after he forced
the
Peruvian
Supreme Court
to
exempt him
from a constitutional prohibi-
tion against third terms.
Like the constitution
in the United
States, Latin American constitutions
almost universally created three branches of government: executive, leg-
islative, and judicial. However, very rarely are they coequal-even in the
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180 Politics
o Latin
merica
constitutions. Two realities common to
Latin
American
systems are
a
grant-
ing of
greater
power to
the
executive branch over
the
legislative branch and
the general lack of
significant judicial review.
Further, while most Latin
American constitutions
contain
a significant
listing of
human, civil, and po -
litical rights, they also include provisions
whereby
those rights can
be
sus-
pended in an emergency or
time
of crisis by the executive. A state of
siege
estado de sitio)
or state of
emergency
may be invoked by most
Latin Ameri-
can
presidents (usually
with
the consent of the legislature) for a given pe-
riod of
time
usually ranging from thirty to ninety days. t allows
the presi-
dent
to
suspend
most constitutional guarantees, such as freedom of speech
and
assembly
and habeas corpus, and to legislate
by
decree.
After
the ini-
tial
period runs
out, it may
be renewed.
This
has
often
been an avenue
by
which presidents acquired
dictatorial
powers. Latin American
constitutions
are also often
contradictory
on
the question
of
the
military,
asserting in one
place the primacy of the civilian rule but in another granting the military a
special responsibility for
protecting national sovereignty
and
maintaining
domestic order.
Like Continental
law, the legal
systems in
Latin
America are based on
code law. Most analysts of Latin American constitutions
and
laws stress
that
the systems are based not on the flexible notions of British cornmon
law
but
rather
on strict
interpretation
of
extensive
legal codes.
Rather
than building
on
a series of
case
law decisions, Latin American
law
is deductive. This code
based law has its
origin
in Roman law, Catholic traditions, and the
Napoleonic
Code
that
have
long
dominated
the region. The influence of o -
man traditions can be traced to
the
long Roman domination
of
the
Iberian
peninsula,
which
left
more than
just its language. This tradition
emphasized
the importance
of
a comprehensive, written
law
that is applicable every-
where, in contrast
to
the medieval traditions
of law on which
the English
system is based,
with
its
emphasis on
limits.
What
was
clearly
missing from
the Iberian
ideas
of
law transported to
the
New World were
the notions
of
social contract developed in the English ideas of Hobbes and Locke,
which
laid
the groundwork for
the
idea of a rule of law based on
the
consent of
the governed.
John Peeler argues that another feature of Latin American constitutional-
ism
drawn from earlier
traditions
is corporatism.
In contrast to the
more
in-
dividualist ideas
of
the
social con tract, the Iberian tradition is more corpo -
ratist, with a
great
emphasis on the sociability
of humans
and
their
collectivity. Latin American constitutions
are more
likely to acknowledge
the
legitimacy of
the interests
of collective groups than of
individuals.
t is
therefore interesting
that in contemporary
Latin American politics the strug-
gle is often over which groups should have
their
interests acknowledged.
For
example,
some of
the constitutions
(Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and
Mexico) specifically acknowledge the rights of indigenous groups, children,
senior citizens,
workers,
women,
and
so on. (See Tables 14 and 15 on
women s political rights.)
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I .lble
14.
Women s Constitutional Guarantees
(
ountry
Legal
Text
Argentina
Political constitution of 1994
Il"livia
Political constitution of 1967
Brazil
Federal constitution
of
1988
and
state constitutions
of 1989
('hile
Political constitution of 1980
Cnlombia
Political constitution of 1991
('osta Rica' Political const ituti on of 1949
Cuba Political const itut ion
of
1976
Dominican
Political constituti on of 1966
Republic
~ c u d o r
Political constitution of 1979
I
}
•
I
Salvador
Political constitution of 1983
(;uatemala
Political constitution of 1985
\
Honduras Political const itution of 1965
!
Mexico Political constitution of 1917
Nicaragua
Political constitution of 1987
Panama
Political constitution of 1972
Paraguay
Political constitution of 1992
Peru
Political constitution of 1993
Uruguay Political constituti on
of
1967
Venezuela Political const itut ion
of 1961
Statement
of Equality
All inhabitants are
equal
before the law.
No
privileges of
blood or birth
are recognized,
nor personal exceptions
nor
titles of nobility.
All
human
beings enjoy guarantees
and
rights
regardless of race, gender, language,
religion, or any other form of
discrimination.
Men and women are equal
in
rights
and
obligations.
Men
and
women are equal in rights
and
obligations.
Men
are
born
free
and equal
in dignity
and
rights.
All people enjoy the same rights, without
discrimination
based on gender
or other
reasons.
All
men are equal
before the law
and
cannot
commit
any
discrimination contrary to
human
dignity.
Women
enjoy the same rights as men,
Does not expressly relate the equality of rights
between women and
men.
Women have the same rights
and
opportunities as men.
All people are equal before the law.
Men
and women
have the same opportunities
and
responsibilities.
All
Hondurans
are equal. Any discrimination
based
on
gender is prohibited.
Men and women
are
equal
before the law.
All people are equal. Discrimination based
on
birth, race, nationality, origin,
or other
factors is prohibited.
There
are no personal
exceptions or privileges,
nor
discrimination by reason of gender,
race, social class, religion,
or
political beliefs.
Men and women have
equal rights. The sta te
should
concern itself with making equality a
reality
and with
facilitating the participa tion
of
women
in all a renas of national life,
No one should be discriminated against for
reasons of origin, gender, race, language,
religion,
or
other..
All
people are equal
before the law.
Discrimination
based on
gender, race, creed,
or social condition is prohibited.
The constitution of Costa Rica establishes that mothers, children, and the elderly enjoy special pro-
tection
by the state.
Source:
Statistical bstract
o
Latin America Vol.
35 (Los Angeles: UCLA,
1999).
181
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-.
182
Politics of Latin America
Table
15.
Women s Political Rights
Year Right
to
Vote
Right
to
Be
Chosen
through
Year
CEDAW*
Country
Granted Popular Election
Ratified
Argentina 1947
Since 1991, candidate lists for popular
elections
must
include
women in
a
minimum of 30 of elected positions.
Bolivia 1952
Same for men
and women.
1960
Brazil
1932 Same for men
and
women.
1984
Chile
1949 Same for men and women.
1989
Colombia
1954 Same for
men and
women.
1981
.
Costa Rica 1949 Same for men
and
women. 1984
Cuba 1934
Same for men
and women.
Dominican
1942 Same for
men
and women.
1982
Republic
Ecuador 1929 Same for
men and
women. 1981
The law establishes the obligatory
inclusion
of
25 of
women on
candidate lists in multiperson elections.
El
Salv ador 1950 Same for men and women.
1981
Guatemala 1945
Same for men
and
women.
1982
Honduras 1955
Same for men
and
women.
1983
Mexico 1953
Same for men
and
women.
Nicaragua 1955 Same for men
and
women.
Panama 1946
Same for
men and women.
1981
Paraguay
1961
Same for
men
and women.
1986
Peru
1955 Same for men and women.
1981
Uruguay
1932 Same for
men and
women.
1981
Venezuela 1947 Same for men and women.
1982
'Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted
y
the United Nations in
1979.
Source:
Mujeres Latinoamericanas en
Cifras,
1995,
pp 138-139, as cited in Statistical bstract of
Latin
America,
Vol.
35 (Los Angeles: UCLA, 1999).
nstitutions
THE
PRESIDENT
Latin American republics are based on the
strong
presidential form of gov
ernment. Chile
did
experiment
with
parliamentary
government
around the
tum of the twentieth century
but
has since
employed
presidential rule. Like
France, Haiti does have both a president and a prime minister, but most
power
resides with
the
president,
who
appoints the prime minister. The sin
gle most distinctive political feature of Latin American rule is the
power
of
the executive.
Contemporary
Latin American presidential power is deeply
rooted
in
the autocratic traditions of the colonial period. Presidential power
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i
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Elecciones Nacionales
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Sample ballot from the 1998 presidential election in Venezuela. Thirty-six different
parties competed, but Fifth Republic Movement candidate Hugo havez easily
won
the election with close to 6 percent of the vote.
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VALIDA PARAVOTAR