“*I do not believe that you should punish the entire population by placing an embargo on Cuba.*”
Former President of Ecuador, Jamil Mahuad

Former President of Ecuador Jamil Mahuad visited the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this week to discuss how the next president should deal with the New Left in Latin America. Mahuad served as president from 1998 to 2000, when he was ousted in a military coup and rebellion.

Mahuad touched on a variety of issues speaking of the economic and political history of the region, and outlining the political fields ripening for the New Left.

In light of Fidel Castro recently resigning from his nearly 50 year reign as Cuban Dictator, Mahuad offered his advice on how to handle the new leadership.

He suggested that now is the time to lift the trade embargo with Cuba.

“I do not believe that you should punish the entire population by placing an embargo on Cuba,” Mahuad said.

He added that Cuba’s system can survive without him but conceded that perhaps it cannot succeed the way it is now, and advocates using any opportunity to engage in communication.

“My solution would be to open the channels of communication,” Mahuad said.

He next focused on the problems of Latin America, stressing its diversity, and that blanket policies that do not work for the region. Mahuad provided a great deal of background leading up to the present climate in the region.

The 1970s featured a large number of dictatorships, especially in South America. Mahuad cited the Cold War and its brutal rejection of communism as the root of this, leading to rampant abuses of civil rights in the region.

Moving into the 1980s, economic growth was minimal and this caused disaffection amongst the population. Mahuad further explained that a complete lack of economic growth coupled with an increase in population resulted in a growth of poverty.

As South America moved into the 1990s, Mahuad recalled that some American principles of privatization were applied, at the expense of the people. He mused that when some of the government services were privatized they served the poor rather poorly.

But even with privatization, he continued, they still were not growing economically and the political leaders kept trying to fix the situation by doing the same thing over and over.

Borrowing a quote, Mahuad stated that, “One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results.”

To help improve the economic climate in the region, Mahuad stressed that the first thing to do is bring attention to Latin America. He believes that trade is very important to the development of Latin American countries, and with ample reserves of oil, the potential for trade is strong.

“If we focus on trade, we do not have to rely on aid for development,” said Mahuad.

He believes that there needs to be more reciprocity with regards to trade, illustrating that the economic expansion of China has been good for Latin America. He cited Bolivia’s sale of great amounts of soybeans to China as an example.

With regards to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Mahuad was lukewarm.

Mahuad explained that Hugo Chavez is very popular with his people but that, “his influence in that area is not that great.”

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