Marifeli Perez-Stable

Published in The Miami Herald
August 28, 2008

Politics is a contact sport. In the United States, we’ve been at it for the past 18 months even if Barack Obama and John McCain are only now officially donning the title of candidate. The next 70 days promise a match like we’ve never seen before.

In Latin America, 2008 has been a relatively quiet electoral year. There were only four general elections. Barbados and Belize ousted long-term incumbents. Paraguayans elected Fernando Lugo, a former Catholic bishop promising far-reaching reforms. In the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández won reelection comfortably.

All eyes, however, are on Venezuela. Hugo Chávez is going all out to make sure the regional and municipal contests on Nov. 23 don’t deal him another setback.

• Some 270 people were banned from running for office for alleged ”administrative irregularities.” Most are in the opposition.

• On July 31, just as his 18-month decree power was about to expire, Chávez enacted 26 laws to centralize and expand executive powers in ways that voters rejected in the Dec. 2 referendum.

• A new law will soon grant Chávez sole right to close newspapers and other media if he decides that national security trumps freedom of expression.

Elated after Dec. 2, Venezuela’s opposition has yet to find its stride. Still, victory on Nov. 23 means recouping a majority of the governorships (eight) and mayoralties (220) held before abstentionism set in. Today, opponents govern only in two states and 65 municipalities.

No middle ground

On Aug. 10, recall elections in Bolivia gave Evo Morales especially but also the opposition governors strong backing. Now they’re back to square one: How does the Bolivian political class reach agreements when both sides stand on all-or-nothing platforms?

Chávez, Morales and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa are all intent on retaining power for a long time. In a presidential system, two terms in office are enough. In 1998, for example, Fernando Henrique Cardoso sought a constitutional amendment that allowed him to stand for and win reelection. In 2002 he went home just as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will in 2010.

Unfortunately, Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe and the Dominican Republic’s Fernández are toying with another reelection. Though Uribe has not shown his hand, his supporters have gathered enough signatures to call a referendum on allowing him to stand for a third term. Fernández’s Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) — which has the two-thirds congressional majority needed to amend the Constitution — will call a vote to remove the ban on more than two consecutive terms.

By reversing the downward slide of executive power, Uribe rendered Colombian democracy a great service. At the same time, his ongoing confrontation with the judiciary is undermining the separation of powers. A third Uribe term would do democracy no favor. That’s even more the case in the Dominican Republic where authoritarian legacies are stronger and institutions far weaker.

Power is an addiction that makes institutional checks on authority such an ingenious democratic invention. Democrats like Uribe and Fernández should not be following in the footsteps of Chávez, Morales and Correa. Are we to believe that no other Colombians and Dominicans from within the ranks of Uribismo and the PLD are capable of stepping up to the plate?

Carter’s wise words

In October, Chile will hold municipal elections. The center-left Concertación may lose ground, which would augur badly for the 2009 presidential election. Eighteen years and counting is a long time for a coalition to remain in office. If in 2010 the center-right Alianza wins the presidency, Chile will go on, and so will the Concertación.

It took Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s three reelections for the United States to limit presidents to two terms. ”There’s life after losing an election,” Jimmy Carter once wisely said. Even more so, there’s life after winning the presidency twice. Not a bad lesson for Latin America to learn.

LETTER OF AMBASSADOR OF ECUADOR TO THE MIAMI HERALD
August 20, 2008

To the Editor,

I agree with Marifeli Perez-Stable that “two presidential terms is enough” (“Two Presidential Terms is Enough”, Marifeli Perez-Stable, August 28, 2008). Ecuador’s proposed constitution would establish an electoral process similar to that of the United States under which a candidate may only run for two consecutive terms. President Rafael Correa is an ardent supporter of the proposal and has been campaigning on behalf of the new constitution, which will be voted on in a national referendum on September 28.

In addition to limiting the ability of presidents to serve for more than 8 years in two consecutive four-year terms, the new constitution also provides a mechanism for the National Assembly to revoke the president’s mandate.

This is why it was surprising to see President Correa listed by Perez-Stable as an example of leaders who are “intent on retaining power for a long time.” The provisions of the new Constitution, and President Correa’s efforts to pass them, are hardly consistent with the behavior of one intent on retaining power.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Luis Gallegos
Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador
2535 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009