| MAKING THE LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, December 23 2002 |
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| This is the week when Santa Claus comes to town. Everyone assumes that he's made his list and checked it twice and that he knows who's been naughty or nice. But it's not always that simple. For instance, in Latin America there are clearly some leaders who don't deserve a gift from Santa or the Three Wise Men. In other cases, it's a bit more difficult to decipher. Here are some of the ones that come to mind:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is definitely on the naughty list. His policies and authoritarian style of governing led to massive street protests by those opposed to his government. He responded to pleas for his resignation or early elections by using force against his own people. Confrontations among pro- and anti-Chavez factions led to deaths and injuries, and virtually paralyzed the Venezuelan economy.
President Luis Gonzales Macchi of Paraguay can forget about stocking stuffers this year. He has paid homage to the infamous image of corruption in his country. Gonzales Macchi was not only involved in a $16 million embezzlement scandal, but he and his wife were accused of knowingly owning stolen cars. He was impeached and now faces a political trial.
In the Dominican Republic, President Hipolito Mejia has lost popularity among his people, who accuse him of doing little or nothing to solve the country's problems. Constant power outages have prompted violent protests and confrontations.
Fidel Castro doesn't even make the list. The Cuban dictator would probably not be expecting much, since he prohibited the celebration of Christmas for many years and is a self-proclaimed atheist.
There are several Latin American heads of state on the undecided list. Santa's elves couldn't make up their minds whether President Vicente Fox of Mexico should be on the naughty list or not. He has not been able to live up to his promises of generating jobs, improving the economy and cracking down on corruption. However, he has made great efforts to look out for the interests of his fellow Mexicans north of the border.
Another president with good intentions gone wrong is Enrique Bolaños of Nicaragua. He also promised to crack down on corruption but ended up being investigated himself for misuse of campaign funds. His predecessor, Arnoldo Aleman, is definitely not on the nice list. He was stripped of his immunity in Congress and now has to respond to allegations of stealing more than $100 million during his presidency.
If you asked the Peruvian people, they would say President Alejandro Toledo does not deserve to be rewarded. He promised to return jobs to thousands who lost them during the administration of Alberto Fujimori, but he's been unsuccessful. However, he does get high marks for coming through in a paternity scandal that tainted his image. He finally recognized the young Zarai Toledo as his illegitimate daughter.
It's tough to judge Eduardo Duhalde of Argentina. His country went from being one of the most prosperous in the region to being one of the poorest. But you can hardly blame Duhalde. He inherited a job no one else wanted. Governing Argentina has been so difficult that he decided to hold early elections. Actually, Santa should bring him and all of the Argentines a gift to lift their spirits.
Alvaro Uribe of Colombia should be getting a new bulletproof vest for Christmas. He is the new president of the region's most dangerous country. In his first five months in office, he has taken on the drug lords as well as the murderous armed rebel groups. So far, he gets to be on the nice list, although he is understandably a little grumpy.
Santa didn't have it so easy this year -- but then again, neither did the people of Latin America. Hopefully the beginning of a new year will bring honesty and prosperity to a region that is saying goodbye to a difficult year. |
