This article by Jaime Daremblum in The Daily Standard online site of The Weekly Standard magazine, says the new leader of Paraguay may follow a path like that of Peru, instead of like Venezuela or Bolivia. It is early days, but the initial signs are encouraging. Former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo, the new President of Paraguay, may be taking the direction that "works," that produces economic growth and a rising standard of living.
As the article notes, there are two routes national leaders are taking in Latin America. One is the anti-American, anti-markets route of the "little Castros:" Chavez (Venezuela), Morales (Bolivia), and Ortega (Nicaragua). The other is the market-oriented, entrepreneurial tack taken by Lula da Silva (Brazil), Bachelet (Chile), Vazquez (Uruguay) and García (Peru).
Undoubtedly, the emotionally satisfying tack to take in Latin America is to blame the U.S. for whatever is wrong with your country. That tack relieves people of asking the hard questions: What are we doing to cause our own problems? What can we do to solve them? The countries which have been willing to 'look in the mirror' and say "We are causing our own problems and we can solve them" are the ones which have made real economic and social progress.
