Democracy In South America

South America is a land of different cultures and has a history

of as many different types of government, mostly dictatorships. Most

of South America won independence from Spain and Portugal between 1810

and 1824. In 1823, President James Monroe enunciated the first US

policy on Latin America. The Monroe Doctrine warned European nations

against interfering in the affairs of independent nations in the

Western Hemisphere. In 1904, Roosevelt's Corollary said the US would

act as a "policeman", intervening militarily when US interests were at

risk. After W.W.II, the independent countries of the Western

Hemisphere formed the Organization of American States, a military

alliance to prevent aggression against any American nation. South

America is the fourth largest continent. It ranks fifth in population.

The continent is divided into 12 independent countries and two

political units. The countries consist of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela,

Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana,

Surinam, and French Guinea. In the 12 countries of South America,

democracy has slowly been on the rise since 1959. The rise started in

Venezuela and ended in Surinam last year. One by one South America's

countries have turned form dictatorships into democracies where the

voters control the elections.

Even with democracy taking control, the countries still have

many problems. The largest problem is the tradition of corruption of

the political leaders. The corruption has mainly been the use of

bribe-taking and bribe-giving. "By definition, democracy presumes

equal opportunity; bribery and corruption make the playing field

uneven and weakens democracy's foundations." Recently, corruption has

reached into high places in Venezuela and Brazil. President Carlos

Perez (1993) and Fernando Collor de Mello (1992) were forced to resign

when faced with corruption charges.

The large drug trade has also caused problems for the rise of

democracy in South America. Each year, hundreds of tons of Cocaine

feed an illegal US drug market. It is worth an estimated $38 billion a

year. This illegal money has found its way into the pockets of many

people in high places. In Columbia, a major source of illegal drugs

for the US, President Ernesto Samper was accused of taking a $6

million bribe to allow drug trafficking to continue as usual.

Laundered drug money has financed development in many South American

cities, but it has also brought bloodshed.

The large gap between rich and poor of South America has

presented another challenge for democracy. In South America, the rich

keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.