Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression (Independent Studies in Political Economy) [Hardcover]

Alvaro Vargas Llosa (Author)

Book Description

Series: Independent Studies in Political Economy | Publication Date: January 27, 2005

Latin America's Foremost Political Journalist Makes a Brilliant and Passionate Argument for Real Reform In the Economically Crippled Continent

In Liberty for Latin America, Alvaro Vargas Llosa offers an incisive diagnosis of Latin America's woes--and a prescription for finally getting the region on the road to both genuine prosperity and the protection of human rights.
When the economy in Argentina--at one time a model of free-market reform--collapsed in 2002, experts of all persuasions asked: What went wrong? Vargas Llosa shows that what went wrong in Argentina has in fact gone wrong all over the continent for over five hundred years. He explains how the republics of the nineteenth century and the revolutions of the twentieth-populist uprisings, Marxist coops, state takeovers, and First World-sponsored privatization-have all run up against the oligarchic legacy of statism. Illiberal elites backed by the United States and Europe have perpetuated what he calls the "five principles of oppression" in order to maintain their hold on power. The region has become "a laboratory for political and economic suicide," while comparable countries in Asia and Eastern Europe have prospered.
The only way to change things in Latin America, Vargas Llosa argues, is to remove the five principles of oppression, genuinely reforming institutions and the underlying culture for the benefit of the disempowered public. In Liberty for Latin America, he explains how, offering hope as well as insight for all those who care for the future of this troubled region.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Peruvian journalist and research fellow at Oakland, Calif.'s Independent Institute, Vargas Llosa proposes that the shortcomings of Latin America's recent experiments with neoliberalism-which have left the elite and poor further apart than ever-reflect a deep-rooted and unshakeable pattern of state intervention in the economy, privilege and laws that have plagued these countries since their early colonial period. Despite the apparent push toward democracy and free markets, he argues, the most recent era of reform failed to address the root of the problem and ended up reinforcing governments' suppression of economic liberty and individual responsibility. Vargas Llosa offers the massive potential of the region's bustling informal economies as a sign of how far out of step the law is with economic and political realities. Not surprisingly, he calls for the abolition of unwieldy business regulations that keep ordinary, enterprising folks out of the legitimate marketplace. A short section of almost blithely outlined solutions disappoints, coming as it does after so much engaging and well-reasoned analysis, particularly since many of his proposals (tax code rewrites, school vouchers) have faced stiff resistance even in the developed country he so often holds up as a model for the region: the United States.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

What stands in the way of Latin American prosperity? According to Peruvian-born journalist and political commentator Vargas Llosa, the answer is 500 years of oppression and stagnancy, most recently defined by the "oligarchic legacy of statism." The solution? Skirt the political economists' chicken-and-egg problem by reforming both economic institutions and their underlying culture, and remove the inertial legacy of state power perpetuated by what the author calls the "five principles of oppression": corporatism, state mercantilism, privileged elitism, rigid and unjust mechanisms of wealth transfer, and the political denigration of legal authority. Vargas Llosa's is essentially a free-market, libertarian argument pursuing independence through individualism, which would dovetail comfortably with much of the last decade's rhetoric of economic neoliberalism were it not so boldly, and justifiably, critical of botched recent attempts at privatization in Latin America that actually reinforced the privileged status quo. Such willingness to criticize the regional failures of the Right, the Left, and the U.S. is refreshing, as is the author's clear concern for the poor. A work of unabashed capitalism unashamed to speak truth to capitalists, this is an important work of political economy. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First edition (January 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374185743
• ISBN-13: 978-0374185749
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine analysis, uncertain resolution, May 16, 2005

By 

Candace "thepageturner" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Hardcover)

As someone who lived and worked in Latin America during one of the region's recent attempts at major economic reform, I found myself frequently mumbling "right on" while marking up my copy of Alvaro Vargas Llosa's "Liberty for Latin America." One of the most refreshing elements of the book is that the Peruvian journalist does not blame European colonizers for Latin America's seemingly insurmountable struggle to pull its population from poverty. He takes the root of the problem back to the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas, when the sacred nature of authority was first instilled in the population. People existed not as individuals, but as members of social strata with specific functions, with the number one function of everything being to support the group on top. This fit in perfectly with the kind of top-down hierarchy practiced by Iberian colonizers. Independence and revolution put governments in charge, with peasants working land that now belonged to their government as opposed to a big landowner. In one way or another, the state kept its fingers in every possible pie while the majority of the population remained infantilized, expecting the government provide for them, to be the biggest patrón of all.

What a relief not to have all the region's woes blamed on Spanish or Portuguese colonizers, and to recognize that many of the practices that still hold Latin America back were institutionalized long before Cortez dropped anchor. But while Vargas Llosa's analysis is intelligent and thought-provoking, his recommendations for reform don't fit with what he's just said. We've read how the population has been conditioned to expect a higher authority-God or the government-to take care of everything. People who feel they have no power are not going to know what to do with school vouchers or how to apply for credit when their squatter communities are granted legal status-two of his recommendations. Have school vouchers actually worked anywhere? So much wealth is concentrated in so few hands in the region that it is hard to imagine that the oligarchs will voluntarily give any of it up, and we've seen that revolution doesn't work, and outside prodding backfires . . .Even after reading Vargas Llosa's intelligent work, liberty for Latin America still seems a long way off.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SEEKING A BALANCED ASSESMENT, February 7, 2008

By 

Ricardo Cazorla - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Hardcover)

Vargas Llosa's book is not about a perfect recipe. It is an honest insightful review of the Iberian world in the Western Hemisphere, well researched and documented by a Latin, who like his colleagues in arms, Carlos A. Montaner and Alberto Apuleyo are trying to tell the politicians, businessmen and others in the developed countries, to divest themselves of the pink glasses through which they, for decades have looked at Latin America. Even today, as I pore over the reviews on our countries (I am a Latin) I continue to feel disappointment in the intense focus given to growth rates, GDP, exports and imports and other matters that wind up creating economic charts and indices. Latin America cannot be, and any country for the same reason, assessed by simply reading its economic numbers. Liberty as the developed Western World understands it is not a reality in the Hemisphere and the book does a brilliant exercise in explaining why, though the steps to gaining it are only a suggestion and not a mandate as other reviews seem to conclude. This reading is a must for any Latin or foreigner needing to understand....why? Democracy is a hollow word in the region when the definition is placed against the realities found in most of our countries with some exceptional rays of hope. Latin America needs to be understood and its societies given the support wherever real democray and the support of human liberties can start to gain a solid, permanent foothold. The stability of the entire Hemisphere is at the end, what is at play.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If only it were as simple as Alvaro Vargas Llosa states., January 18, 2007

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Hardcover)

I live in South America, and, de facto, I am a student of Latin America. Thus, for me Liberty for Latin America was a `must read'. In the four parts, Alvaro Vargas Llosa has written two distinct books - Social/Historical & Economic.

The first part of the text deals with the oppressive history of Latin America. For hundreds of years, Latin America political and economic power, have benefitted only a small elite. This oppressive and privilege status has a history that dates to the Spanish and Portuguese conquest, virtual slavery and mass exploitations under the guise of Catholic paternalism. The concentration of power, status and wealth has not ceased. Today, the struggles in Bolivia, Equador, Venezuela and other countries continue to `luncha' against the systems of privilaged-power that was established more than 500 years ago. Vargas Llosa's explains how the concentrated economic, political and social power, which sustain these oppressive inequalities, continues today. Excellent. He maintains that the enduring legacy of Iberian colonialism continues to sustain and serve the next generation of privileged leadership and that these systems of privilege and power have retarded Latin America's social and economic progress.

The other part of the text deals with his zealous evangelical promotion of `free-market, capitalists'. It is clear that he sees capitalism as the savior of the world'. Everything, should be privatized: education, health, and services of the state. Minimize government, maximize privatization.

His statements can make even those who support a free-market economy cringe. Yet, often in radical expressions, there are seeds of truth. In the end, it is about redistributing wealth.

One wishes that it were as simple as Alvaro Vargas Llosa's solutions. It would be wonderful if those in privileged power would cleanup the corruption (however, this is corruption which supports them). It would be wonderful if the oligarches would affirm the rights of the people (but these are the very people who will rise up and replace them). Yes, also there is a great need to empower the justice system (but of course this will be the very justice system that will prosecute those in power for their crimes against the people). In the words of Louie Armstrong, "what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance." I wish it were that simple.

Until a balance of power and wealth is found there will be more coups, state takeovers and capitalistic-sponsored privatization in Latin America. This book will engage you, and, in some degree may enrage you. If you are a student of Latin America history or economics this is a impressive book. Strongly recommended.