| 520 |
# |
# |
|a The article looks at social and political unrest in the Andes as of September 2004. Twice in recent months, the historically troubled but chronically neglected nations of the southern crescent of the Andes --Peru, Ecudor, and Bolivia--have made international headlines. First, in April, an angry mob set on the mayor of Ilave, a small city in Peru's impoverished highlands, and lynched him for corruption. Two months later, the same fate befell the mayor of a town in the BoBolivian high plains. The United States has responded to the prospect of renewed turbulence with a mix of indifference and fatalism: indifference becauce Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia are considered largely unimportant to U.S. interests. The clearest sign of political instability is the desperation of the region's leaders. Today, the political survival of Peru's Alejandro Toledo, Ecuador's Lucio Gutierrez, and Bolivia's carlos Mesa is in doubt. Other developments in the Andes, however, offer a measure of hope for progress toward more open and democratic politics. But this promise will be frustrated unless political leaders in these nations are prepared to reform fossilized institutions, including political parties and justice systems--and unless the U.S. supports such efforts, helping committed reformers and working in cocert with other outside actors.
|