The Copenhagen criteria and Latin America

Authors:
Luis Alberto López Rafaschieri and José Alberto López Rafaschieri
www.morochos.net

One of the myths of the radical left in Latin America ensures that the model of State of politicians like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro is the same that prevails in countries like Sweden, Denmark and Spain.

Ironically, in one of these societies that leftists in Latin America take as example of socialism, Denmark, the euro zone countries agreed to establish the general economic and political requirements to be met by any nation wishing to be part of the European Union.

According to "the Copenhagen criteria", politically, a country wishing to join the euro zone should be a democracy under the rule of law, that respects human rights and minorities. However, given that many of the citizens of Latin America still believes in the benefits of democracy despite the propaganda of the Cuban dictatorship, one of the most interesting aspects of "the Copenhagen criteria", if we relate it to Latin America, is what it says about the economic model.

In 1993, in Denmark, representatives of the European Union ruled that countries wishing to become members of this important group should be free market economies, with the ability to compete with the other forces of the Union.

Europe believes that the most appropriate political-economic configuration is the mix of democracy and free market; in contrast, the countries of the ALBA -Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Bolivia- propose autocratic schemes with socialized economies. Knowing who are on the best way is easy, but is hard to make Latin Americans inquire about the contradictions of the Cuban socialism, although none of them want to live in Havana, but in Madrid.

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