Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left After the Cold War by Jorge G. Castafieda, Arthur A. Knopf, 498 pp., $27.50 (cloth). Mexican-born, U.S. and European- educated UNAM political scientist Jorge G. Castafieda has written an impressive book whose purpose "is to ascertain whether the relevance of the left in Latin America is intact." The answer seems: yes, but not as presently constituted. The work consists of two parts: an analysis of the Latin American Left's failures, and a blueprint for the future. Castafieda argues that due to its past defeats, the Left must now play in the capitalist ballpark to achieve social change. The author marshalls an impres- sive display of academic pyrotech- nics ranging from long and copious footnotes (but unfortunately no bibliography) to extensive inter- view material and telling anec- dotes. In a brief historical survey of the Latin American Left, the author examines the development of Communist parties and pop- ulism from the 1930s to the 1960s, yet inexplicably ignores the pre- Communist period dominated by anarchism and anarcho-syndical- ism. He is harshly critical of the Cuban revolution. While he be- grudgingly acknowledges the revo- lution's considerable social and economic achievements, he high- lights Cuba's "failures," its nega- tive impact on the development of the Left, and its supposed continen- tal network of spying and intrigue. Castefieda speculates that the Cuban intelligence service is sys- tematically linked to drug traffick- ing, but admits that such a connec- tion has never been substantiated. Castafieda's conclusion that socialism and armed struggle are dead reflects the anti-Marxism now in fashion. Most would agree with his assessment that the dismal fail- ure of the import substitution model implemented in the 1960s and 1970s compounded by the cur- rent proliferation of neoliberal eco- nomic programs severely exacer- bated the plight of the poor. Like- wise, few would oppose his casti- gation of the anti-national bour- geoisie (and its U.S. and European backers) for refusing to meaning- fully redistribute income. Lastly, NACLA readers would no doubt agree with his depiction of the repression, corruption and injustice now rampant in Latin America. So what should the Left do? First, Castafieda argues, it should accept the reality that capitalism has won. On the economic front, the Left GRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL announces a new direct aid program to the popular movement in SMEXICO Resisting Free Trade and Promoting Democracy and Human Rights Grassroots International is an independent development and information agency. We are responding to the economic and political crisis in Mexico by providing aid to: "* indigenous coffee growers in Oaxaca; "* independent unions organizing women workers at a U.S. runaway shop; "* human rights organizations; "* election monitoring and reform groups. To make a tax-deductible contribution or for more information contact: Grassroots International 48 Grove St. #103 Somerville, MA 02144 (617) 628-1664 Marazul Tours, Inc. 250 W 57 Street, Suite 1311 New York, NY 10107 i00 22ii334 Ouiiitside NY Stat 800 356-1451 Miami office Join us on a study tour to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba' or Vietnam, or call for information on in CentralAmerica and Mexico. Group and Individual throughout the world. *Travel to Cuba is limited due to U.S. government restrictions. VOI XXVII, NO 4 JANI/EB 1994 55 - --- --REVIEWS CONTINUED Weekly News Update on Nicaragua and the Americas Concise news items compiled from a wide variety of sources, including English-, Spanish- and French- language press and electronic and popular media. Focuses on Nicaragua but also covers Central and South America and the Caribbean. One-year subscription: $25 Electronic and print editions Free one-month trial subscription Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater NY 339 Lafayette St New York, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 e-mail: nicanet@blythe.org should adapt the European "social market" economy or apply the export-led growth model of the Asian Tigers. The author also sug- gests that a leftist government could best position itself in the global economy by playing capitalist blocs off against one another. He says the Left must work politically within the existing system of electoral democracies. Leftist parties, he asserts, can gain acceptance in the political arena by convincing the elites that a "responsible" Left in power is better than an unchanneled social explosion from below. He concedes that current democracies are not up to par. He envisions the Left ushering in a "democratized" democracy, in which the have-nots have a meaningful vote. The analysis unravels not because it ignores the impact of dependent capitalist development upon Latin America, but because it denies the very nature of the beast. It is unrealistic to think that either international or local capital will freely tilt the playing field back in favor of the exploited and their defenders. Castafieda's proposal seems ideal: social change without class struggle. In this scenario, the rich-under threat of being voted out of office-will willingly give some power to the poor. But histo- ry teaches us that centrist projects prosper only at the expense of the exploitation of millions, either at home or abroad. Castefieda's development model contains a cru- cial flaw: who will Third World countries exploit if not their own people? The social and economic problems that Latin America con- fronts today are not the fault of Left strategy and tactics-however much they may need re-tooling-- but of the basic contradiction between capital and labor. Castefieda refuses to address this. But then, someday he may be a ministerial candidate for the PRD or even the PRI. -Hobart Spalding, Jr 56 NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS The Palace of Justice: A Colombian Tragedy by Ana Carrigan, Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993, 304 pp., $22.95 (cloth). This is a first-rate piece of inves- tigative reporting, an illuminating slice of political history, and a compelling personal memoir. Ana Carrigan, a Colombian-Irish writer, returned to Colombia in 1991 to piece together-and make sense of-the tragic events of November, 1985, when M-19 guerrillas stormed the Colombian Palace of Justice, and seized scores of hostages-among them most of the members of Colombia's Supreme Court-in an attempt to force a public dialogue with the country's political rulers. The episode ended with over 100 peo- ple-including 11 justices and probably all the guerrillas-killed, scores of people "disappeared," and the venerable Palace reduced to rubble. Carrigan gives us what seems like a minute-by-minute account of the planning and execution of the guerrilla action; the response of the Colombian military; the disingenuous hands-off behavior of Colombia's political leadership; and most compelling of all, the experience of the scores of hostages-including the futile attempts of the captured Supreme Court justices to reach President Belisario Betancur by telephone. She carefully highlights M-19's fatal and tragic mistake: the hostages they took-among them, the most courageous, independent and progressive members of Colombia's judiciary-were com- pletely expendable to the coun- try's clase dirigente, and even more so to the military. Not only were no serious attempts made to save the hostages, but subsequent investigations showed that most were ultimately killed, not by the guerrillas, but by their military rescuers.
