Post-Authoritarian Cultures: Spain and Latin America's Southern Cone

12. Some Notes on International Influences on Transition Processes in the Southern Cone

233 u 12 Some Notes on International Influences on Transition Processes in the Southern Cone Heinrich Sassenfeld The transition processes in Argentina and Chile date from the 1980s. After more than two decades and having reached stable democracies, it is interesting to retake the subject and check if the international actors have learned some lessons from these experiences as they reflect the Argentinean and Chilean processes in another light. As someone who was an actor in these transitions and is still working in this field, my reflections will obviously also be influenced by the developments that have taken place since then. I will use very general basic definitions, such as Garretón’s concept of democracy (with its main elements of popular sovereignty, universal vote, separation of powers and validity of human rights and public liberties),1 and Whitehead ’s notion of transition (Whitehead 3) which discerns three phases. The first one is defined by putting pressure on undemocratic governments; the second one refers to the support for fledging democracies; the third phase is characterized by policies to assist democratic consolidation. For the purposes of this essay, I would like to distinguish only two periods. A first phase of transition includes the preparative steps needed to organize elections. In a second phase, the basic transformations of the political system become the main objectives. In chronological terms, the first phase means basically the last period of dictatorship , while the second one would last at least from the first election until a new 234 HEINRICH SASSENFELD democratic government has ended its rule and a second round of elections has been successfully accomplished. In some cases, and this includes very clearly Chile, the transformation could last much longer. Some of the barriers, which Garretón calls “authoritarian enclaves” (3) such as institutionalized senators or other rules of the Pinochet constitution, have been eliminated just recently or are still in place. Considering that democracy is a living organism, which is constantly being modified and adjusted, I will limit my reflections to the preparative and the first post-election period. International influences on democratization processes may stem from a series of intervention levels: 1. Governments may use boycotts, threats and pressure against authoritarian regimes . Guilhon Albuquerque points out that in some examples direct intervention and threats of retaliation had different probabilities of success in different countries as compared to warnings about the cost of isolation. In the second phase, fledging democracies can obtain important support by other government, in political as in economic terms. 2. International organizations and regional institutions have augmented their activities especially after the return to democracy in Latin America. The role of MERCOSUR as a model of open regionalism is an interesting case: two recently democratized governments in (Argentina and Brazil) would play a significant role in overcoming the 1996 coup attempt in Paraguay. The Presidential Declaration of Democratic Commitment in MERCOSUR introduced a democratic clause which allows suspending membership rights. 3. The “political level” of influences is basically channelled by parties and parliaments . While foreign policy is made by governments, parties have an indirect influence on the government’s decision-making processes and on public opinion. Additionally, they can count on resources, trans-national linkages and contacts (Grugel). 4. International NGOs and similar development institutions often take development - oriented actions in order to assist transition processes, but can also influence public opinion considerably. In this essay, I will concentrate my analysis on the last two levels of intervention . The European experience and its contribution to the transition processes will be in the foreground. SOME NOTES ON INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES 235 Reasons for International Presence in Democratization Processes Why would a democratic system be the best solution for the countries and societies considered? Already in the 1960s and 1970s, there had been some efforts to find a “third way” for political systems, such as Yugoslavia’s workers auto-administration or Peru’s nationalistic revolution under General Velasco Alvarado. Chile’s “Chilean way to socialism” (which Salvador Allende in a popular version defined as a socialist way that includes “vino tinto y empanadas ” [red wine and empanadas]), can also be considered within this category. They all had in common their failure to offer a long-term political and economically stable alternative. If democracy was then the best alternative, the question remains to be why international players took such a comprehensive and dedicated action in the Southern Cone. In the 1980s, the...