Jorge Castaneda, Minister of Democracy,
James E. Garcia, PoliticoMagazine.com
Throughout the ’90s, Mexican academic Jorge Castaneda was the prime
force behind a Latin America-wide movement to re-energize the
political left. His efforts to promote European-style social
democracy had a profound impact on the region, and aided the rise
to power of left-leaning governments in Chile, Venezuela, and
several other countries. At first blush, Castaneda’s latest gig, as
Foreign Minister in the right-wing government of Mexican President
Vicente Fox, may seem like a contradiction. But don’t be too quick
to judge, says commentator James E. Garcia. In his weekly column on
PoliticoMagazine.com, the Latino political Web zine
he edits, Garcia points out that despite the president’s decidedly
pro-business bent, Fox and Castaneda share a populist belief in
democracy, transparency, and open lines of communication. ‘If
someone in Fox’s family bought a $400 set of bath towels, the
Mexican people should know about it,’ Castaneda said recently. ‘If
the government believes it needs to raise the national sales tax,
then the people should be allowed to debate that without fear of
retribution.’ After 80 years of corrupt, one-party rule in Mexico,
Castaneda is leading the new government toward a new era of
democracy with a small ‘d’.
–Leif Utne
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