A Good and a Bad Left?

For some unknown reason, there's been a fair amount of writing on the web and elsewhere about Latin America this week. Perhaps, the most observant article is from Foreign Affairs. Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican Foreign Minister, writes about "Latin America's Turn to the Left".

Castaneda makes the point that, as the people are gaining more power in Latin America, two forms of leftists have arisen: those, like Chavez, who are motivated by dreams of power, and those, like Lula, who, at least for now, seem to really have the people's interest at heart. He urges us to actively support the latter, while engaging the former only on matters of real importance and then clearly articulating the obligation of these countries to abide by their countries' commitments to human rights and democracy.