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PARTISAN REVIEW
HS:
I would say that depends on which country you're discussing.
But let me repeat, massive state organization with central planning
was the old way of governing. Even before Marxism there were
overbloated states and bureacracies. But what happens is that it's
much easier for someone who has been educated under the old
feudal or mercantilist mentality to understand Marxist-Leninist
government. A market economy sounds like anarchy to them. As a
matter of fact that's what they usually accuse it of, and when it comes
to democracy they say it may work very well among Europeans and
North Americans who are cultivated and orderly people, like the
Japanese, but it won't work among my people who have always
needed an iron hand, forgetting that all Europeans once needed an
iron hand. The fact is that all people can be governed by democracy
in market economies, but it's much easier for an elite to govern the
old way. That's why they are much more sympathetic to Marxist–
Leninism.
KA:
That sounds as if you're advocating the implementation of com–
pletely unregulated, laissez-faire markets in Latin America. Are
you?
HS:
No, I am not. Laissez-faire is impossible.
It
is nothing more
than an ideological cry of war that arises when people find them–
selves overburdened by regulations, as they did, for example, during
the mercantilist period in Europe. Without the protection of govern–
ment, there are no rights that can be enforced by the courts, and you
are continually at risk of being usurped by anybody more powerful
than yourself.
KA :
What about the debt problem? What should the developing
countries themselves be doing with respect to it, and what should we
be doing?
HS:
Regarding the developing countries, I think they should first try
to find out who incurred the debt. In the case of my country, it is
very simple. It was the government that incurred the debt. We've
seen that it hasn't been able to repay the debt , so it hasn't made very
good investments.
If
that's the case with other developing countries ,
they should decide whether they're going to let their governments
continue to get as uselessly indebted as they are today. Regarding
the case of my country, I think there are two good measures to con–
trol the debt. The first is to reform the rule-making process . Those
rules and contracts made by the state to purchase anything from
abroad must be subject to public scrutiny, which they're not now.
The president can actually sign away these deals once he's elected as
