THE NEW WORLD OF THE GOTHIC FOX
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that there will be an even larger number who are stimulated by this
synthesis between the old fashioned
pensador
of Latin America, and the
new-fangled social scientist of North America and Europe. Indeed, I
suspect that in this fusion of cultural types Claudio will find his greatest
sense of intellectual satisfaction.
Claudio
Veliz:
Thank you very much. That was very generous and
helpful. Let me begin by commenting that one of your observations,
which is conterminous with what Professor Packenham was just saying,
about the transition from militarism to liberalism, and then on to civilian
administrations, must include a reference to our important tradition of
political authoritarianism. Mexico has had a very civilian single party
sytem since 1929, which is now - so we are told - about to be reformed
decisively. No matter. This is essentially an authoritarian civilian regime
well-nourished by the robust centralist tradition characteristic of the
centuries of colonial rule; it is not a military but a civilian authoritarian
regime, of which Philip II as well as Porfirio Diaz would have approved
heartily. Is President Menem a "liberal"? What does "liberal" mean in
this context? The Argentine presidency is very powerful, and its power is
consistent both with its political tradition and its constitutional ar–
rangements. The dichotomy that presents democracy and militarism as
the only alternatives is misguided. It is better, and more realistic, I be–
lieve, to reserve primacy of place for what we can helpfully describe as an
authoritarian style of government, which is as convincing and pervasive
under civilian control as it can be when donning its post-Napoleonic
and populist military guise.
To return to Professor Packenham's observations about the Latin
American continuities and the "crumbling dome": At the risk of mixing
my metaphors hopelessly, let me explain that what I had in mind is closer
to the mending of Sigfried's sword than
to
anything else. You may
remember that in Wagner's
Ring,
the dwarf Mime failed repeatedly
to
weld the two pieces into which Wotan had broken the sword
Nothung. It was Sigfried who solved the problem by destroying the
sword, as it were, filing both pieces and then melting the pile of filings
and forging a new sword. I do not wish to sound excessively
revolutionary, but I think that for Latin America truly to transform itself,
it must first turn its back on a tradition of central control that informs
virtually everything that has occurred in the region during the past five
centuries. This will not be easy as long as the hope remains alive that the
traditional centralist arrangements - the broken pieces of the sword
