Dialogue with 21st Century Socialism?

By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 09/09/2024

Guest columnist.
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In recent weeks, most of Bolivia's political actors have been repeating the word dialogue over and over again. Businessmen are responding to the regime's calls for dialogue with them. Opponents accuse the Movement Towards Socialism of having no culture for dialogue. Governors and mayors are also calling for dialogue on the economic crisis and the results of the 2024 CENSUS.

Although I fully understand the request, because in dialogue people learn to think together, however, it is necessary to clarify something: In order to dialogue, points of agreement are needed and, especially, common values ​​and agendas. That is precisely what the Movement Towards Socialism does not have, let's see.

The Movement Towards Socialism, which is often presented as the largest political movement in Bolivia, is simply a franchise of 21st Century Socialism. This is the crux of the matter, since, being an exemption from a transnational structure, its agenda obviously does not respond to the interests of Bolivians, but to those of its bosses who have their central offices in Havana. Here a valid question is: what are those points that make up the diary of the Cuban dictators?

The annulment of democracy and its institutions, since, contrary to the Castro guerrillas of the 60s and 70s, 21st Century Socialism carries out its revolutions through clientelist voting. Hence, once in power, they dedicate themselves to enlarging the state bureaucracy and filling these new positions with their most staunch militants.

The indefinite permanence in power through a rigged and fraudulent electoral system, there are plenty of examples, Bolivia 2019 and Venezuela 2024. But if this plan fails, they use what they learned best from Cuba: State terrorism. In this regard, Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, in his article, In the name of the peoples they oppress, states that:

The liquidation of freedom to remain indefinitely in power through a system of state terrorism, with institutionalized violation of human rights, corruption and impunity, with organized crime and the construction of narco-states are the elements of the Castro system of the last century, criminally improved and politically expanded from the 1999 alliance between Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez that marks the 21st century with the name 21st century socialism or Castro-Chavismo that today controls Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

Unrestricted respect for private property is what provides the minimum conditions for generating more open and fair societies. However, 21st Century Socialism seeks the destruction of private property through confiscations, as is the case with pensions in Bolivia, or overregulation, credits with artificially low rates, to cite an example.

Without private property, people become simple dependents on the handouts of the State, they abandon their status as citizens to become simple slaves of the State machinery.

Moreover, as the great Ludwig von Mises said: “In the absence of private property, economic calculation is impossible.” Logically, the destruction of property turns the economic data of countries under 21st Century Socialism into mere whims of the dictators in chief.

The fight today is between those of us who want a free country with private property versus a dictatorial system. Therefore, there is no dialogue with those who seek to create misery and dependency, unless you want to be part of that macabre plan.

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