Ten Commandments for Evo

by Atilio A. Borón, Pagina12, Buenos Aires, January 7, 2006

Translated from Spanish into English by Ernesto Páramo a member of Tlaxcala, the network of translators for linguistic diversity -transtlaxcala@yahoo.com. This translation is copyleft.

On January 7, 2006 a few hours after the victory of Evo Morales, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, declared that she expected the new head of State " to govern democratically.” The spokeswoman for the White House also pointed out that relations between the United States and Bolivia would be based on the commitment that Morales will have with respect to "democracy and the principles that we value so much in this hemisphere.”
The author of this note had access to the memorandum that the White House sent to the Bolivian president elect, containing the necessary recommendations to install in Bolivia a democracy USA style:

1. “Reform of the electoral system.” In the American democracy it is not necessary to obtain a majority in the popular vote to be elected to the presidency. Al Gore defeated George W in 2000 and yet he took possession of the White House. There are democratic mechanisms very well developed in the United States, which guarantee the achievement of this political miracle: the one who loses, wins.

2. “Get rid of compulsory voting.” Make sure that only rich people can vote. For that decree that the elections take place on a working day, during working hours, just as we do it over here: on the first Tuesday in November, every two years. This way only the best and the more able will take part in the elections. In addition, we have the technology to prevent the unemployed from entertaining the very bad idea of wanting to vote.

3. “Promote the private financing of all political parties.” This way market forces will give them the resources to buy votes, politicians, opinion poll researchers, the mass media, and everything else that is needed to win an election. Do not worry if big business also offers money to your opponent, or if someone tells you politics is brought into disrepute by becoming a simple game in which two millionaires compete to see who is going to have the power. If you are a good president, you will become a millionaire too, just as it happened to many democratic presidents in Latin America.

4. “Change the composition of the Supreme Court.” If George W could win in 2000, despite having lost, it was because two Supreme Courts, the one in Florida and the Federal Court, validated the delicate operation that permitted him to correct the error committed by the electorate. The Supreme Court in Florida was reformed by his brother Jeb, and the one in Washington by his dad George the elder. So it follows that if you want to be a democrat, you need your father and your brother to fill the Supreme Court with unconditional friends, but if they cannot do it, you will have to do it yourself.

5. “Keep an eye on the riffraff.” Do not trust the electorate. Keep a strict control of the books they read, the libraries they go to, the friends they frequent, the organizations to which they belong, the petitions they sign. Make sure that the secret services listen and record their telephone conversations and check their mails. Forget any judicial orders or laws, which usually protect the terrorists. Here we do it regularly and with magnificent results.

6. “Never make any concessions to your opponents.” Discredit them by calling them enemies of Bolivia, narcoterrorists or traitors. With the most difficult ones, do as we do. We send them secretly to clandestine centers of interrogation in third world countries that are, of course, also defenders of freedom and democracy and in which torture is legal. This way we discourage their pals and obtain valuable information in order to defend democracy, freedom, and human rights.

7. “Introduce press censorship.” And make sure that they only publish or broadcast official information. Look at the things that we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan: the mainstream press, radio and television of these countries only publish and broadcast what Don (Rumsfeld) and Dick (Cheney) sanction. In almost three years of war, the public has not seen even one drop of blood, a dead body or any person crippled by the violence. Forget about the Inter-American Press Association or the Journalists without Borders.. They are ours and we have them to attack Cuba and Venezuela.

8. “Forget human rights.” That is only a joker to harass the reds, who are not people but enemies of civilization and who must be fought without quarter. Learn to do what we do in Guantanamo or in Abu Ghraib: no one is a prisoner of war, or has been arrested, or is accused of anything. Do not let the screaming of the Human Rights organizations intimidate you. If you haven’t got the right facilities in Bolivia, we can rent you a cage block in Guantanamo. Remember that we protect our terrorists and call them freedom fighters.

9. “Govern with the markets.” Do not permit the communists to trick you, as they did Lincoln. He never said that democracy is the government of the people, for the people and by the people. The correct interpretation government of the markets, by the markets, and for the markets. Remember that the greatness and the prosperity of all Bolivians will only be guaranteed by the free working of the markets. It is clear, however, that not everyone can have a seat at the table of the Lord: there has always been the chosen ones and the fallen. We have 40 million poor, and that is the fault of democrats, who obstruct the natural selection of the markets. Do not try to govern against the currents of globalization. The IMF, the BID, and the OECD will help you, just as they helped Argentina.

10. “Sow democracy.” Learn from us. If you see that a neighbor promotes policies that might affect the national security of Bolivia, do not remain with your arms crossed. Send your agents to organize, finance and unleash the opposition, which in those countries dominated by the left is usually weak and impotent. Accuse the government of being part of an axis of evil, try to damage their economy, promote sabotage and terrorism, stop Bolivian citizens from visiting that country, denounce them for their sympathies with Saddam, Bin Laden and the drug traffickers, and engineer a regime change in order to liberate the country from their oppressors. Do not worry about the international image. Vargas Llosa and the perfect Latin-American cretins will put their pens rapidly to the service of your cause. That is what we pay them for.