After nearly four weeks in Guatemala we finally added another stamp to our passport. Though this was not attained with ease. Perhaps El Salvadoreans still harbor bitter resentment towards Americans for switching their currency to US dollars last year. Either way the effort and bureaucracy involved was profound. Crossing most borders with just a backpack is usually quite a simple affair, a few stamps and signatures and you're off.
Throw a $5,000 motorcycle in the scenario and things change exponentially. I'm convinced all of the headaches, paperwork and inconsistencies began when Eduardo wanted to give his little brother a job. Instead of devising a position based on a market need, they simply added one more sprocket into the machine. This was exemplified beautifully last month when the Guatemalan border official instructed us to walk across the street to photocopy our passports. All the while, a shiny new Xerox machine stood silently in the center of his office. Much too amused to protest, we obliged and used the other machine. Perhaps more painful then our wasted time is the misuse of such scarce resources.
Unfortunately this is a theme common to many Central American countries. A cop standing by the side of the road all day accomplishing nothing, while piles of garbage surround their truck. Or the dozens of kids hawking their trinkets in the market place, but all selling the exact same product. Someone needs to inform them that the average tourist is not going to buy the same thing twice. By diversifying their offerings they would return home with twice the money in their pocket. It seems obvious to us, but we’ve been blessed with successful business model from which to learn. Not the case down here.
Two equally poor examples have been provided for the people of Central America throughout the centuries. The first, corrupt governments hardly needs explaining, simply pick up a newspaper. Though the second caught me quite off guard. Capitalism, the hallmark of American economics, is so skewed and ill represented in this region it bears almost no resemblance to our stateside model. Understanding why Latin Americans have such a proclivity towards socialist and communist revolutions hinges upon this fact.
Throughout America’s long and tumultuous relationship with Central America, a unique brand of capitalism has been forcefully promoted. Nearly every important decision yielded to the strict benefit of either US financial interests or the wealthy local oligarchs. Our business model that worked so well within our borders was leaving a bitter taste in the average Guatemalan farmer. Loosing his land to the wealthy few and watching any monetary benefit slip northward, he crossed capitalism off his list of potential policies.
As we continued to crush the far left uprisings by the dozens we failed to contemplate the simple question of why.
Why are the people turning their back on our beloved system? Instead we paraded the most backward reflection of capitalism while supporting the ruthless regimes required to enforce these principles. Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America by Walter Lafeber provides a fascinating and well regarded history of our involvement in this tiny region.
Slicing back and forth along the El Salvadorean coast we have plenty of time to contemplate the future of this thin slice of land. History and observation provides a convincing argument that profound change will not come to this region without drastic changes in both foreign and local policy. At times it is quite difficult to remain hopeful for a region so entrenched and overshadowed by the selfish desires of a few.
Perhaps here, in the heart of the western hemispheres 'third world', the peoples yearning for God is felt most keenly. In the northern latitudes one can take faith in the relative goodness and stability of daily life. Work and income is available as is medical care and basic legal rights. One can generally glide through stateside life taking comfort in the fact that it will all work out in the end.