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Don’t Cry for Argentina, Democracy is Gaining Ground
By Senator Richard T. Moore October 1, 2007...Recently, Joanne and I were honored to be invited by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to participate in the organization’s annual officers’ bi-partisan study tour. During the past year, I served as Chairman of the NCSL Steering Committee, and the study tour for the year was Argentina to work with our legislative counterparts to help them strengthen representative democracy.
Although our days usually began before 6AM and never ended before 11:30PM, the study tour allowed us to meet people devoted to democracy who represented vibrant economic communities in regions of spectacular natural beauty. In many ways, the regions of Argentina that we visited were strikingly similar to regions of the United States. Buenos Aires, the capital, is not unlike Washington, D.C. It has its Casa Rosada, or Pink House, which serves as the Presidential Palace and at the opposite end of a long avenue sits the National Congress building, where we were welcomed by several leading members of the Congress. The parks and squares, much like Washington, are graced with statues of military and political leaders throughout the nation’s history. The Province of Santa Fe reminded us of the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota with mostly flat green lands and a strong agricultural history. Another province, Neuquén (pronounced No-Ken) is much like Arizona and Colorado with its arid, sage brush covered hills, while the western most part — the cities of San Juan de Los Andes, and Bariloche have the look of Wyoming and Idaho, although the snow-capped Andes mountains seem much higher. Argentina shares more than its geographic similarities with the United States and there are distinct Massachusetts links as well. The first Argentine Constitution was based on the U. S. Constitution that was written, largely, by our own John Adams. Juan Baptist Alberdi, one of the Argentine great Argentine thinkers and founding fathers, travelled to the United States and brought back much of our country’s democratic concepts and principles giving him the title of “inspiration of the Constitution.” The writer-scholar Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, whose statue can be found in Boston along Commonwealth Avenue, was an admirer of Horace Mann and continued an extensive correspondence with Mann’s widow, Mary, after Mann’s death. Sarmiento is viewed as the “father of free public education in Argentina, and much of South America.” Even the Argentine Navy has a connection to Massachusetts. The “father of the Argentine Navy,” was Irish-born William Brown, whose early youth was spent in South Boston. Beyond the similarities of geography and history, Argentina is culturally similar to America in many ways. Of course, the Pampas region has its cowboys, called “Gauchos,” and there were many battles between these cowboys and the Indians, or Native Americans, of Argentina. There is also a large population with Italian heritage who brought the culture and food of Italy to South America during the same years of Italian emigration to the United States. Argentina also has its Jewish, Chinese, German, and French neighborhoods and cities as well. Of course, Argentine wine competes successfully with the vineyards of California and is a growing favorite in the United States. Our NCSL-sponsored visit to Argentina was at the invitation of officials of the Argentine National Congress and the state legislature of Santa Fe Province who attended the NCSL Annual Meeting in Boston this past August. The National Congress and the Argentine state legislatures are anxious to receive assistance from state legislators and legislative staff from the United States to help build a stronger representative democracy. The need for this assistance is based on Argentine history during the nineteen hundreds when that nation slipped into military dictatorship during several periods. When military juntas took control, they saw no need for representative, democratic assemblies like a National Congress or state legislatures. The National Conference of State Legislatures has produced a wide range of material, much of it printed in Spanish, as well as English, that helps to teach the concepts of representative democracy that we hope to share with our Argentine counterparts. We also hope to host young Argentine legislative staffers in our state legislatures for internships to help build the professional development of theft cadre of legislative and congressional staff. Our delegation was particularly impressed with the commitment of Argentine legislators to be effective representatives of their people. When we visited the Santa Fe legislature, our visit coincided with a weekly program called, “Deputy for a Day,” when high school students from various regions are brought to the state capitol building to practice representative democracy. We had been advised by our U. S. Embassy staff in Buenos Aires that Argentina is officially “cool” toward the United States; however, we never felt any “cold shoulders.” In fact, we were especially moved on our arrivals at the state capitols in both Santa Fe and Neuquén to see “Old Glory,” the flag of the United States of America, flying alongside the blue, white and gold Argentine flag. The Speaker of the Neuquén Legislature, Oscar Alejandro Gutierrez, told us that, on the morning of our visit, someone called the local radio station questioning the presence of the United States flag on the capitol grounds. He told us that he had subsequently gone on the radio himself, as he apparently does quite often, to straighten out the caller, noting that it was both courtesy to welcome a visiting delegation of legislators as well as a mark of sincere respect. At each stop along our delegation’s travels through Argentina, we were graciously received by top state and local leaders, and were feted at banquets and receptions. Both Santa Fe and Neuquën legislatures entertained us with local folk singers and, in Neuquén, Lt. Governor Federico Guillermo Brollo, who is acting Governor while the elected Governor campaigns for the Argentine presidency, gave a rousing rendition of two Neuquén folks songs to everyone’s delight. The City Council of Bariloche even presented me with a certificate declaring me as an “Honorary Citizen of Bariloche, Argentina.” At the close of the trip, Joanne and I were the guests of the U. S. Ambassador to Argentina, Earl A. Wayne, for a special reception at the Ambassador’s Residence — an ornate mansion built in the early nineteen hundreds, and purchased by the U. S. government in the 1930’s. Even at the Embassy, we found a local connection, since the Embassy’s public affairs officer is a native of South Boston. Clearly, we learned that Argentina wants to grow deeper roots for its democracy. Argentine leaders believe that a stronger Congress and state legislatures, as well as efforts to educate Argentine youth in democratic principles, will help to ensure political stability in future years. The opportunities for economic development and trade between the U. S. and Argentina are also substantial given the highly educated workforce and the wide range of products that Argentina has to offer. |
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