BOOK REVIEW

An Ambitious Introduction to Latin Americas Politics

Itty Abraham

hen I returned to India after six months of eldwork in Brazil, more than two decades ago, I met a senior journalist who scoffed at my excitement at having spent this time in Latin America. Whats the use of studying Brazil? he asked, they are just in the pocket of the United States. This was a view widely shared in New Delhi during the cold war, and in many ways, it was not incorrect. Latin Americas long and tortuous geopolitical history so far from God, so close to the United States, as Mexican dictator Porio Diaz is said to have commented has shaped the continent in profound ways. In 2012, however, the story is quite different. India and Brazil are closer to each other than ever before, and, more important, the relationship between the two countries is far more complex than can be dened by state-state ties. Even if there is a long way to go, it is unlikely that someone in my position would receive the same reaction today as I did in 1989. In some ways, the best evidence of that change is the book under review, Vasant Kumar Bawas well-written and ambitious introduction to the region and its politics. Bawa is well known for other accomplishments: as a historian of Hyderabad and editor of the journal Deccan Studies. A former IAS ofcer, he has also long held a fascination with the region going back to the 1950s and his studies at Tulane Universitys vibrant Latin American studies programme. His experience of following Latin American events
Economic & Political Weekly EPW

Latin America: An Introduction by Vasant Kumar Bawa (Delhi: National Book Trust), 2010; pp 322, Rs 90.

has produced a book that is both timely and offers an effective political overview of the region. It is modestly priced and would be well suited for both undergraduates as well as newly anointed members of the Indian Foreign Service. The book is ambitious in scope. It begins with the Conquest and brings the story up to the present, with discussions of every Spanish-speaking country in the region as well as Brazil. Obviously, historical depth is forgone in favour of breadth, but Bawa is able to show important variations across this complex region as well as draw a few lessons for south Asia. Fortunately, he resists the temptation to divide the book into country chapters; instead, he offers what might be called an international regional history approach that is able to include Napolon, M N Roy, the League against Imperialism, as well as Ch in Africa, without losing focus. Of Heroes and Suggestions Bawas book has its heroes. These include an intellectual, a community, and a country. Argentine Ral Prebischs work at the Economic Commission for Latin America in the 1940s and 1950s is justly praised for its intellectual justication of what would become the national development strategy of newly independent countries around the world: import-substituting industrialisation. Cubas decades-long battle
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against United States (US) hegemony, while in the process creating a unique and progressive social contract, is also given due prominence. Bawa argues that Cuba has a lot to teach the world in terms of ecological management, but, oddly, does not mention their extraordinary healthcare system that also earns Cuba billions of dollars annually from overseas projects. The highlighted community is the indigenous; a category takes many shapes in the region, from isolated tribes in the Amazon to Evo Morales, the rst non-white president of Bolivia. The struggle for indigenous rights in a continent that has a history of brutal racial suppression second to none is a story in itself, and it is to Bawas credit that he makes it one of his central themes. Bawa closes with some tentative suggestions for south Asian regional cooperation, based on Latin Americas history. He mentions in particular the lack of territorial aggression between states and the high levels of intra-regional communication in the latter, and wonders if south Asia could learn from this example. While such an outcome would be desirable, it might be the case that having a constant and overpowering threat like the US does more for regional cooperation than high-minded principles. India is far away from Brazil in more ways than one. The current mutual interest in each other comes it must be recognised for pragmatic reasons, not idealistic ones. Whether the opportunity offered by pragmatism can be converted into something deeper and more sustainable is the challenge for those of us who would like to see these two world regions overcome the constraints of geography and histories of indifference.
Itty Abraham (seaai@nus.edu.sg) teaches at the National University of Singapore.

january 26, 2013

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