Dissatisfaction runs deep in Latin America. But that is hardly surprising since what Latin Americans desire – be it justice, wealth, security, or liberty – is often denied them. Most North Americans do not share their distress or frustration. Though vulnerable to petroleum shortages, trade deficits, and an occasional stock market “crash,” most people in the United States and Canada still feel quite secure. In contrast, many Latin Americans are guaranteed much less in life, and suffer from considerably more discord.

Politically, North Americans confine their feuds primarily to selecting officials and debating public policies, but in Latin America feuds are more fundamental. Unlike their neighbors to the north who read Plato, Machiavelli, Locke, and Marx to understand their intellectual heritage, Latin Americans consult them to find solutions to political problems as yet unsolved. Among them today you will find democrats, authoritarians, and communists who all insist that they know what is best for themselves and their neighbors.

To understand how this all came about and why it persists we need to look into the past as well as the present. In this chapter a fictional president will help us do just that. He does not represent all Latin American presidents; no one could. While these nations share many things, they also differ in important ways, and no single narrative can include everything. Here we will learn how one person understands the Latin American condition and determines what he will do about it. As you read his account, you should judge for yourself his chances for success.