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more than three decades of heeding Washington's advice, economic critics now point to the fact that the borrowing country's national sovereignty is jeopardized as a result of SAPs [4]. Because of the binding stipulations that are set on loans, the government of the borrowing country is limited in making decisions on economic and social issues. The country thus relies on bankers and politicians from Washington to decide what is best for the nation. Ostensibly, the outcome has been social and economic disparity.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, "there are currently more poor people (over 200 million) in the area today than the early 1980s" [2]. By the 1980s, the region was just beginning to show its obedience to Washington's plan for assistance. Statistics like these contradict the anticipated outcome for Washington's SAPs, while they simultaneously demonstrate that Washington does no better at financial management than dictators and greedy oligarchs.

Some of the more stellar examples of SAP failures are Argentina and its financial collapse from 1999-2002, Ecuador's financial collapse in January 2000, Bolivia's accumulated debt of billions of dollars after two decades of SAP adherence, Mexico's rapid rise in inflation in 1987, and Haiti which remains the poorest nation in the region. It has been a hard lesson to learn not to do business with Washington, but the region is coming around to its senses and the backlash is being felt in the United States.

The detrimental socio-economic effects of the Washington Consensus and its SAPs have been felt throughout the region with continued economic stagnation and a sharp rise in poverty which has exacerbated the economic gap between the rich and the poor. It is an equation which is highly imbalanced, at best.

This is the reality on which Chavez bases his criticism, and the skepticism experienced by the region's population toward Washington is hereby justifiable. As a result of the Washington Consensus and its SAPs, Latin America has experienced a thirty year delay in development. This though should not come as a shock, as common economic sense deduces that a country which spends all its economic resources on debt payoff to bankers will have nothing remaining to develop itself internally.

This is what has taken place in the region, and this is what the region's recent political shift to the left is all about. Although Chavez has wasted no opportunity in taking a stand against Washington's financial meddling, a majority of the region is following suit and expressing the same discouragement toward U.S. policies, albeit not so uncouth.

Whether they believe in Hugo's criticism, or in their own personal experience, the people are electing leaders who will oppose the policies mandated from the U.S. Popular sentiment has been clearly expressed as Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua have recently elected leaders who are committed to the rejection of these policies.

Meanwhile, this trend is forecasted to continue as Chavez and the rest of Latin America continue to abstain from neo-liberal prescriptions, while shifting to the left of the political spectrum.

Bibliography
1. "demoligarchic" is a term which the writer of this piece coined in the year 2000 as part of a thesis on Hugo Chavez' rise to power. Its meaning encapsulates an oligarchic political structure that relies on a quasi-democratic electoral arena which facilitates the maintenance of power among the oligarchy.
2. http://www.pww.org/article/vie w/6815/1/264/
3. http://www.50years.org/action/ s26/factsheet2.html
4. http://www.jubileeusa.org/file admin/user_upload/Resources/Ed ucation_Action_Packet/SAP.pdf

Learn more about this author, David A.G. Fischer.
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