The Catholic Church's role in promoting democracy and human rights in Latin America

Advancing Democracy in Latin America Through the Church

The whole of Latin America has been weighed down by dictatorial regimes. The age of Human rights and democracy had been met with brute force. Many of these military takeovers had been planned extremely methodically and the political forces could do nothing else but avoid any all-out confrontation with the military generals. However, a few groups who did resist the takeovers had been crushed in a short time. Also, due to lack of accountability and prevalent state of lawlessness, corruption became widespread (Edward, 1997).

It is important to note that during the cold war America directed many secret CIA operations throughout Latin America. These operations created a bad mind set amongst the people of Latin America for the United States. Also, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, public opinions between United States and Latin America had started to differ on major fundamental issues and as a result have created a huge gap between the two regions (Richard, 2001). However, one institution remains firmly intact with its roots both in Latin America and United States: the Catholic Church. And in light of the latest developments in international politics, it has become imperative for United States to promote its interests of democracy, human rights, economic growth and political stability.

This paper will assess the current state of democracy in Latin America and will then assess the cultural, political, social and economic standing of the Catholic Church so as to understand the role it can play in the promotion of the global interests of the United States of America. The paper will also briefly review the various religious factions emerging in the region and also discuss the potential barriers that may arise should the Catholic Church be used to promote American interests throughout the Latin American Countries.

Current State of Democracy in Latin America

Introduction

It is not surprising to note that many scholars in Latin America have emphasized an increased role of the government in maintaining business and cultural ethics along with the growth and development of the economy. This is because the entire Latin America is moving towards free market economy and it is critical to conduct businesses in an ethical manner. Furthermore, many scholars have asserted that it has been extremely difficult to intervene in the social, economic as well as political matters of the state and the scholars blame the principals of neo-liberalism for the inflexibility (Thomas, 2002).

What has made matters worse for the Latin American governments is that the local and international media has been very severe continuously disclose the rampant corruption in the public service organizations throughout the region; along with the incompetent policies carried out by these governments. Lawlessness is prevalent throughout Latin America and women, children, and racial minorities have been subject to rape, murder, torture and consistent abuse, both by the law enforcement agencies as well as the underground mafias (Thomas, 2002).

Therefore it is critical to understand the rapidly growing social order of the countries in Latin America so as to understand the socio-economic and political dynamics that have been influencing that region. Also many scholars have pointed out that the civil society has been playing a critical role in reshaping the societal values at the grass root level. Therefore to understand the state of democracy in these countries, it is important to understand the growing civil society and its culture (Thomas, 2002).

Human Rights

The state of human rights has been pretty poor right through Latin America. Corrupt law enforcement agencies, inefficient judiciary and lackluster government are the primary reasons for poor human rights record. The worsening human rights situation has made the people loose faith in the electoral process and the weak judicial system. Colored people, women and children suffer the highest level of abuse. A number of NGO's have been pressurizing the governments to come up to the international standards of human rights and allow their people to live in a culture free of torture, rape, murder, extortion and drugs. Huge strides have to be taken so as to transform the legal system of Latin America from repressive laws to governmental policies to people friendly laws and governmental policies (Thomas, 2002).

The social Culture

The conditions at the state level are extremely hopeless and any transformation at the highest governmental level needs years of persistency. However, the scenes at the grass root level throughout the Latin American region have been extremely encouraging to note. One of the reasons for this is the growing awareness of the contemporary economic opportunities and threats that have emerged due mainly to the process of globalization (Thomas, 2002).

Education

The world is moving towards becoming an open society. However, very little has been done to develop the education system of Latin America in this regard. Furthermore, the education system has been hijacked by the government throughout Latin America, both philosophically and meticulousness (Thomas, 2002). Education is being treated as a market product and as a result has become a matter to business and competition. Also the education system has allowed the rich families to give private, high-quality education to their children while the under privileged families have no option but to send their children to low-standard government schools (Alvaro 2002).

Economic Growth

The Latin American countries have been under a tremendous amount of debt. This foreign debt amounts to hundreds of billions of American dollars. This culture of acquiring loans from foreign sources started during the 1960's and became a severe burden during the 1980's as well as the 1990's. It is believed by many economic scholars that the present amount of debt cannot be paid back. The huge debt has been the primary reason for the poor economic growth throughout the Latin American countries, since it has caused widespread poverty, joblessness and illiteracy (Thomas, 2002).

Christendom vs. secularism Liberation theology vs. conservatism in Latin America

Christendom can be classified as a belief founded upon a specific brand of relationship between the church and the people, rested firmly on the intervention of the state. The essence of the Christendom is believed to possess two swords, one being the Pope and the other being the head of State. However, many scholars believe that this relationship has had a severe blow in the face of globalization and transnationalization. It is important to note there that the followers of Christendom are in huge majority in the Latin America, particularly the Roman Catholics; however, many scholars have also noted the rise of evangelical-Protestants. These scholars believe that an all-out confrontation might be possible between the two groups in an attempt to acquire support and cooperation from the people and the state actors so as to establish not only their supremacy in the religious field but also to augment their social, economic and political agenda throughout Latin America (Rene, 1999).

Secular Liberation theology focuses on the relentless energy of religion seen throughout the Latin America countries as a vibrant and forceful social system, implanted and surrounded in the life of the people as a realm of social activity and not political action. Almost all sociological scholars of modernization and internationalization believe that religion should be demoted to a secondary status and the state should be following policies independent of religious influence. However, religion and especially Catholicism has been very rooted in the socio-economic structures of Latin America and the sociological scholars of modernization and internationalization have found it very difficult to carry out their agenda, as a result, these secular forces of modernization and internationalization have been looking to develop coalitions with international organizations so as to gain legality and become a political and economic force in Latin America (Catalina, 2001).

While the whole of Europe and United States developed and remained devoted to science and technology, their perspectives on different social issues also grew with the progress of science and technology. This growth on issues related to rational, realism, and critical thinking, and has influenced shared procedures of the construction of their societies. However, all this time the main areas of discussion in Latin America had been the socio-economic literature related to theology. The conservative forces in Latin America as well as that of North America see Catholic education as means of analyzing the contemporary world to bring about a socio-economic change in their life styles. These forces view the secular Liberation theology in a very negative way and are reluctant to adopt the ideas of modernity brought by the Liberation theology (Catalina, 2001).

Globalization and the Church

The rapid technological and cultural transformations taking place all over the world has been accompanied by quick and steady changes in the religious scene throughout Latin America. Many scholars believe that both, the rapid technological and cultural transformations and the religious change, in many regards are interrelated to one another, despite that fact that they both are completely separate from each other. It is also believed that religions is so deeply rooted in the social culture of the people of Latin America that social transformation can never take place without any change taking place in religious institution (Daniel, 2003).

The Catholic Church has been very eager to accept the process of globalization. This is because it provides a chance for the Church fraternity to organize and plan their religious ideology at the global level. Also the Catholic Church has had a tremendous amount of following and majority of them belong to the poor and underprivileged class. Globalization will give these people an opportunity to interact with the rest of the world and at that same time give them a chance to enhance their socio-economic welfare. The enhancement in the socio-economic welfare of the people will eventually reinforce the status of the Catholic Church. Despite that fact that the Catholic Church has encountered a great deal of resistance from local groups that have emerged due to globalization and internationalization of religion, it is more than ever determined to promote the process of globalization because it thinks it will gradually enhance the quality of life throughout the region. However, it is important to note that internationalization and globalization of religion does not possess that same dynamics to that of internationalization and globalization of businesses. Therefore, it is imperative that all major concerns are taken into consideration when attempting to use religious institutions to enhance the process of globalization (Daniel, 2003).

The willingness of the Church

The religious transformations that have been taking place throughout the Latin American region have tremendous inclinations towards the creation of a strong and stable democracy. The strengthening of religious institution has reinforced and blossomed the community life throughout the region. These enriched local communities can become a strong driving force of the civil society at large to enforce democracy, provided they are strongly backed by the Catholic Church (Daniel, 2003).

It is important to note that the Catholic Church is perhaps the only institution that has the potential to promote the wider agenda of globalization since it is deeply embedded into the lives of the people of this region. Also the willingness of the Catholic Church to promote the process of globalization has been very encouraging. This is because it will empower the Catholic Church and give it unprecedented authority over the entire region (Daniel, 2003).

The Catholic fraternity realizes that without their efforts the process of democracy, human rights, economic growth etc., which are a wider part of the process of globalization, cannot be accomplished. It is without a shadow of doubt that democracy cannot flourish without a booming economy, but a sound economic system cannot be established with integrating the local socio-economic traditions to globalization. Therefore the Catholic Church can turn out to be a vital instrument for promoting democracy, human rights, political stability, economic growth and education throughout the Latin American region and its optimism and drive for promoting democracy should be encouraged by all international actors (Daniel, 2003).

Obstacles for the Church

Many scholars believe that the economic and political instability throughout Latin America can turn out to be a major obstacle for the Catholic Church in promoting democracy, human rights, political stability, economic growth and education in that American region. It was at first believed that the transformation of the Latin American economies towards capitalism had been extremely impressive. However, as things turned out, the situation at hand is quite the opposite. Unemployment, illiteracy and corruption are prevailing throughout Latin America and are considered by many to be the major impediments towards the promotion of globalization and the wider American agenda it carries with itself (Daniel, 2003).

Many scholars believe that the process of globalization will help in stabilizing the life styles of the Latin American people since it will allow them to find work that can fulfill the basic needs of the people of this region. This conviction is also rare amongst the theologians of the Catholic Church, despite that fact that some do have reservations toward the international mediation in the local economies of the Latin American region. It is also important that microeconomics is given due consideration since the macroeconomic reforms have increased poverty and unemployment throughout the region. Many people fear that the tremendous achievements towards the process of democratization and macro-economic stability in the preceding decade and a half can reversed if concrete steps are not taken by the Catholic Church in collaboration with international organizations (David 1997).

Conclusion

It is important to note that religion in Latin America, as in other parts of the world, has been undergoing consistent changes and transformation as it tries to adapt to the culture brought forth by the process of globalization. One can safely argue that despite the threat emerging from various quarters, both local and international, Catholic Church has been able to not only maintain its followers but has also been able to embellish and beautify its century old traditions. The presence of Catholicism is quite apparent in the lives of the people of Latin America.

The people of Latin America give the impression that they are consistently energized by contemporary Catholic ideas, as well as, are making efforts to create fresh relationships and acquire contemporary political and social expertise at the grass root level of their civil society. These people have also shown to possess an original determination of fulfilling their purpose. They have been able to take advantage of these new relationships to construct countless movements, but these movements have been restricted to levels of the communities and sole-purposes. This is because these movements have been heavily reliant on the political forces to spread and support their campaigns and the political forces have not been able to back these low-level movements.

Lastly, one can safely argue that the politically elected governments, as well as, the dictatorial regimes have been a complete failure in promoting the American interests in Latin America. Therefore, the Catholic Church due to its strong influence on the people and due to its century old roots in the Latin American culture seems to be the only answer to promote the wider aims of democracy, human rights, economic growth, political stability and national security throughout Latin America and help the people of Latin America who are in desperate need of a change.