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1/ "Through Northern Eyes" - that was the title of one of my job talks. It comes to mind every day when I see American commentators using the Latin American dictatorships of the 60s and 70s to teach how democracies die or persist.
2/ This insight is not mine: I learned it from my mentors in a field of study called Latin American Studies. Unfortunately, that, too, was dominated by American scholars who, again, misunderstood our context.
3/ Our universities are among the 100 best in the world. Obviously, Ivy League ones have the resource$$ to rank higher, but don't you dare think you can speak to us as anything but equals.
4/ We can help you think your endangered American democracy. We are actually better in international comparative analysis than you are. There are comparable items in Bolsonaro's and Trump's ascension to power.
5/ Not the dictatorships from the 60s and 70s, though. They were not a result of the democratic forces playing "hardball" against the right. They were the result of a Cold War partitioning of the international geopolitical landscape.
6/ Our dictatorships were much more a result of the American "need" to keep Latin America as its backyard than anything else. Yes, internal dynamics were quite determinant. Why don't you ASK us instead of patronizing us with your Northern-Eye insights?
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