The choice between right and wrong is not always clear. Latin American countries have struggled for decades to find a balance between sustainability and progress, between right and wrong. Furthermore, the need to uphold the pride of a sovereign nation in the eyes of the international community is of paramount importance for any country around the world and this is especially true for Latin American nations where a culture of pride and prejudice mandates the actions of our leaders. A culture that makes it harder to discern between good and evil.

The choice between sustainability and progress gets tangled in a mess of local politics that tend to over blow and shadow the actual issue at hand. For example, the latest debacle between Ecuador and Colombia is a parody of senseless demagogy from both sides. The issue escalated for a short time to the international stage thus enabling the leaders of both countries to take advantage of the situation to garner attention to their respective governments. Mind one thing. There was not a single attempt by either side to fix the situation. The parody goes on but the international stage has pulled the curtain over the puppets, but they have not realized this yet. The parody of insults and accusations continues.

In the meantime, Ecuador is flooding. Roads across the country are closed and food is not easily accesible for many of the indigenous tribes across the country. However, this is not a concern for President Correa that has not once used the international stage to ask for help for his people.

Sustainability vs. Progress in South American countries is a contradiction. The anti-American feeling that has been forming over the years under a troubled US foreign policy is now reflected in the inadequacy of some of the Latin American leaders.

Bolivia’s Evo Morales wants to stop the exploitation that multinationals have brought to his country. The water issue as the most troubling example, where an American company had full control of the water resources for a large portion of the population. That is a fair yet lonesome goal if the Bolivia is not willing to open up to accept support from industrialized nations. Industrialized nations can bring progress as they bring destruction.

Ecuador’s Correa continues to contradict himself in the plans that he has for the country (if any). His main goal seems to be to bring shame upon Colombia for dealing with a problem that he could not deal with when presented with it. The FARC are entering Ecuador and Correa is not doing anything and to complement hs lack of strong action against a terrorist threat, he has ordered some of his Ministers to collaborate with the FARC.

Colombia’s society is a complex and fascinating issue onto itself. The sheer disconnect between the population suffering the effects of a civil war that has been going on for decades and the “other” [the affluent/the shielded] population is astonishing. Colombia’s society has decided to deal with the thread by being blind to it. By exposing a section of its population to the war while shielding others. By not dealing with the issue as a society.

The choice between sustainability and progress in Latin America translates to choosing between generations of terratenientes to lead us into a less-than-fair economic progress or a new generation of power hungry politicians that need a stage to grow their personal “brands” and economic goals. Often, after a failed attempt to fix a Latin American country’s economy, an ex-president is received with open arms at top International schools thus making the trouble worth their while.

This history of failed leaders and caudillos have made Spanish speaking Latin American countries distrust Government just as much as they distrust the Catholic Church.