The speeches condemning acts of corruption and violence are increasingly repeated, but governments do not denounce those they commit

"Most people have a double moral, made, on the one hand, what they preach and not practice and, on the other, what they practice but do not preach," Bertrand Russell would have reason in his approach on this criterion, that apparently is a faithful companion of politics currently in Latin America.

Leer en español: La doble moral de la política latinoamericana

It is only a question of looking the current leaders and political figures in the region, to see this double standard that increasingly makes the Latin people more indignant.

Brazil

A clear example was lived in Brazil, when in the year 2016, Luis Ignacio Lula Da Silva through a statement expressed his repudiation before the corruption allegations against him: "repudiates any attempt to implicate his name in illegal acts" said the statement.

However, this 2018, the Brazilian former president was condemned by the Supreme Court of this nation to 12 years in prison for crimes of light corruption, money laundering, and influence peddling. This also made Da Silva, the first former president behind bars in the country of Rio.

Venezuela

Although it sounds implausible, there are more cases like this one and they have become recurrent in the region. An example of this is the Brazilian multinational Odebrecht, in which the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, is involved.

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Due to this fact, the Venezuelan executive was called to an investigation by the National Assembly of Venezuela and the Supreme Court in exile. However, Maduro has ignored the citations.

It is important to note that the Venezuelan government has double moralistic behaviors. One of the most recent cases occurred with the alleged attack against the President, where even members of the opposition condemned these actions.

However, there were not judgments about the economic and social crisis the nation is going through. In Venezuela, for example, in the health sector, nursing professionals complete more than 40 days of unemployment due to disagreement with current salaries.

Furthermore, there are the condemnations they make in the face of violent incidents, incited or provoked by "the right", but the Venezuelna government does not refer to the strong repression documented in the protests that took place a year ago in this nation.

Colombia

Another of the nations where there is a greater presence of acts with double standards is Colombia, where these actions have taken strength after the FARC links to the political life of the coffee nation, following the agreement signed with the outgoing president Juan Manuel Santos.

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In mid-January of this year, the FARC issued the following statement: "The ex-combatants of the FARC-EP and members of the Revolutionary Alternative Force of the Common have been subject to constant persecution by armed actors, who seek to destabilize the implementation of the peace accords and generate fear and anxiety among those of us who believe in the path of reconciliation today". The statements were made after the murder of two of its militants in Antioquia.

Beyond the speech of forgiveness that accompanied the political campaign of FARC, many Colombians are still waiting for the condemnation of many of the acts of the militants of this group, who today hide behind the excuse of "acts of war" .

This is a small part of the radiography that accompanies double moralist discourses in the region. Right now, it is expected there will be changes in these actions.

LatinAmerican Post | Julio Abella
Translated from “La doble moral de la política latinoamericana ”