Castro regaining appeal in Latin America

Story last updated at 7:06 a.m. Wednesday, May 28, 2003 Knight Ridder Newspapers

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA--Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's ability to draw more than 10,000 Argentine supporters to an off-the-cuff outdoor speech on a cold night illustrates the aging communist strongman's resurgent appeal in Latin America.

In the 1990s, when Latin American nations undertook free-market reforms that yielded economic booms, most leaders kept their distance from Castro. But most countries in the region are now in economic crisis, poverty is rising and Castro's identification with efforts to lift the poor is back in vogue.

Leftists wary of privatization and unbridled open markets now rule in Chile, Brazil, Venezuela and Ecuador. Politicians described as center-left and populist rule in Peru, Paraguay and Argentina. Only war-ravaged Colombia and Bolivia have clearly conservative presidents.

Castro stole the show at Sunday's inauguration of Argentine President Nestor Kirchner. Two years ago in Mexico, Cuba's human rights record earned him cold shoulders from regional leaders.

But on Sunday, Argentine lawmakers received Castro with thunderous applause, overlooking his recent jailing of prominent artists and dissidents and the summary trial and execution of three ferry hijackers.

On Monday night, Castro was to deliver an address at the University of Buenos Aires law school, known for promoting human rights in a country where 30,000 are believed to have been killed by military dictatorships.

Hordes of listeners, thousands more than the law school's auditorium could hold, overran security guards and trampled those inside. The event was moved outside onto university steps, where hours later thousands arrived to hear a trademark fiery Castro speech that lasted more than two and a half hours.

What is Castro's appeal? One explanation is the failure of U.S.-espoused economic reforms to narrow social gaps, followed by the election of a new batch of leftist leaders in South America who are friendly to Castro's social views.

Carlos Manfroni, a conservative Argentine political analyst, blames rampant corruption for the failure of the economic policies of the 1990s to improve the lot of the poor and for the gains of Castro supporters in South America. "When countries fail because they cannot combat corruption effectively, this discredits the free market and leads to nostalgia for positions that are more statist and protectionist," he said. "This is what opens the microphones again for the left."