teleSUR — 'Socialism is the Radical Transformation of Democracy,' Says Bolivian Vice President

Democracy is in need of a major overhaul and the socialist movements of Latin America are the ones to deliver it, Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said Tuesday. Speaking at the Meeting for Latin American Progressives conference in Quito, Ecuador, the Bolivian leader criticized the way democracies operate in the world today.

The vice president listed two main areas of concern: a lack of citizen participation in decision making processes and the monopolization of power by elites. “In many societies, not even 2 percent of the population participate in making decisions,” said Garcia Linera. These include the “false democracies of the North ... and it is not a model we want to imitate or follow,” he added….

Above all, added Garcia Linera, people must fight for sovereignty and the right to participate in making decisions that affect their surroundings and not be controlled by other foreign powers, particularly global neoliberal interests, said the vice president.

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'Socialism is the Radical Transformation of Democracy,' Says Bolivian Vice President