". . . there's a basis for democratic change. Take what happened in Bolivia a couple of days ago. How did a leftist indigenous leader get elected? Was it showing up at the polls once every four years and saying, 'Vote for me!'? No. It's because there are mass popular organizations which are working all the time on everything from blocking privatization of water to resources to local issues and so on, and they're actually participatory organizations. Well, that's democracy. We're a long way from it. And that's one task of organizing."

"Chomsky: 'There Is No War On Terror" is an interview of Noam Chomsky conducted by Geov Parrish at AlterNet.

In the interview Chomsky talks briefly about Bolivia. Now there's the election of Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Roberto Espíndola in the linked-to article reports that Bachelet faced heavy right-wing opposition in the form of "an expensive, negative campaign focussing on her and seeking to persuade voters that a woman – and a divorced, agnostic, socialist single mother, into the bargain – couldn’t possibly become Chile’s president." Apparently enough people in Chile didn't believe that. (Holy shit--a female President of a country in macho South America? Yes.)

(What John Perkins said recently in an article at AlterNet may also be illuminating as to what's going on down south.)