This is an interview with Alberto Acosta, ex-Minister of Energy and Mines, and ex-President of the Constituent Assembly [Ecuador], in his Quito office on July 8, 2010. In the interview he makes some very interesting comments about the dependence of his country and others to sell their resources on the world market. I'm inclined to think that he is correct when he states,
Socialism of the twenty-first century has absolutely no meaning. It has no meaning. We need to rescue socialism from the errors of the last century, but we can’t do this by promoting some kind of “new age” socialism. For me, twenty-first century socialism has no meaning, it is pure rhetoric.It appears to me that leftist leaders of South America are following the lead of China and Brazil by instituting more government control over their capitalist economies to serve national interests instead of merely the Empire's, and providing some concessions to minority participation in decision making.