leadership during democratic transitions by learning on the go or by committing their leadership in favor of democracy. The latter makes it a particularly rich text in the tradition of Interview with History( 1974) by the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci. Herein she talked with important world leaders and taught us a lot about the history, customs, miseries and high-level politics. Her book is built as a stained glass and condensed into a single beam of light. In an exercise of inherent contrast, I feature three differences in the Bitar-Lowenthal book that are relevant for Cubans. The first is the purpose. This book is an academic case study based on political life stories in superb combination— with few precedents— of intellectual work and biography. The second is the nature. The variety of characters and stories is built around a shared axis of making a significant difference for the wellbeing of wider communities, running over specific circumstances. The third is that, despite the diversity of historical richness, tradition and culture among countries and leaders, all transitions handled a similar menu of concepts, options and variables that combine in different ways to produce a similar result: the leaders and countries recognize, with certain reluctance in some cases, political pluralism, fundamental freedoms and human rights, the rule of law and free and democratic elections.
A journey through world leadership in geographic and cultural sense Bitar and Lowenthal talked with frontline leaders: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil( 1995- 2003); Patricio Aylwin, President of Chile( 1990-1994); Ricardo Lagos, President of Chile( 2000-2006); John Agyekum Kufuor, President of Ghana( 2001-2009), Jerry John Rawlings, President of Ghana( 1993- 2001); Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, President of Indonesia( 1998-1999); Ernesto Zedillo,
President of Mexico( 1994-2000); Fidel Ramos, President of the Philippines( 1992-1998); Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland( 1995-2005); Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Prime Minister of Poland( 1989-1991); Willem Frederik de Klerk, President of South Africa( 1984-1994); Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa( 1999-2008), and Felipe González, President of Spain( 1982- 1996). In preparing the transition, Cardoso saw the hard core of his strategy in " not cornering the military, but inducing them to come to the process for seeking a way out ". If the matter is to put an end to authoritarian regimes, all we agree that the military do not cede power until an important inner sector perceives that a substantial loss of public support can lead to harmful or uncontrollable consequences. These leaders emphasize how to handle the transfer of power. Leading a government requires a technically and politically well-prepared staff. New responsibilities must be faced in new contexts that should not invite improvisation. Gonzalez, Mbeki and Mazowiecki underline the need to maintain certain staff from the previous regime, because the governance is more complex and requires skills and knowledges that, for obvious reasons, are scarce among the political actors within the democratic opposition. Such staff is important for stabilizing and institutionalizing emerging democracies. It ´ s crucial to understand and promote the process in Cuba that all these leaders consider important to take advantages of the opportunities to advance, albeit partially, instead of rejecting a gradual progress with the hope of reaching a bigger and even total change later. Gonzalez used the expression " get out of the well "— and then Cardoso put it in context— to indicate the importance of gaining in strength and influence before making
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