海角大神

For people whose worldviews were informed by a rigid Cold War paradigm of left versus right, sometimes it鈥檚 hard to move beyond the notions of a universe tidily divided into easily digestible concepts of good and bad, socialist and capitalist.

That鈥檚 especially true in Latin America, where political discourse is often constructed using antiquated terms, nebulous concepts, and old fears from a bygone era.

The opening of the S茫o Paulo Forum, a Latin American and Caribbean conference of left-leaning political parties and social movements that is holding its 17th international congress this week in Nicaragua's capital, Managua, is a case in point.

鈥淭he battle is the same against capitalism, with its most sophisticated forms of domination,鈥� said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, opening the forum. He was in his element flanked by a gaggle of 257 international leftists and personalities from 32 countries 鈥� everyone from Cuban apparatchiks, Chilean anarchists, Vietnamese Communists, and Libyan diplomats, to deposed former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya (the only guy in the room wearing a suit and tie, in daring defiance of the socialist-casual dress code).

Encouraged by enthusiastic applause from the international delegates, and the hoots of approval from his Sandinista Youth fan club dressed in their pink T-shirt uniforms, Mr. Ortega comfortably stepped into his role of the elder socialist statesman. 鈥淭he tyranny of capitalism! The tyranny of imperialism!鈥� Ortega waxed, squinting into the distance as if the lights were too bright.

Yet despite the predictable rhetoric by this year's host, the S茫o Paulo Forum actually brings together leftist politicos whose own ideological views are 鈥� in many cases 鈥� more radically divergent than the left-right divide.

This year鈥檚 congress offered a variety pack of hemisphere鈥檚 leftist parties and movements, from Argentine communists and Puerto Rican socialists to dapper Nicaraguan Sandinistas who drive SUVs and wear designer sunglasses.

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At Wednesday night鈥檚 opening ceremony, there was enough variety of 鈥渓eftist flavors鈥� to give Baskin-Robbins a run for its money. Cuban Communist Party representative Ricardo Alarc贸n says socialism in Latin America is like a 鈥渕ulticolored rainbow鈥� reflective of all the 鈥渞ichness and color that our people and cultures are capable of giving.鈥�

Even Ortega, basher of all things capitalist, has been commended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other conservative elements for achievements unbecoming of a socialist, such as maintaining macroeconomic stability, promoting job creation in the textile sector, and acting with fiscal responsibility,

But apparently, at least for the opening night, he did not want his leftist audience to believe the hype.

"We are not going to become administrators of capitalism 鈥� because that鈥檚 what they want! They try to divide us by saying: 鈥楾his left is democratic because they accept the rules of Washington. And those who don鈥檛 accept Washington鈥檚 rules are anti-democratic鈥�,鈥� Ortega said.