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The decision about just when and how to withdraw support from a dictatorship is excruciatingly difficult. There are no rules, no laws; choices must be made case by case with subtlety, sophistication and patience. Differences of degree as well as kind must be recognized. It is not enough to put governments into two files, democratic and undemocratic. There are regimes that are improving and regimes that are deteriorating. There are sound and unsound democracies, tolerable and intolerable dictatorships, more or less repression. Even "corruption," so offensive to most Americans, comes in different degrees and must be judged--and fought--in a local context and in the light of local mores. It is the precarious business of statesmanship to recognize these differences and not be deceived by labels. The government of Mexico, readily classified as a democracy, is in certain respects just as harsh and repressive as many regimes classified as dictatorships. The simple litmus test for freedom and civil rights applicable in advanced societies (although they are often violated there as well) cannot be used, for instance, in a country like Turkey, which for decades was ravaged by civil strife and terror. The executive editor of the New York Times, A.M. Rosenthal, asked unhappily in a recent magazine article: "Do we really only have (a) choice between the lesser of evils?" In many cases and in much of the world, that is indeed the only choice we have. To recognize this is not to abandon or betray American ideals but only to see that these ideals require the support of practical and feasible policy.
Americans sometimes think that it is enough to express disapproval of a regime and to withdraw economic support. Both gestures make us feel better, but they do not necessarily work. What Americans are much less inclined to do ! is provide the difficult and costly positive actions needed to promote democracy: careful involvement with local opposition groups, behind-the-scenes diplomatic maneuvers and, occasionally, military pressure. The U.S. has sometimes tried to encourage and work with prodemocratic political organizations, open or covert, in other countries, but it has not been particularly successful or skillful in this effort. We must understand that the most important task usually does not end but only begins with the overthrow of a dictator. In the wake of the Falklands defeat, Argentina got rid of its ruling generals, and as far as many Americans were concerned, that was it. But helping Argentina's fragile democracy survive is infinitely more difficult and demands far more skill--and more money. It is easy enough to cheer the new regime because it upholds civil liberties and human rights, but it is far harder to help its struggling economy--and part of that help should include recognition that the debt burden borne by Latin America must somehow be eased if it is not to lead to political explosions.