An image from the Middle Ages: large open fields in which high-towered castles rise at random distances, protected by thick walls, with lift gates to prevent the entry of unintended visitors. Lords lived there surrounded by their courts. The outings were dangerous, in the fields and on the roads bandits and enemies were lurking, ready to attack, kidnap and kill passers-by, so the Castilians did it only with an escort. Those who, because of their wealth or class, could not obtain such company, traveled liberated by the speed of their horse, the courage to face the villains, or the modest bags with which they could cover the demands of criminals. The railways also led to cities, to city districts, settlements that were rarely very numerous, where companies and trades developed. In these conglomerates there were permanent markets or eventual fairs. We may add features, variants, and details, but the basic outline of such societies was as described.

Sectional elections in Ecuador in 2023

It doesn’t take much imagination to find similarities between medieval Europe and present-day Latin America. The most powerful classes live in fortified citadels, with electronic security and armed guards who strictly control access. Another modern version of the castle is the high towers of the “security” departments, in which the lords also hide, who leave them only accompanied by cohorts of bodyguards, drivers and nannies. In both solutions, there are luxury, executive and simple versions. Strong horses, of the Norman type or swift, of Arabian stock, have their sociological equivalent in armored vehicles, large or swift, in which versions of all prices are also evident. Ordinary streets are literally left for “that pedestrian”. Markets, although the classic fair survives, in everyday life they have been replaced by a shopping center. “mutatis mutandis”, is the Latin language used in these comparisons, i.e. “changing what needs to be changed”, the similarity between the two types of societies is neither accidental nor negligible.

In the feudal era, kings were great allies and the biggest threat. It is now a bureaucratic macrostate, viewed with suspicion but invoked as a last resort. Roman law, excellent like Aeneidhe turned to feudal law, hard as Cid’s songwhich find their modern avatar in a rational law, complex like a psychological novel or, more towards the 21st century, banal like best seller. A millennium ago, there were populist military leaders, of common origin or members of the minor nobility, with great mobilization power, but, without seeking it, they could not change the scheme, at best change the king, which was not much. These meditations attacked me the previous Sunday, when I was checking the abstinence of the powerful classes in the electoral process, dominated by the caudillos emerging from the popular strata or middle sectors. It does not seem that we will experience a change in structures, but that there will be new mediations. (OR)