Foro de Sao Paulo

At the Foro de Sao Paulo, leftist parties from across Latin America came together (as they have since 1990) to discuss common issues. Multiple news agencies, including Cuban, note the emphasis on needing to "re-encounter dialogue."

This puzzles me a bit. My impression has been that there is more leftist dialogue now than ever. It's even institutionalized in ALBA, UNASUR, CELAC, etc. Leftist politicians and activists communicate extensively on social media. TeleSur provides leftist commentary to a broad audience.

On the other hand, are those actually examples of dialogue? I am not sure what they meant, but you could easily make an argument that what we hear now is endless monologue, even in fora intended to foster dialogue.

We hear a lot of empty phrases about anti-colonialism, but where is the open discussion about why Bolivia's economy is doing so well (hint, hint, it is not about copying the Cuban economic model, which the document also mentions) while others are not? What about discussion of how to build a lasting leftist party structure that transcends individuals, which has happened in some countries but not others? What about strategies of overcoming dependence on a single commodity? Etc.

That would be dialogue, and would be beneficial to all. More likely, though, we'll hear the same steady stream of buzzwords.