Thirty years after the “third democratic wave”, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), International IDEA and Casa de América organized a roundtable on “Political Process in Andean Countries” on 26 September 2008, in Madrid, Spain to examine the progress and setbacks sustained by democratic governance in Andean countries together with the measures they have adopted in response. The event included scholars, government officials, Spanish experts and international agencies located in Spain as well as political leaders from Andean countries.
The objectives of the roundtable included:
- stimulating discussion on how to strengthen Andean democracies;
- creating synergies between government, political, and academic institutions; and
- forging linkages with the Spanish and international development and cooperation agencies as a means towards strengthening Andean democracies.
The political processes in the Andean region were well covered by Luis Garzón, the former mayor of Bogotá, and Esther del Campo, Professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Lola María Villalba, Chief of the Department of Cooperation with South America of AECID, together with Kristen Sample and International IDEA’s Andean Region Programme Officers, presented an overview of the challenges facing political reform projects in Andean countries.
The issue of internalization of conflicts in the Andean region was addressed by Carlos Mesa, the former president of Bolivia, and Ludolfo Paramio, Professor from the Higher Council for Scientific Research. The event produced a fruitful exchange of ideas among the participants, speakers and experts who attended.
