To commemorate 30 years of democratization in Latin America, International IDEA co-organized a colloquium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 28 -29 October 2009, focusing on topics such as democracy, growth with equity, and social cohesion.
International IDEA, the Government of the Dominican Republic, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (Funglode), and the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMYM) jointly organized the colloquium. Participants included the President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández, the Vice President of Argentina, Julio Cobos, former president of Colombia, Ernesto Samper, and the former president of Panama, Martín Torrijos. They were joined by Latin American politicians, journalists, and academics who have studied the democratization process in Latin America.
From the left: Marco Herrera, Director of FUNGLODE, Diego Bermejo, Ambassador of Spain, Martín Torrijos, Former President of Panamá, Julio Cobos, Vicepresident of Argentina, Leonel Fernández, President of The Dominican Republic, Daniel Zovatto, International IDEA, Ernesto Samper, Former President of Colombia, Miguel Angel Encinas, AECID, and Alejandro Foxley, CIEPLAN.
The discussions centered around four main topics, where there is still need for improvement in Latin America:
- Democracy, political parties and the State;
- Democracy, growth and social cohesion;
- Democracy, security and organized crime;
- Latin America's international outlook.
Former president of Panama, Martín Torrijos, pointed to the difficult transition process the region has experienced over the past 30 years. “We have not been able to erase a legacy of authoritarianism, which conspires against the establishment of true democratic institutions. To a large part of our population, the ruler is not the one called to comply with the law but the one that has the ability to change it.”
Although significant progress has been made in terms of human rights and freedom of speech, the weakness of democratic institutions is revealed by high levels of inequality in the distribution of wealth. Torrijos concluded by saying that in light of the recent global financial crisis, the State should move to recover its abilities for intervention and regulation. Political parties should give greater prominence to building fairer and more supportive societies, he said.
Discussion then turned to issues as diverse as independent candidacies, the disappearance of traditional political parties and the emergence of outsiders, the historical exclusion from the democratic political system of indigenous populations and the need for strong and independent political institutions (political parties, congress, the judiciary, and the mass media) as well as the need to make democratic governance more efficient.
The former Chilean Foreign Minister, Alejandro Foxley, reviewed the challenges faced by Latin American democracy to deliver growth with equity, and social cohesion in light of the current recession and pointed out the need to have “a politically legitimate, fiscally responsible, and technically competent State, which can act in cooperation with and complement the organizations and movements of the civil society and the private sector”1. He spoke of the need for Latin America to come to grips with the new institutions for global economic decision making.
Democracy, security and organized crime was discussed by another roundtable. The production, trafficking, and distribution of drugs was identified as the universal factor in generating insecurity and organized crime. Debate revolved around the consequences for freedom and democracy of the increasing militarization in the fight against drug trafficking and whether or not to harden or ease restrictions on ‘soft’ drugs to improve the fight against organized crime.
View of Colloquium during the work sessions.
Finally, the colloquium addressed the different international outlook of Latin American countries. Marked differences exist in the region in terms of ideologies, foreign policy, economic orientation, and regional Groupings. Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, for example, are increasingly attuned to the United States via trade and migration while other countries, especially those in the southern part of Latin America, are less dependent on the United States.
President Leonel Fernández indicated at the end of the meeting that it should become an annual event, known as the Santo Domingo Forum, whose first action should be to submit to the OAS a proposal to reform the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), and the Corporation of Studies for Latin America with headquarters in Chile (CIEPLAN) funded the event.
