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OAS Secretary General Highlights Progress of Democracy in the Americas

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said that, despite apparent difficulties, democracy has made progress in the continent in recent years, and despite the persistence of serious obstacles, the achievements of the democratic system cannot be denied.

In the context of a forum organized by the newspaper "El Tiempo" of Bogota -The issues of our time- in celebration of its 100 years, Secretary General Insulza offered an analysis of the situation of democracy in the region and asserted that, despite the factors that complicate its consolidation, the region is experiencing an unprecedented period of democratic growth, despite the persistence of factors he termed "de-democratizing."

Nevertheless, he warned that "if the flaws persist in time, they could cause us to fall back." Among the obstacles, Secretary General Insulza highlighted three, which in his judgement are the most important: poverty and inequality, organized crime and the frailty of democratic institutions.

He said that, despite figures that show a decrease in poverty in the region, in a majority of countries "there are too many poor and too many people living in misery, which does not correspond with the level of development in Latin America." On this point he said that "a third of this region is poor and, given the rate of growth in the continent, one third is too much."

Democracy isn't strengthened either, he continued, "when a society has groups that are more and more organic and do not accept legal norms and operate outside the law; and there is no doubt that organized crime has been gaining strength until it has become a problem of the first order in Latin America." Describing this as a second weakening factor of democracy, he recalled that 10 years ago during presidential summits the issue of criminality was not on the agenda, while today, he said, "this is a permanent issue, and without going any farther, during the next OAS General Assembly, in El Salvador, citizen security is the theme of the meeting." In this context he added that international organizations and also governments "must be capable of facing organized crime, in a more effective and coordinated way than has been done so far."

To Insulza, the third "de-democratizing" factor is the frailty of democratic institutions. "There is a tendency to seek a concentration of power, which leads to a weakening of the independence of powers, and in this the greatest victim is the judicial power; and precisely the independence of this power in the democratic system is vital."

Though Insulza emphasized that there is more and better democracy today than a quarter of a century ago, he clarified that the greatest progress is taking place in democracy in origin. He talked about the electoral processes in the region and noted that, except for the situation experienced in Haiti, elections carried out in the continent are, in general terms, a sign of maturity. There is no fraud, results are respected, there is democratic continuity, the authorities are elected democratically. But, he said, the exercise of democracy is weaker, and unfortunately on that our Democratic Charter does not speak.

Nevertheless, upon concluding, Insulza gave his diagnosis a positive outlook, insisting that: "The region is much more democratic than 25 years ago." But he warned: "If the flaws persist, we could fall back."

At the forum, Insulza was accompanied by renowned politicians and writers of the region, among them Cesar Gaviria, Luis Alberto Moreno, Jorge Castaneda, Carlos Fuentes, Sergio Ramírez. The former leader of the Spanish government, José María Aznar, also was one of the speakers.

Reference: E-533/11