Media Center

Press Release

10 Years of the Democratic Charter: “Preventative aspects must be improved,” declares Insulza

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza stated on the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Inter-American Democratic Charter that the Organization must seek to improve the Charter’s preventative measures to better enable the OAS to play a more active role in preventing conflicts in the region.

During the inaugural session of the meeting “Democratic Institutions and Social Inclusion,” organized by the Global Center for Development and Democracy led by former president of Peru, Alejandro Toledo, Insulza acknowledged that the Charter could be improved but rejected the idea that opening it up to further discussion would be beneficial. “If we want to advance and strengthen democracy and maintain hemispheric unity,” and taking into account “the current framework of strong ideological differences,” reopening the debate on the Charter could hinder the democratic progress achieved over the last two decades.

In this context, and from the perspective of improving the Organization’s capabilities to anticipate conflicts that may occur in countries throughout the hemisphere, Insulza outlined three main points. First, the Organization should consider a system of peer evaluation on topics decided by Member States. Second, they should increase preventative methods that have proven to work in several countries by resolving crises due to the mediation of the OAS between parties in conflict. And third, the Organization should improve the definition and interpretation of what are considered serious violations to the democratic system, which in his opinion consist of breeches from the institutional framework such as the dissolution of legislative or judicial powers, or massive electoral fraud.

Insulza admits that despite advances in the consolidation of democratic institutions, “much remains to be done as poverty levels remain high even if we take into account the level of development in the region.” He stated that “the benefits that democracy gives to citizens depend on the support they in turn provide the system. Inequality and poverty play against democracy,” he said.

The meeting, held in Lima, was opened by the new president of Peru, Ollanta Humala, and was attended by the former presidents of Bolivia, Jaime Paz Zamora and Carlos Mesa; of Ecuador, Gustavo Noboa and Rodrigo Borja; of Colombia, Cesar Gaviria and Ernesto Samper; of México, Vicente Fox; of Panamá, Ardito Barletta and Martín Torrijos; of El Salvador, Antonio Saca; of the Dominican Republic, Hipólito Mejía; and of Argentina, Fernando de la Rúa. The former head of the Spanish government, José María Aznar, was also present at the event.

Regarding the key aspects of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, Insulza said that this unique tool transcends the idea of electoral democracy, incorporating not only the democratic origin of power but also its exercise. “Democracy means not only being elected democratically but also governing democratically,” he stated, adding that the Charter “is the common agenda of our nations for the construction of our democracies.”

Overall, participants agreed on the need to explore ways to grant more power to the General Secretariat of the OAS to enhance its capacity to act more proactively, as well as the enhance the ability of the Organization to prevent and resolve political crises. The idea that “prevention is better than healing” was a common theme promoted by the gathering of former presidents, who, recognizing the Organization’s significant role in solving a majority of conflicts in the region, asked the OAS to be “more proactive and dynamic as the guarantor of democracy” throughout the hemisphere.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-830/11