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The Second Latin American Democracy Forum opened in Mexico highlighting the challenges posed by the link between money and power for the legitimacy of governments

The Second Latin American Democracy Forum was inaugurated today in Mexico City, underscoring the progress made by the region's democracies with respect to transparency, representativeness, regulations, and citizen satisfaction with the benefits delivered by this system of government, while recognizing how much remains to be done.

Organized jointly by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) of Mexico, and IDEA International, the Forum is being held from December 6 to 8 in the “Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso.” At the inauguration, the Rector of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), José Narro, welcomed participants and told them "our commitment today must be to strengthen citizenship in our countries, educate ourselves to attain higher levels of democracy, and ensure that our democratic institutions grow stronger by the day."

The OAS Secretary for Political Affairs, Victor Rico, recalled how the region had made remarkable progress in recent years, not just in terms of democracy, but economically as well. "Latin America has begun to be a major force in the forging of a more just international economic system and our region has ceased to be a problem with respect to international economic crises," he said. He added, however, that widespread citizen dissatisfaction persisted with democracy and the benefits it was supposed to deliver. "As our democracies have progressed, expanding the middle class, so, too, have citizens' expectations increased."

The high-ranking OAS official stressed the inequalities that still plague the region: a "highly sensitive" issue in Latin America and one that had much to do with the sway of money over power and politics. "Powerful interests are out there," he told participants, "who don't want inequalities to diminish. On the contrary, they want wealth and income to become even more concentrated than they are. Today this debate is more crucial than ever."

The President of IFE, Leonardo Valdés, emphasized the progress made in Latin America with regard to elections while insisting that it no longer sufficed just to have free, fair, and periodic elections. "Today democracy must transcend its current state and serve as a real tool for transforming our societies. We must take its ideals of equity and freedom and project them beyond the electoral process," he declared. "A society that has little faith in its democratic institutions and their effectiveness is in danger of taking a step backwards," he added.

Valdés recalled that democracy was the only political system that enables a society to reinvent itself, improve, adjust to new circumstances and incorporate new needs, and, that being so, he issued a call for action. "Freedom and democracy may not be perfect, but they can certainly improve. Today's gathering is a start in that direction, an opportunity to discuss the challenges we face. Crossing political and geographical borders is precisely one of the advantages of democracy," he concluded.

The Regional Director of IDEA International, Daniel Zovatto, argued that the link between money and politics was a key issue for the quality of democracy in the region, because it "has to do with the second generation of electoral reforms, designed to improve conditions for equity in electoral contests and the credibility and legitimacy of electoral processes, as well as strengthen, modernize, democratize, and institutionalize political parties."

Zovatto stressed that while democracy was priceless, it certainly did have an operating cost and financial resources were essential for democratic competition. That fact, however, established a dependency and risks associated with it that could lead to economic power eroding citizens' trust in democracy. "Money has facets that are toxic and others that are nutritious for democracy," he asserted. "Money is capable of causing distortions and major scandals in the democratic process, exacerbating the lack of balanced representation, and undermining the credibility and legitimacy of the democratic system and of political parties themselves."

The spokesman for IDEA ended his remarks by calling for a new regulatory framework in this area that was not just appropriate, but actually and effectively enforced. "It is not just good rules that are lacking," he proclaimed," but good practices as well."

Attending the Second Latin American Democracy Forum are well-known politicians, diplomats, journalists, and experts, who will discuss such topics as money and its links to politics, power, the State, governance, and development; financing and its links to politics, political parties, the media, social inequality, and the crisis of legitimacy in democracies. This Forum will also serve to take stock of the scope and achievements of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, on the occasion of its 10th anniversary this year.

The full agenda for the meeting is posted here.

The Forum is being transmitted via the web here.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-997/11