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INSULZA CALLS FOR OVERCOMING CHALLENGES TO INCREASE CREDIBILITY IN THE REGION

-Governments, IDB and OAS should act together to overcome the problems of poverty and delinquency, strengthen democracies and maintain economic growth, says the Secretary General.


The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, underscored the need to identify the real problems and challenges the region must overcome in order to achieve credibility and confidence in the global arena. Insulza was speaking at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), taking place in Guatemala. The meeting was opened today by that Central American nation’s President, Oscar Berger.

In the presence of the Presidents of Chile, Michelle Bachelet; of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya; of El Salvador, Antonio Saca; and the Prime Minister of Belize, Said Musa, who are participating in the meeting, the OAS Secretary General said that “despite our region’s relatively positive economic performance, and the visible strengthening of its democracies, it is still difficult in these times to find assessments of a promising future.”

Insulza said that in his opinion there are four problems that governments face and that should be addressed as a whole: “the need for democracy to be present not only in elections but also in the process of governing, and for governments to carry out their functions through solid and respected institutions; the need to overcome poverty; the imperative of growth; and the challenge of crime.”

In regard to the first challenge, the head of the OAS asked the IDB governors at the meeting to consider whether or not the region is prepared to confront “a situation in which conditions for international trade become less favorable due to a slower growth of the global economy.” He recalled the crises at the end of the 1990s and said that although he recognized that the region’s macroeconomic policies are more solid and its currencies stronger, “problems remain such as the fragility of our financial systems, the insufficiency of our infrastructure, a still-unsatisfactory participation in global markets, our energy uncertainties, the weakness of our internal markets and the fact that despite important progress, we still have to advance considerably in our regional integration.”

The Secretary General said that stability in economic and public policies is another factor that must be in place to attract capital to the region, as are “security and certainty in the rules of the game.” He noted that Asian countries’ approach to attracting foreign capital is radically different has been well received.

In terms of the poverty challenge, Insulza argued that while the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean does not appear to be desperate, “that should not be enough to satisfy us. It is essential to tackle and overcome poverty if we want to make democracy a legitimate tool for our peoples.” The frustration caused by poverty and exclusion, in light of the economic growth and quality of life promised through electoral processes, “lays the foundation for a situation of conflict and turbulence in the future,” Insulza warned. If poverty persists, he said, “it will become a serious threat to our possibilities of future development because of the resulting deficits in education, savings and the capacity for progress.”

Referring to another serious problem, the Secretary General highlighted the significant increase of criminal activity in the region. Political violence has diminished, he said, “but that violence has been substituted by crime, a social curse that not only degrades and harms people physically and morally, but also carries a high economic cost.” Insulza called on political and financial organizations to revitalize their efforts to help governments confront this problem.

Another challenge is that of governance, Insulza said, adding that building stable democracies and creating economic development require institutional systems that are efficient and enduring. “The loss of prestige of public institutions should be a cause for concern,” he said, “because it limits our progress and deprives our nations of the stability and needed consensus for their development.” Insulza cited several essential tasks for governments: strengthening institutions, improving transparency of public policies, fighting corruption, eliminating bureaucracy and moving closer to citizens by promoting greater participation.

Insulza said that having identified the challenges, he believes that “governments, the IDB and the OAS should work together to overcome them; if not, the image of crisis and instability by which the region tends to be characterized will inevitably remain, and that image will, just as inevitably, affect investment, trade and growth in the region.”

Insulza will meet Tuesday with the President of Guatemala, Oscar Berger.

Reference: E-081/07