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OAS Secretary General Highlights Latin America’s “New Optimism” in the Face of Numerous Challenges

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, highlighted the “new optimism” with which Latin America today faces the challenges of the immediate future, among which he mentioned those facing democracy.

At the Mexican headquarters of the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO), the head of the OAS underscored the positive changes evidenced in Latin America and the Caribbean that are the outcome of a decade of economic growth and the fight against poverty.

“Following the fears and uncertainty caused by the great depression of 2009, the region’s economies have begun to grow vigorously, beginning with Brazil and Argentina, but also Colombia, Chile, Mexico and others, with rates even higher than to those that preceded the crisis,” Secretary General Insulza asserted, noting that already between 2003 and 2008 the region had grown at an average of more than 5 percent annually.

He later emphasized that “in this decade the poverty rates have fallen in a way not seen since before the eighties; more than thirty million Latin Americans have risen above poverty and an important number of jobs has been created; also, an impetuous and booming middle class is rising, this being a fundamental factor of progress in this decade, in which America’s development has been much greater than in the two previous ones combined.”

At the same time, Secretary General Insulza noted that “the obstacles that remain to be overcome are still too great to be able to affirm that Latin America and the Caribbean are on a sure path to development.” Among other challenges, he named the insufficient progress on education and scientific technological development; scarce saving and investment, and thus little job creation; the processes of sub-regional economic integration that “appear to have become stuck in the last decade”; the “very large lumber” of residents that continue to be poor; violence and criminality; drug trafficking, organized crime, kidnappings, human and arms trafficking and juvenile gangs; and environmental damage, global warming and the high price of energy.

“In sum, the challenges continue to be immense,” he said, “but the opportunity for overcoming them is there, as is the optimism shown by many in the current situation. The next few years will reveal whether, as someone has already dared to suggest, the next decade will be the decade of Latin America and the Caribbean or if the momentum for growth will become ephemeral once again and, instead, the social conflicts resulting from poverty, unemployment, crime and inequality will grow stronger.”

Secretary General Insulza identified various possible sources of threats that can “affect the very existence of democracy as a form of political life in our region.” Among them he mentioned poverty and inequality; crime, including drug trafficking; corruption; weak and poorly financed states; and “the democratic fallacy from which whoever has the majority has the right to change the system according to his will.”

“Though political success is based on results, these cannot be the sole justification for changing the rules and pursuing any means of prolonging a government,” the head of the hemispheric organization concluded. “In democracy, all power must have limits; otherwise, rulers substitute institutions, leading to new instances of “Caesarism” already experienced in a different time in the hemisphere.”

Secretary General Insulza was invited to the FLACSO of Mexico to inaugurate its academic year.

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

Reference: E-329/10