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OAS Secretary General Concluded the Fifth Democracy Forum on Governance, Citizenship, Economics and Politics

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, participated today in the closing session of the V Democracy Forum held in Mexico City on October 8 - 10 with the central theme "Governance of Democracy: Citizenship, Economics and Politics," and during which he recalled that despite the progress made ​​in governance in the region, democracy still faces major challenges related to inequality, violence and environmental sustainability.

During the event, which aims to analyze the challenges and prospects of democracy to further strengthen the region through public policy, mass media and citizen participation, Secretary General Insulza shared the podium with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Jose Antonio Meade; the Chief Justice of the Superior Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF), José Alejandro Luna; the President of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Lorenzo Cordova, and the Secretary General of the Colegio de Mexico (COLMEX), Manuel Ordorica.

In his speech, Secretary General Insulza thanked the organizers of the event and recalled that in its fifth edition the Democracy Forum "is already an established event, something we look forward to during the year as a space for a constant reflection on the issues affecting democracy." In this regard, he analyzed how the content, debate and agenda of the Forum has evolved and expanded to address matters related to finance and transparency of political activity, the impact of money in politics, representativeness, corruption and the influence of women and minorities in political systems. "These forums started with a question about the state of democracy in the Hemisphere and today we can say that democracy makes sense to the extent that the subject of democracy are the citizens not the leaders, because there are leaders in any political system," he said.

"The core of this space for debate, is knowing how governable are our democracies," said the head of the hemispheric institution, who reviewed the progress achieved in governance. "There is no doubt that today we have a more governable Hemisphere, but we have to ask ourselves what results governments show and assess how democracy can solve the problems of the citizens of our Hemisphere when we still have people who are dying of hunger, when there is still discrimination and inequality, and when we fail to reduce violence and protect our environment," said Secretary General Insulza. He said then that democracies in the region "will be stable to the extent that we have fewer victims of violence, poverty and malnutrition; to the extent that we are less poor than we were a decade ago and we have less pollution and less destruction and climate problems." In his conclusion, the leader of the OAS recalled that citizens "want to see results, they want to see that democracies indeed improve the lives of their families and their fellow citizens."

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Jose Antonio Meade, gave a special recognition to the OAS and its Secretary General, noting that it is "an institution and a person who has been an architect of democratic processes in the region and to whom the region owes a great deal; especially now when we are reviewing the state of democracy and when it is possible for us to report good performance." He added that the OAS "has been a major architect as an Organization, as a body, as window and as a promoter of democratic spaces" and exalted the vocation and perseverance of its leader.

At another point, the Mexican Foreign Minister expressed that the issue debated during the Forum "allows us to note that state of democracy is healthy and that in today's world, where conflicts have prevailed, this is a great value of the Latin American community." The head of Mexican diplomacy added that the region "has been able to resolve its conflicts, which are many, in peace." He also referred to the tools created to advance the issues that impact democracy: "We are a region that continues to struggle to define its borders, which still holds different views, but we have created spaces for solving them through law and dialogue."

For his part, the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal, José Alejandro Luna, said "democracy as a system has been installed throughout our Hemisphere, and as an idea is part of our thought and the will of our citizens." He discussed the significance of the presentations made during the three-day event and commented that democracy was analyzed "from a point of view that transcends the purely electoral aspect and points to the substantial participation of citizens in public affairs." "In a true democracy, participation must be based on equality," he insisted and noted in this regard the importance of ensuring respect for the rights of excluded groups and minorities.

The Counselor President of INE, Lorenzo Córdova said that one of the main conclusions of the Fifth Forum is that "interpretations we had about the interconnections between economics, politics, and democracy in the framework of our own national reality is now enriched with contributions of the participants in this event." He recalled that the quality of democracy depends on aspects such as fairness and impartiality, and encouraged a better understanding of the challenges of democratic systems from aspects such as gender parity, clientelism, political equality and universal suffrage. "Clientelism as an evil practice in our societies and is the result of two factors: the inefficiency of the state in meeting the needs of the population and the weak development of citizenship," Cordova said, and called for a profound cultural change to eliminate the factors underlying clientelism, and so that "citizens assume their positions as right holders and demand conditions to freely exercise their political rights."

The Secretary General of COLMEX, Manuel Ordorica, expressed the satisfaction of the institution at "having hosted the Forum for the third time, which coincided with the celebration of the 74 anniversary of the institution.” "With this forum we have met the objective of creating a space for discussion and a critical and constructive analysis of the progress and challenges of democracy in Latin America," said Ordorica, and stated that the discussions that took place during the event clearly fulfilled "the goal of having a stage for reflection and exchange of views among the various stakeholders, experts, politicians, academics and specialized public opinion." "Pluralism was a great success of the reflections that always aimed at strengthening democracy" during the event, concluded the Secretary General of the Colegio de Mexico.

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

Reference: E-434/14