The Road to Hemispheric Cooperation: Beyond the Cartagena

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Although the content of the draft of the final summit declaration focused on physical integration and regional cooperation, political differences arising in the general debate prevented its approval. In particular, the Latin American delegations and the United States and Canada were unable to resolve the question of Cuba’s participation in future summit meetings and the vindication of Argentina over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands. Strong ideological differences prevail among the countries of the region and some regimes reject the political principles and commitments to representative democracy, open markets and hemispheric integration on which the summit process was built 18 years ago. 16 Last year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez proposed the creation of an “anti-imperialist” organization, without the United States and Canada. Likewise, in November 2011, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa confirmed his comments about replacing the OAS by the “Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” (CELAC). 17 CELAC was formed in December 2011 and it brings together the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Central America and Mexico. The organization has a commitment to cooperate in infrastructure development: roads, communications, technology, energy, trade, security, poverty alleviation and other related issues. After accusing the OAS of being biased in favor of hegemonic nations and serving as an instrument of the United States, Correa expressed his view that CELAC should the new forum for conflict resolution in Latin America. Correa also questioned whether the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is headquartered in Washington, D.C. 18 On the same line, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA) presidents proposed that the CELAC should have its own democracy provisions, which would be limited to preventing coups rather than upholding the principles of representative democracy. A week after the Cartagena Summit, President Chávez announced that Venezuela would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights, the principal human rights treaty of the system. Chávez and other presidents, such as Rafael Correa and Daniel Ortega, expressed hope that the new organization would further Latin-American integration, end United States’ hegemony, and consolidate control over regional affairs. 19 With the exception of the ALBA countries, the rest of CELAC’s member states have no intention of replacing the OAS. At this stage, CELAC is more symbolic than effective. In addition, for the first time in the tumultuous regional history of Latin America, the United States is no longer the source of conflict, as it was in the past. Instead, political provocation comes from a group of Latin American countries that is walking away from the summit commitments. These countries have a different view of democratic governance, according to which democracy is defined exclusively on the basis of conducting popular elections. In this authoritarian shift, individual rights are marginalized in favor of the abstract interests of the collective. In an official publication, the Bolivian vice president explains this new vision: “This is the moment in which antagonistic groups in our society with irreconcilable societal projects must settle their existence in an open, naked, battle of forces. Confrontation is the only resort to resolve the social struggles when no other possibilities are left. That was what happened in Bolivia...” 20 In a similar vein, President Chávez of Venezuela has said that “representative democracy for Venezuela has been a trap, and our Constitution compels us to strive for participatory democracy.” 21 Although the general scenario for hemispheric relations is negative and brings serious concerns for the future of the summit process, we highlight a few positive outcomes of the Cartagena Summit: ●● All 34 summit leaders achieved consensus on all the paragraphs of the draft final declaration related to development, cooperation, violence and insecurity, energy, and education. The declaration was not approved because of lack of consensus among the presidents on two specific issues: Cuba and drugs. ●● On the issue of drugs, although Cartagena Summit leaders did not agree on a formula for tackling this problem, they laid the basis for future multilateral discussions on this recurrent theme in the dialogue between Latin America and the United States. The heads of state and government of the Americas mandated the OAS to analyze and propose a new regional anti-drug strategy. 22 The Road to Hemispheric Cooperation: Beyond the Cartagena Summit of the Americas The Brookings Institution ❘ Latin America Initiative 94
●● There was an open and frank discussion among the presidents on crucial development issues. No issue was excluded from the discussions, not even Cuba or the fight against drugs. The Policy Challenge: focusing on the Core Mission of Democracy and Poverty Reduction The central challenges for the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean in the next years are to reduce poverty levels and income inequality and increase the supply and quality of education, jobs, infrastructure, and health care—all of which requires sustained economic growth. For that reason, the five pillars of the draft Declaration of Cartagena, which unfortunately was not approved for the reasons cited above, nonetheless was a move in the right direction because they revolved around issues related to building prosperity. On the other hand, there is a growing concern about the quality of democratic governance in many countries in the region. There is no doubt that commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law is at the core of the summit process and is the starting point of hemispheric integration. At the time of the negotiations of the Miami Summit, most Latin American countries had recently restored their democracies after long periods of oppression by military dictatorships. Governments wanted to create regional mechanisms to protect the new democracies and to prevent the return of military dictators or populist “caudillos.” Until the Summit of the Americas in Quebec, Canada, there was consensus on a rational reorganization of democratic societies in the Americas that, using Isaiah Berlin’s words, “would put an end to spiritual and intellectual confusion, the reign of prejudice and superstition, blind obedience to unexamined dogmas, and the stupidities and cruelties of the oppressive regimes which such intellectual darkness bred and promoted.” 23 This view, which forms the basis of all progressive thought about democracy since the 19th century, was also reflected in the Inter-American Democratic Charter: “The people of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.” Likewise, the heads of state and government declared in the Declaration of Quebec City: “We acknowledge that the values and practices of democracy are fundamental to the advancement of all our objectives. The maintenance and strengthening of the rule of law and strict respect for the democratic system are, at the same time, a goal and a shared commitment and are an essential condition of our presence at this and future Summits. Consequently, any unconstitutional alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a state of the Hemisphere constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to the participation of that state’s government in the Summit of the Americas process.” 24 As a consequence, in 2001, the vast majority of the governments of the Americas agreed that the summit process was based on the values of democracy and rule of law. As Richard Feinberg and Robin Rosenberg rightly wrote after the Quebec Summit: “Fusing the historic march toward democracy with the powerful incentives and benefits of economic exchange is a strategic victory for the Hemisphere. Inter-American summitry appears to have buried the longstanding view that ‘national sovereignty’ prevented a collective defense of universally accepted international norms and common values.” 25 Recommendations to Strengthen the Role of Inter- American Institutions in Implementing the Mandates of the Summit Process If and when the next Summit of the Americas takes place in Panama, the evaluation and follow-up mechanisms should be improved to make sure that the process remains credible. Mandates in the next summit should: ●● Bring concrete actions in order to engage countries to include in their national budgets and public policies concrete references to accomplish their commitments in the summit process; likewise, regional institutions should include summit mandates in their agendas; ●● Set in place easily measurable tasks and benchmarks; and ●● Clearly identify the resources available to undertake actions in compliance with the mandates. Since the summit is now an institution, in the sense that it is held regularly, the critical issue remains the credibility of the process. Unfortunately, until now, there has been limited engagement of multilateral institutions in helping to finance summit activities and as a result, there are a large number of unfunded summit mandates. Therefore, a priority of the summit should be to restructure and better coordinate the work of the institutions that already exist, but are scattered The Road to Hemispheric Cooperation: Beyond the Cartagena Summit of the Americas The Brookings Institution ❘ Latin America Initiative 95
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THE ROAD TO HEMISPHERIC COOPERATION
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Latin America
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INTRODuCTION Ted Piccone I Senior F
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fOSTERINg A CulTuRE Of INNOvATION I
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Technology and Innovation Innovatio
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Figure 1: Latin America (5 Countrie
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Figure 3: Affordability of Fixed Br
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Figure 5: Percentage of Internet Pe
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the demand for innovation. Policies
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Opportunities for Cooperation in In
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COMMENTARy by CAROl gRAHAM Senior F
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include free trade agreements (FTAs
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mented by Latin American countries.
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$350 billion in 2010, with China di
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The current situation is important:
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EDuCATION IN THE AMERICAS: WHAT THE
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Graph 2. Student Performance and Te
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Graph 5. Percentage of Students at
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Graph 7. Difference in Mean Scores
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generally carry no consequences. At
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access to and use of technology, an
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