"In the battle of ideas, shortcuts cannot be taken." This philosophy sums up the commitment of Venezuela's Center for the Dissemination of Economic Information (CEDICE) and its dynamic General Manager, Rocio Guijarro Saucedo. Like CIPE, the Center is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year, and much of its remarkable success can be attributed to Guijarro's vision.
"For CEDICE and me personally," she says, "the relationship that we formed years ago with CIPE allowed us to cultivate the leadership of our institution, not only at the national level, but also internationally. This has enabled many people around the world to become familiar with our work and, on a professional level, it has provided me with a valuable network of new friends and colleagues."
It has been a win/win arrangement for CIPE as well, with CEDICE conducting three major projects that have contributed to the success of CIPE's programs in Latin America:
In keeping with her work at CEDICE, Guijarro has been an outspoken advocate for businesswomen in Venezuela. She attended CIPE's conference to strengthen women's business organizations, "Organizing for Success," held in Washington in September 1997. As a leader of the Venezuelan International Women's Forum, she has played an instrumental role in encouraging exchanges between Venezuelan women and their counterparts from other parts of the world.
CEDICE was formed in 1984 by business people and academics who believed that Venezuela needed an independent think tank that would promote individual responsibility and free enterprise. Guijarro joined the organization the following year as Assistant General Manager and was promoted to General Manger in 1989.
Prior to joining CEDICE, Guijarro was an Assistant General Manager at CONSECOMERCIO, (the National Council of Commerce and Services), a leading Venezuelan business association. It was in this capacity that she initially became involved in the Latin American Institute of Organizational Management (ILGO), which trains promising executives selected from throughout the region.
ILGO's genesis can be traced to the CIPE Business Association Management Training program and was initially funded by CIPE. The program continues today with new sources of funding, but the core curriculum remains. ILGO has trained many leaders of CIPE's current and former partner organizations and is now independent of CIPE, but it is still firmly grounded in CIPE philosophy.
One of the highlights of Guijarro's association with ILGO has been her involvement in the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE). INCAE was also a former CIPE partner, and every year INCAE hosts a conference in Costa Rica that provides high-level training for some 100 Latin American executives.
With the recent election of Hugo Chavez, a former military leader, as President of Venezuela, CEDICE and all Venezuelans are keeping their fingers crossed that the new President's influence will pave the way for a better Constitution. Guijarro concludes, "It is a time of challenges and opportunities for an organization like CEDICE. Working with our colleagues at CIPE, we hope to take advantage of this opportunity to contribute to the constitutional process and to bring about important reforms in our country."