Weekly Program Highlights
Colombia – CIPE partner Confecámaras held
its first training program
for consultants in corporate governance. Nearly 50 professionals
from six cities throughout Colombia attended the training session,
which focused on corporate social responsibility.
Colombia – CIPE partners the Political Science
Institute
(ICP) and Fedesarrollo held their second joint legislative
debate
on the topic of financial reform in Colombia. The main speaker
at the event was Guillermo Perry of Fedesarrollo, and Perspectiva magazine
was distributed to the 40 people in attendance.
Ecuador – Joffre Campaña was a guest
on the Ecuadorian Institute of Political Economy (IEEP)’s
weekly
radio program, Contrapunto Liberal, discussing
the recently
released Constitution written by the Constitutional Assembly..
Nicaragua – COSEP’s
board of
directors met with representatives
from Nicaragua’s
microfinance
association (ASOMIF) to discuss
the impact of President Ortega’s
call for
producers to stop repaying
their loans from microfinance
institutions. ASOMIF’s
representatives explained
that a 70 percent reduction
of microcredits in the agriculture
sector would have a serious
impact on food prices and
the economy. COSEP issued
a press release in support
of ASOMIF, asking the government
to stop its negative campaign
against microfinance institutions,
urging
the two sides to work together
in drafting new legislation.
Nicaragua – Eduardo
Montealegre,
candidate
for Mayor
of Managua,
was the
featured
guest on
COSEP’s
radio program.
Mr. Montealegre
explained
how the
issuance
of government
bonds helped
protect
the savings
many Nicaraguans
had lost
in banks
that had
gone bankrupt.
Washington,
D.C. – Martin
A. Friedl,
CIPE
program
officer
for Latin
America
and the
Caribbean,
spoke
about
the state
of entrepreneurship
and market
reforms
in the
region
at a
conference
on “The
Entrepreneurial
Spirit
in Latin
America
and its
Enemies” in
Washington,
D.C.
The Spnish-language
event
was organized
by the
The Fund
for American
Studies
and the
Hispanic
American
Center
for Economic
Research
(HACER).
Other
speakers
at the
event
were
Neri
Salinas,
founder
of Foundation
El Bosque
and former
representative
of Loreto,
Peru,
and Eneas
Biglione,
Executive
Director
of HACER.
About
15 people
attended
the event.
Background and Overview
Latin America and the Caribbean has been one of the regions
of the world that first made a transition to democracy
over twenty years ago. With the exception of Cuba, the
region is largely seen as having instituted democratic
political processes, though as the events of recent
years demonstrate in Haiti, Bolivia, and Venezuela,
democracy still has a long ways to go to become truly
consolidated in the region, and much institution-strengthening
is needed to facilitate beneficial democratic governance
between elections.
On the economic front, much work remains to be done on
market-based institutions almost everywhere in the region.
In the recently published World Economic Forum Growth
Competitive Index, the only Latin American country rated
among the top 25 competitive countries of the world
was Chile, which was ranked 22nd. From there is a steep
drop to Mexico, ranked 48th and Costa Rica ranked 50th.
Every other Latin American country is ranked below 50.
Much of this poor competitive performance can be attributed
to the poor quality of public institutions and high
levels of corruption in the region as perceived by the
business community, states WEF’s chief economist.
Recent years have shown deterioration in the faith of Latin
American citizens in market economics to provide prosperity
for the poor as much as it has the upper income groups.
The most recent Latinobarómetro poll indicates
that 71 percent of respondents regionwide believe that
their country: “is governed for the benefit of
a few powerful interests.” The result of this
attitude has been a resurgence in populist political
movements throughout the region that seek to dismantle
market reforms that were implemented incompletely during
the 1990s. This gap in belief that market reforms can
strengthen democratic institutions and lead to better
life for everyone is particularly acute among disenfranchised
indigenous communities in the Andean countries and Central
America. If the faith of Latin Americans in democracy
is to be restored and strengthened, solutions must be
found for improving the economic lot of the majority
of citizens.
CIPE’s priorities for Latin American and the Caribbean are
designed to focus particular attention on improving
the institutions that will allow democracy and economies
to flourish. CIPE's network of business associations
and think tanks active throughout Latin America, has
taken a lead in sustaining reform efforts in the face
of severe strains. Partners and participants in various
CIPE programs throughout the region have been advocating
for institutional reforms that will penetrate deeper
into the fabric of society to yield real change.
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