DEVELOPMENT-LATIN
AMERICA:
'Italy Wants to Play its
Role'
By Sabina Zaccaro
ROME, (IPS) - The
European Union could
help in better
distribution of the
benefits of economic
growth in Latin America,
under proposals
presented at a meeting
between Italy and Latin
America-Caribbean
countries this week.
Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet told
the conference held in
Rome Oct. 16-17 that she
would welcome EU support
for efforts towards
greater social cohesion.
The conference, the
third such, was
organized by the Italian
ministry for foreign
affairs, the Rome
based-Italy-Latin
American Institute (IILA)
and the Centre of
Studies for
International Politics (CeSPI),
an independent research
association based in
Rome.
The meeting followed a
declared policy by the
Italian centre-left
government that
considers "relations
with Latin America a
priority for our foreign
politics," Prime
Minister Romano Prodi
told the conference.
Representatives from 11
Latin American and
Caribbean countries, and
from several European
countries attended the
summit. The summit
followed 11 meetings
held in Italian cities
since the beginning of
the year. These meetings
addressed cooperation
between the two regions
by way of economic
agreements, and
development cooperation
in infrastructure,
technology and
communications.
Bachelet has sought
Italian and EU support
for efforts to build
social inclusion in
Latin America. She said
that in spite of some
successes in poverty
reduction, the number of
disadvantaged people in
Latin America reached
220 million in 2006, 20
million more than in
1996.
"Latin America is
experiencing a true
paradox, where the
period of peace and
democratization of its
governments -- a process
that started 15 years
ago -- is not leading to
social cohesion," she
said. "We must now build
a fairer globalization,
a course that requires
stronger political
convergence with the
European Union."
"In the last five years,
the Latin American
market has grown 4.5
percent annually, and
between November 2005
and the end of 2006, we
had 34 democratic
elections in the
region," said José
Miguel Insulza,
secretary-general of the
Organization of American
States (OAS). "Since
democracy and
socio-economic
development are
interdependent, the
problem is whether this
growth is sustainable."
The OAS is a
multilateral forum based
in Washington that
includes 35 nations of
North, Central and Latin
America and the
Caribbean. Its mandate
is to strengthen
democracy, promote human
rights, and confront
problems such as
poverty, terrorism and
corruption.
Latin America and the
Caribbean are the most
violent regions, and
poverty and inequality
is high, according to
the World Health
Organization (WHO). "The
need for education,
health assistance,
environment protection
and public security can
be only answered by
strengthening
institutions, and joint
cooperation with Europe
is key to this process,"
Insulza said.
The question is whether
Latin America is
priority for the EU.
Insulza said that while
Europe did play a key
role in the Latin
American stability
process during the
complex years of
dictatorships and
internal crises (1980),
in recent years "both
Europe and the United
States have shifted
their attention to other
regions."
The only significant
exception to this
"careless" attitude is
Spain, whose interest in
Latin America has found
expression in
investments, cooperation
projects and political
participation.
Donato Di Santo, Italian
deputy minister for
foreign affairs for
Latin America, said
Italy intends to become
"a solid bridge between
Europe and Latin
America, and to be the
second European special
interlocutor of Latin
America, after Spain."
Some concrete steps are
due shortly. Prodi said
the government plans to
become a part of the
Corporación Andina de
Fomento (CAF), the Latin
American financial
institution for
sustainable development.
Joint projects have
already been started
with the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB),
a finance institution
for the development of
Latin American
countries.
Italy is particularly
keen on cooperation in
renewable energies, such
as development of
bio-fuels in Brazil and
geothermal power in
Chile. Such commitments
will include human
rights, Di Santo told
IPS.
"We share the view of
the EU as expressed at
the last Euro-Latin
American summit in
Santiago," he said. "The
line of the EU is to
support -- not only
formally but practically
-- the fight against
social exclusion,
against the structural
origins of poverty, and
the defence of all those
citizens deprived of
their freedom and their
rights."
Italy has recently
joined the countries
that play the role of
facilitators in the
dialogue between the
government in Colombia
and the National
Liberation Army (Ejército
de Liberación Nacional).
Violations of human
rights have been
frequently reported in
confrontations between
the two.
On the eve of the Rome
conference, Yolanda
Pulecio, mother of
former presidential
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt, abducted
five years ago by the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC),
the main rebel group
involved in Colombia's
decades-long armed
conflict, asked for
support from Prodi and
foreign affairs minister
Massimo D'Alema for
release of Betancourt
and other political
prisoners.
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