Friday 31 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
POLITICS:
Ibero-American Summit
Marred by Absences
By Raúl Gutiérrez
SAN SALVADOR, Oct 30 (IPS)
- Several heads of state
and government have sent
lower ranking officials
to represent them at the
18th Ibero-American
Summit in the Salvadoran
capital, while others
arrived late and will
stay only for a few
hours.
The theme of this year’s
meeting of the leaders
of Andorra, Spain,
Portugal and 19 Latin
American countries,
which opened Wednesday
evening and ends Friday,
is "Youth and
Development."
But despite the fact
that it was prominently
featured as the main
theme of the summit at
the opening ceremony --
which began 45 minutes
late --, it risks being
overshadowed by
discussions of the
current global economic
and financial crisis,
which was mentioned in
almost all the remarks
by visiting delegations
and is expected to spark
controversy when it
comes time to sign the
final declaration.
According to official
documents, the summit’s
agenda includes such
topics as decent
employment, education,
values, health, and
wholesome leisure and
recreation for young
people.
In his opening speech,
right-wing Salvadoran
President Antonio Saca
said that young people
in the countries of
Ibero-America will not
settle for declarations
of "good intentions,"
and expect to see
"tangible results" that
will address their
demands and provide them
with opportunities to
achieve their goals.
"I believe in the
creative potential of
our young people," but
"it is of vital
importance to promote
programmes aimed at
keeping them away from
drugs, organised crime
and violence and vices,"
Saca declared.
Observers point out that
Saca’s speech is
inconsistent with his
unwillingness to sign
the Ibero-American
Convention on the Rights
of Young People, a
reluctance that many
believe is due to
pressure from the most
conservative sector of
the Catholic Church.
The leaders of all 22
members of the Ibero-American
Community of Nations
were invited to
participate in the
summit being held under
tight security at the
International Fairs and
Conventions Centre (CIFCO)
in San Salvador.
But the absence of
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez -- confirmed
several days ago when he
announced he would not
show because his "safety
was not guaranteed"--
was followed by the
decisions of three of
his counterparts not to
attend: Uruguay’s Tabaré
Vásquez, Cuba’s Raúl
Castro and Portuguese
President Anibal Cavaco
Silva.
The reason given by
Chávez, who claimed an
attempt against his life
was being planned, upset
both host authorities
and participants, as
well as conservative
local media, who say the
excuse was not very
"convincing."
Other heads of state
chose to arrive late and
miss part of the
meeting. That was the
case of Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya,
who slipped in towards
the end of the opening
ceremony, while
Bolivia’s Evo Morales,
Argentina’s Cristina
Fernández, and Brazil’s
Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva arrived even
later.
Lula, moreover, is only
planning to stay long
enough to pose for the
official photograph,
leaving for Cuba
immediately after.
Although the government
has not agreed to sign
the convention on young
people’s rights,
Salvadoran Foreign
Affairs Minister Marisol
Argueta declared that
"all the documents
presented to the
presidents" would be
signed.
"We have committed
ourselves to advance
specific plans to
immediately start
implementing concrete
actions that will
contribute to the
concern of finding
solutions for young
people," she added.
At the opening ceremony,
Ibero-American Secretary
General Enrique Iglesias
said that while young
people today are "better
prepared and most highly
networked than at any
other time in the
history of the region,"
such gains are only
available to a
"minority" of youths.
Alongside these
fortunate young people
live others who are
"mired in poverty,
ignorance, family
break-up and the
destitute conditions of
slums…and they are the
majority."
Less than 50 percent of
the 110 million young
people living in the
region work, and only 17
percent of these have
formal sector jobs, said
Iglesias.
In a speech delivered by
videoconference, United
Nation Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon called on
all the countries that
have still not signed or
ratified the youth
convention to do so.
Meanwhile, at least 100
youngsters, members of
civil society
organisations from
Central America,
Argentina and Spain,
gathered at the public
University of El
Salvador for the
People’s Youth Summit to
discuss a range of
issues that affect them.
Their meeting will end
on Friday with a march
to the CIFCO convention
centre, where they will
attempt to present their
resolutions to the
summit.
Women’s groups will also
be rallying to demand
that the government sign
the Convention and to
protest against the
presence of Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega,
who has come under fire
from women’s rights
groups in his country.
"I don’t believe any of
the promises made at
these summits are ever
met," Wendy Miranda, who
works at a supermarket
near the convention
centre, told IPS.
What we need to do "is
to get young people out
of jail and into school,
where they belong," said
one of the participants
at the summit, which has
drawn some 6,000 people
and is covered by around
800 local and foreign
journalists. |
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