LATIN AMERICA:
"Development
Must Be Inclusive"
Interview with SELA
Secretary José Rivera
CARACAS (IPS) -
The Latin American
Economic System (SELA)
will promote a regional
secretariat on social
inclusion, "based on the
idea that development,
to be worthy of the
name, must be
inclusive," said the
regional body’s new
permanent secretary,
José Rivera.
The secretariat "should
articulate the efforts
of governments, regional
entities, academic
institutions,
non-governmental
organisations and other
social agents, to share
information on what is
being done in terms of
social policy in the
region, achievements,
experiences and
proposals to improve
living conditions in
Latin America and the
Caribbean," Rivera said
in an interview with IPS
correspondent Humberto
Márquez.
The 61-year-old Mexican
economist, formerly
assistant secretary of
the Latin American
Integration Association
(ALADI), was unanimously
elected this month by
the SELA ministerial
council to head the
regional body made up of
26 Latin American and
Caribbean states, until
2012.
Founded in 1975 with the
aim of promoting
regional cooperation and
coordinating Latin
American positions in
international economic
forums, SELA was the
first regional body to
admit Cuba after it was
excluded from the
Organisation of American
States (OAS) in 1962.
With regard to Ecuador’s
suggestion of the
creation of an
organisation of Latin
American states, to
study regional questions
without the presence of
the United States and
Canada, both of which
are members of the OAS,
Rivera says that when
such a regional entity
is discussed, "they are
describing SELA, which
has already existed for
33 years."
IPS: In what regional
initiatives would you
like SELA to get
involved?
JOSÉ RIVERA: SELA can be
a support for the
analysis of social
policies and a boost for
the network of
proposals. We believe it
can build a secretariat
of social inclusion, to
make available
databases, documents,
forums for reflection,
proposals and projects
at the service of the
member countries.
Development must be
inclusive, and to
achieve that, the voices
of the people, of all
social actors, have to
be heard.
IPS: In what way has the
integration seen up to
now fallen short?
JR: Regional integration
as it stands satisfies
no one. It has moved
slowly, hesitantly and
with setbacks. For
example, the idea of a
Latin American common
market began to take
shape 50 years ago, at
the same time that
Europe had the idea to
create a common market.
But the very different
speeds and progress are
all too obvious.
Europe is a solid
integrated zone, with
powerful regional
scaffolding. We, in the
meantime, have had to
seek alternative spaces
for integration in order
to achieve some goals,
and we don't even have a
regional dispute
settlement mechanism.
IPS: Will an inclusive
focus on integration be
favoured by the presence
of the larger number of
leftist and centre-left
governments in the
region?
JR: There is broad
agreement in the
countries of Latin
America and the
Caribbean that
integration must be the
route to development
with equality.
The integration sought
is no longer only in the
area of trade, but
covers different areas
and different
dimensions. If we can
advance in areas like
educational integration,
and in regional
literacy, health,
housing and food
sufficiency programmes,
we will be talking about
a kind of integration
that has more than a
merely trade-related
dimension.
IPS: When you were
elected permanent
secretary, you said
Latin America is still a
poor region with very
little equality. Does
Latin America have the
resources to set out on
the adventure of leaving
that situation behind
and overcoming poverty?
JR: There are a number
of requisites for
reducing poverty. A
major one is the
challenge of generating
employment, which is the
first answer to
addressing problems of
poverty. And the
generation of jobs is
based on more active
foreign trade and
drawing investment. In
that sense, Latin
America is making an
effort, but the efforts
must be strengthened in
order to overcome the
poverty that affects us
all.
IPS: But does the region
have the necessary
material and financial
resources, or do we
inevitably depend on
capital and cooperation
from abroad?
JR: By definition, this
region has an abundance
of natural resources. It
is privileged because it
has energy, minerals,
food, water resources
and a series of other
economic foundations to
improve its current
condition. Active public
policies are needed to
generate stable,
well-paid jobs -- an
issue that governments
in the region are
focusing on to a greater
or lesser extent.
IPS: You also called for
more vigorous, coherent
action in areas like
finance, trade and
social cohesion. Is that
a criticism that you are
directing at subregional
integration schemes like
the Andean Community and
Southern Common Market (Mercosur)?
JR: I would not say it
is a criticism, but a
constructive proposal to
be able to talk about
how these issues are
interrelated: how much
investment we are
seeking, and in which
sectors, how much trade
and in which areas, and
what policies must be
stimulated in order to
have a positive impact
on people’s needs.
SELA could organise a
high-level meeting in
that sense, to seek the
interconnections and
evaluate the effects,
with the aim of reducing
social exclusion.
IPS: Another of your
proposals is to weave
new "productive
alliances" with Russia,
China, India and
Southeast Asia, besides
strengthening the
region’s traditional
relations with North
America and Europe. What
form would these
alliances take?
JR: Our thinkers, the
fathers of Latin
American economic
thought like (Raúl)
Prebisch (1901-1986, the
Argentine economist who
guided the Economic
Commission for Latin
America and the
Caribbean -- ECLAC --
from 1950 to 1963), who
came up with the
centre-periphery theory
and dependency theory,
talked about how
developing countries
were trapped in
exporting raw materials
to the world’s
industrial centres in
exchange for
manufactured products
from those developed
countries.
But today we are
exporting raw materials
to other developing
countries, like India
and China. The theories
of Prebisch and ECLAC
explained and helped us
understand the
mechanisms by which we
exported primary
products only to buy
them back, transformed
by industrialised
countries.
Now we are doing that
among developing
countries: we import
their manufactured
goods, which means there
should be a possibility
for developing countries
to come together, join
forces, create
connections among
ourselves and establish
productive alliances
based on complementary
strengths, weaknesses
and needs. SELA will
develop projects and
proposals for moving in
that direction.
IPS: With respect to
mechanisms and methods,
will SELA revive the
"action committees" that
used to bring together
member countries
interested in a specific
issue?
JR: Yes, that is a
possibility. There are
areas that in my view
are obvious, such as
developing a Latin
American and Caribbean
programme for the
software industry; that
would mean a significant
advance for the region
in the knowledge
economy, and in
transforming our
productive structures.
Another of the areas
where an action
committee could be
created is in the
protection of
traditional know-how.
For example, the
knowledge of herbs or
natural medicine that
exists in many of our
countries is frequently
managed, transformed and
commercialised by large
global corporations, and
the countries that
discovered, used and
developed this natural
medicine over the course
of centuries have no way
to protect this ancient
heritage. Several of our
countries would have to
come together, exchange
experiences and generate
initiatives for
protecting our
resources.
Another proposal is for
new or complementary
working methods. For
example, if two or more
countries want to
establish cooperation
programmes or strengthen
their integration
mechanisms, they should
be able to find, in SELA,
a place to hold informal
consultations, without
necessarily generating
commitments for
everyone, obligations or
resolutions, or
obtaining the required
vote of all 26 members.
IPS: Developing an
attractive and ambitious
agenda like this one
requires resources. How
can SELA obtain the
necessary funds, if
member countries have
long been in arrears on
their payments?
JR: SELA is an
inter-governmental body
made up of 26 Latin
American and Caribbean
nations. We are sure
there is interest in
strengthening the
regional institutions,
and that funds will
arrive. And in time,
SELA’s financing
problems will be
resolved.
IPS: So there are
reasons to be
optimistic?
JR: Yes. I am optimistic
about the future of SELA
because it has provided,
and continues to
provide, an effective
service to the region. |
