LIBERAL REGIONAL NETWORKS AND HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTION

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LIBERAL REGIONAL NETWORKS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
PROMOTION

• Marcela Prieto Botero
• RELIAL
• Latin American Liberal Network
• Taipei, December 8th/2007

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• RELIAL is a Latin American liberal network
  composed by political parties, think tanks and
  influential individuals committed with the
  defense and promotion of democracy and free
  market principles.
• Our values and areas of action are
• Liberty and self responsibility
• Freedom from government
• Free market economy
• Democracy
• Property Rights
• Fight against poverty
• Rule of law
• Peace

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MEMBERS OF RELIAL
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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• INTRODUCTION
• AND
• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• IN LATIN AMERICA

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• Some reasons that have hindered an affective
  application of human rights in Latin America
• The reduction of size of the State and the crack
  in the protectionist state model.
• Institutional weakness, corruption and restricted
  access to systems of justice.
• The scant relation between economic growth and
  social development.
• The existence of a disjointed civil society and
  with scarce capacity for interlocution with the
  State.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• Historical background
• 60s - 80s military and authoritarian-leaning
  governments. Southern Cone countries and Central
  America (cold war)
• Presence of guerrilla groups with wide support
  from the people.
• Serious restrictions to fundamental liberties

• Restrictions to the right of assembly and
  political participation.
• Intervention of trade unions and social
  organizations.
• Censorship to the communication media.
• Dissolution of Congress and/or governing bodies.
• Threats, torture, summary executions,
  disappearances and forced displacement.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• Historical background
• 90s peace processes and transition to
  democracy.
• Economic globalization process.
• Change in the main role of the State.
• Ratification or Adhesion to international human
  rights covenants.

• Acceptance of the presence of the community and
  international courts (war crimes)
• Establishment of truth commissions.
• Peace agreements with military rebels.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• The fact that democracy and human rights are a
  shared responsibility of the State, citizens and
  the market (businesses) cannot be ignored, and
  only by acting jointly in the same direction can
  these be sustainable.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• Nowadays situation
• 21 countries (with the exception of Cuba and
  Venezuela, and increasingly Ecuador, Bolivia and
  Nicaragua), show respect for individual freedoms
  and the free markets promotion.
• Generalized crisis of governance and
  representation often due to the lack of solid
  political parties. Processes for perfecting
  justice systems.
• Advance in terms of economic, social and cultural
  rights health services (subsidized systems),
  education (schools through concession) and
  residential public utilities (self-management)
• In environmental terms laws and norms for the
  protection of non-renewable natural resources
  (rethinking forestry exploitation practices, the
  emission of polluting gases, waste handling and
  the use of fossil fuel, etc.)

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• Nowadays situation
• Main problems the inclusion of previously
  excluded social sectors, overcoming the informal
  economy and unemployment, and achieving
  commercial goals in respect to free trade
  treaties (workers rights, trade union rights and
  fair trade)
• Economic growth subjected to the control of
  inflation, reduction of foreign debt and poverty
  fight. It shows that the region has all the
  potentially resources to reach a better
  development levels, subject to the adoption of
  competitiveness policies in line with a
  globalized world.
• Successful cases Chile, Brazil, Colombia, El
  Salvador.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• CASE STUDIES
• CUBA, VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, CHILE,
• EL SALVADOR, MÉXICO

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CUBA

• The presence of the communism in the continent.
• Is the country with the greatest violations of
  fundamental rights, such as the right to freely
  associate, to mobility and freedom.

• Here, political dissidence and criticizing the
  establishment are punished, especially in
  opponents and defenders of human rights.
• According to Amnesty International and Human
  Right Watch, there are more than 300 political
  prisoners in Cuba.
• Large part of the international community has
  voice its rejection about political situation in
  Cuba, and has subjected many of its commercial
  and political relations to changes in the
  handling of the countrys regime.
• Unfortunate, clear conditions for a speedy
  democratic transition in Cuba do not yet appear
  to be rising.

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• VENEZUELA
• Venezuela is living through one of the most
  difficult political moments in its history
  (government of Hugo Chávez)
• Failed referendum for a constitutional reform,
  wanted to impose a higher concentration of the
  presidential power and restrictions to the
  fundamental liberties.

• Socialist economy based on control and oil
  income.
• Internal polarization that can be exploited for
  social violence and armed confrontation.
• Opposition movements acting inside institutional
  channels.
• Important role of the university students
  against the regime.

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VENEZUELA
Recent opinion poll about the impact of the
constitutional reform. (Pollster MERCANÁLISIS.
November 2007)
If the reform is approved, you think you will
enjoy more or less of
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• COLOMBIA
• One of the most stable democracies in the
  continent.
• Internal armed conflict (over 40 years) linked to
  drug trafficking.
• Negotiation process with the self-defense forces.
  Transitional justice and alternate penalties
  model.
• The country has reached levels of sustained
  growth over the past four or five years.
• This growth has helped to decrease poverty,
  unemployment and the informal economy.
• Democratic Security Policy (government of Alvaro
  Uribe) reduction of human rights violations
  rates and international humanitarian law rates.

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• COLOMBIA
• Some results of the Democratic Security Policy
• Forced displacement has decreased 52,48 during
  the last 5 years.
• Kidnapping 2.986 cases in 2002 687 cases in
  2006. In the same period, extorcive
  kidnapping decreased in 83,19.
• Homicides decreased from 28.837 cases in 2002 to
  17.479 in 2006.
• Massacres victims rates decreased 71,62 between
  2002 and 2006 (because of paramilitary
  demobilization)
• Unionist murder decreased of 79,33, from 121
  unionist murdered in 2002 to 25 in 2006.

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• COLOMBIA
• Some results of the Democratic Security Policy
• Labor movement Colombian government subscribed
  with workers and employers the Tripartite
  Agreement on Freedom of Association and
  Democracy.
• Social and cultural rights approval of the Act
  of Infancy and Adolescents, which contributes to
  eliminate the worst ways of labor exploitation of
  children.
• Poverty rates decreased from 56 to 45 during
  the last 5 years.
• Economy has grown more than 5 during the same
  period.

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• CHILE
• One of the standout cases of democratization in
  Latin America, after almost 20 years of military
  dictatorship.
• One of the most solid economies in the continent,
  throughout the implementation of a liberal
  economic model (since the military governments)
• Since 90s, transition to civilian governments
  (Coalition government) among the 3 most
  important political parties of the country.
• Despite the serious violations of human rights
  committed by the State, the country has started
  truth, justice and reparations proceedings, and
  criminal sanctions against the responsible
  actors.
• Fight against impunity. Case of former dictator
  Augusto Pinochet.

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CHILE

• Main problems in terms of human rights
• Acting on the claims of indigenous people and
  sexual minorities.
• Fight against drug consumption (youth)
• Provision of public utilities to all the
  population (including a subsidized transportation
  system).
• Inclusion of previously excluded social sectors.
• Effectively combating impunity in cases of
  detained-disappeared persons

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EL SALVADOR

• Transition to democracy after a peace process
  with guerrilla groups (90s).
• UN mission on peace keeping.

• Truth commissions and judgment processes for
  violations of human rights.
• El Salvador has taken up important commercial
  agreements (such as CAFTA-DR), that have forced
  the country to improve its standards on the
  subject of salary and union rights, among others
  changes.
• Main challenges in human rights fight against
  extreme poverty the problem of mass emigration,
  especially toward the United States, the
  universalization of education and health
  services, and the socialization and acknowledge
  of young gangs or Maras.

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MÉXICO

• Illegal emigration to the United States.
  Violations to fundamental human rights, due to
  the construction of a wall that forbids the
  movement of Mexican and Central American
  emigrants to the north.
• High dependence on the remittance.

• Drug trafficking
• Poverty levels above 40.
• The human rights situation does not differ much
  from the rest of the countries in the region.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK
CONCLUSIONS CHALLENGES AND THE WORK OF NETWORKS
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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• All the countries in Latin-American have shown
  significant advances on the subject of promotion,
  protection and the defense of human rights, of a
  first, second and third generation.
• There has been progress in the acknowledgement
  and inclusion of new social actors, not only as
  beneficiaries of the States rights, but also as
  being directly responsible for the vigor and
  promotion of these rights.
• The big challenge now (especially for political
  parties and liberal organizations), is to be
  capable of committing efforts to task such as the
  followings.
• Driving and formulating public policies that
  promote and protect human rights.

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RELIAL - LATIN AMERICAN LIBERAL NETWORK

• The discussion regarding development models based
  on individual freedoms and free economic
  competition which provide citizens with the basic
  conditions and tools to build their own
  development.
• The vigilance of democracy in preventing the
  rise of leaders and populist discourse that runs
  counter to the ends of the Rule of Law.
• The inclusion of the various actors in
  decision-making processes (through representation
  or direct participation), and
• Training and education in civic values and
  citizenship for knowledge and in exercising
  duties and rights, among many others.

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