Monday, December 3, 2007
Democracy Network Created for the Americas
By Eric Green
Washington -- A new network of about 100 former government
officials, academics and members of nongovernmental organizations has been created to help Latin American and Caribbean nations
deal with issues related to promoting and defending democracy in the region.
The Democracy Practitioners Network will advise governments
in the Americas on such subjects as electoral and constitutional reform, access to justice, good governance, citizen participation,
transparency and efforts to combat corruption.
The network will back efforts of the secretary-general
of the Organization of American States (OAS) to implement the Inter-American Democratic Charter and help nations in the region
govern democratically. The group of practitioners has practical experience in democracy promotion and is familiar with the
OAS’s role in preventing and resolving conflicts in the Americas.
The Inter-American Democratic Charter, adopted by the
34 countries of the OAS on September 11, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, helps governments
in the region deal with threats to democracy. (See related article.)
OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES NEW NETWORK
OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza told USINFO
November 28, after launching the program at his organization’s headquarters, that the practitioners would be “distinguished
OAS member-country nationals of outstanding professional experience.”
Insulza said the U.S.-backed group will consist of
“known democrats” with a reputation for impartiality. They are people, he said, “who are not only
believers in democracy but have been active in political affairs.”
The secretary-general, in announcing the program, said
in Spanish that the network will help the OAS in “three crucial moments” in a democratic process: observing elections,
promoting democratic governance, and “providing solutions in moments of crisis.”
On that last point, the practitioners will offer their
practical experience in forestalling a looming crisis in a country, such as to help a government and its political opposition
reconcile outstanding differences.
An April 2005 meeting in Santiago, Chile, of the Community
of Democracies also spoke of the need for a “democracy practitioner database” to carry out the Inter-American
Democratic Charter. The Community of Democracies was created in 2000 to promote and strengthen democratic institutions
worldwide. (See related article.)
John Maisto, former U.S. permanent representative to
the OAS and a member of the pool of democracy practitioners, told USINFO that the network will examine political difficulties
in the region’s various countries and “provide information” and “recommend ways” to the OAS
secretary-general “on how to deal with such problems.”
The network includes also former U.S. Peace Corps Director
Mark Schneider, now with the Washington-based International Crisis Group. Schneider is a former assistant administrator for
Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Other members are Manfredo Marroquín, executive director
of the Guatemala-based Acción Ciudadana (Citizen Action), which works to increase citizen participation and promote transparency
in government; Enrique Ochoa, a former member of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute, an autonomous organization responsible
for organizing federal elections in that country; and Ana María Sanjuan, director of the Center for Peace and Human Rights
at the Central University of Venezuela.
A complete list of the democracy practitioners will
be available soon on the OAS Web site.
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(Eric Green is a USINFO staff writer. The Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, produces USINFO. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov).
