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.
Eric Green /
USINFO Staff Writer
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