Address by Carl Gershman, President of the NED

Remarks to the First Meeting of the Assembly of the Latin American Network for Democracy
Panama City, Panama
February 29, 2008

Amigas y amigos:

Es un placer y un honor compartir con ustedes en esta hermosa Ciudad de Panamá la apertura de la primera reunión de la Red Latinoamericana para la Democracia.

You are meeting here today to prepare for the Kyiv assembly of the World Movement and, more importantly, to build a new network of democratic solidarity in Latin America. Such a network of solidarity has been a long time in coming, and it has profound importance for the future of democracy in our hemisphere.

We all rejoiced when the third wave of democracy swept over Latin America in the last two decades of the twentieth century, culminating in the re-democratization of Peru in 2000. For some, it seemed as if the triumph of democracy in Latin America had reached a point of no return. To help ensure the irreversibility of democracy, several legal mechanisms to prevent the resurgence of authoritarianism were approved, among them the Protocol of Ushuaia, Argentina, for the Mercosur countries in 1998 and the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 2001. Yet, notwithstanding the tacit recognition that the democratic systems of the region were still frail and needed constant and powerful mechanisms to protect them, I think it’s also fair to say that we entered a period of complacency.

The Inter-American Democratic Charter, and the Santiago Declaration of a decade earlier, offered a way to protect against the historic form of democratic reversal in Latin America – the coup d’etat. But no sooner were these doctrines in place then there appeared a different kind of threat to democracy, a backsliding that took the form of the relentless concentration of executive power in Venezuela, and the “insurrectionary” toppling of constitutional governments through massive street demonstrations in Ecuador and Bolivia. To the extent that this assault on democracy took place under the cover of populist demagoguery and avoided blatant military coups and open forms of repression such as imprisonment, exile, and torture, many tended to ignore the backsliding or even to develop an attitude of tolerance towards it.

I have the impression that the lessons of the 1970s and 1980s were somehow forgotten and the political debate began to see a resurgence of a false and dangerous opposition between “formal” democracy and “substantive” democracy, between “representative” democracy and “participatory” democracy, between “liberal” democracy and “popular” democracy.

In fact, the values and processes suggested by the terms “formal” or “representative” or “liberal” democracy have been shown to be the necessary and indispensable condition of any system worthy of being considered democratic. Liberal democracy is indeed the political system that safeguards popular sovereignty through free, clean, and fair elections and ensures the rights of the citizenry through the rule of law, which implies constitutional government, the separation of powers, freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary, guarantees for the rights of individuals, and the constant, free, and peaceful renewal of the political system. In short, without liberal democracy there is no democracy. This is our core belief, the focus of our efforts, the purpose of our actions and the “raison d’etre” of our movement.

As we review the situation in our hemisphere, we see how daunting is the challenge that we face. A great many countries in the hemisphere, while electoral democracies, are still deficient in enforcing the effective rule of law. And democracy itself is under threat in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and now Nicaragua, each case with its own specific characteristics.

Yes, the days of military coups seem to be gone, hopefully for good. But the days of the effective rule of law are still to come. It has been said that hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue. And to be sure, it is a compliment to the power and legitimacy of the democratic idea that autocrats try to appear as democrats, yet these autocrats are still a threat. Latin America is not that far removed in time from the brutal repression and conflict of the 1970s and 1980s, and this should never happen again.

This is a great challenge to all of us as democrats and as citizens of this hemisphere. We should raise our voices and speak loudly and clearly for democracy and in defense of those whose freedom is denied or under threat. And actions should accompany our words. This is my first and foremost concern – that we build effective solidarity among democrats: that a common strategy and a concerted effort be mounted to confront this new challenge.

The responsibility for meeting this challenge belongs first and foremost to democracy activists in Latin America. But the World Movement for Democracy and the Kyiv assembly in particular, provides participants with a forum to exchange practical, hands-on knowledge and, most importantly, to build networks of international solidarity that will help provide protection for activists in conflict situations and will guarantee that repression in closed societies will not go unnoticed. The Kyiv meeting should also encourage allies in the established democracies to share in a worldwide democracy promotion effort.

My second concern, equally important, is that we should address the problems of poverty and inequality with similar resolve. We need a new social agenda in Latin America. No democracy, let alone a liberal democracy, can survive and thrive with the scandalous levels of poverty and inequality which prevail today in Latin America. Close to 38 % of the people of Latin Americans live under the poverty line. To be sure, progress has been made over the last few years but only enough to re-attain the standards of the early 1980s. Much, much more needs to be accomplished.

Inequality and poverty go hand in hand. Latin America shares with sub-Saharan Africa the dubious distinction of being the most unequal region of the world. This is as much a moral as a political challenge. People living in the dark world of poverty and misery are easy prey for demagogues, populists, and autocrats. If democratic governments do not adequately address these critical problems, why should we be surprised when people find hope in authoritarian alternatives and the empty promises of populism?

What we need is not “populist democracy” instead of liberal democracy, but a liberal democracy deepened, broadened, and strengthened by the commitment of the political class and the entire society to a new social agenda of economic opportunity and social inclusion.

In this regard, I am happy to see that former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, together with other former Presidents and distinguished leaders, is convening a meeting in Lima this year to build a broad-based coalition of democrats for a new social agenda. I urge you all to join in this initiative and to commit yourselves to this coalition. Democracy is not, and cannot be seen to be, tantamount to ignoring poverty and inequality. On the contrary, it is and should be seen as the system of government best able to protect the most vulnerable citizens and to improve the quality of life of the poor, the disadvantaged, and the marginalized.

A final word about the United States. The countries of Latin America are our neighbors. Nothing is more important to the United States, or should be more important, than to have a safe, prosperous, and democratic community in the Americas. Toward that end, we in the northern part of the hemisphere must commit ourselves to building a new relationship with our neighbors to the south, a relationship of friendship and solidarity based on mutual respect, common interests, continuing collaboration, and shared democratic values. In my view, Canada needs to be an integral partner in that relationship.

I believe that Latin America may be on the verge of a fundamental political transformation. With Castro’s retirement and the steady unraveling of the authoritarian project in populist Venezuela, there are new opportunities for a solidly democratic Latin America. But for this to happen, the process of change has to be driven by Latin America, not by the United States. The objective should be to consolidate true liberal democracies throughout the continent, to develop a robust social agenda for the uplift of the poor, and to reintegrate Cuba and Venezuela into the mainstream of Latin American democracy.

Your new network is thus coming together at this moment of historic opportunity. You can help lead the process of change and give it a clear Latin American identity, with a program based on democracy, economic opportunity, and regional peace and integration. If you do, Latin American can enter a new era of progress.

My dear friends, amigas y amigos:

Que sea esta convocatoria una reunión histórica. Que se reaten los hilos de la solidaridad democrática en el hemisferio. Que se fortalezca el compromiso con una nueva agenda social. Emprendamos juntos esta lucha por la democracia. La democracia no es solamente algo por lo que vale la pena luchar. Es también -- como admirablemente lo expresara Abraham Lincoln cuyo bicentenario celebramos ahora en Estados Unidos-- algo por lo que vale la pena morir. En ese espíritu de Lincoln construyamos juntos un hemisferio y un mundo libres y democráticos.

Muchas gracias.