Latin America and the Caribbean Grantee in the Spotlight: RESDAL
As events in the last year demonstrated, the democratic stability of a number of the United States’ southern neighbors is coming under increasing strain. In countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina, growing public disillusionment and social polarization are challenging political stability and elected regimes. In Argentina—once believed to be a model of democratic and economic stability in the region—popular protests have forced the resignation of four presidents, and an interim government spent 2002 preparing the country for new emergency elections in the face of mounting popular protest and economic decline. Presidential elections in Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia brought to power leaders that had promised change and sweeping political reform. The success of their campaigns, built on platforms of change from the status quo, provided an indication of the intensity and extent of citizen disillusionment.
The capacity of elected leaders to provide an effective and democratic response to these demands may very well determine the future and stability of democracy in the region.
In this environment, NED continued to work with groups seeking to promote democratic reform and address citizen demands for accountability and improved government. Regionally, NED funds supported efforts to increase transparency of defense budgets, increase citizen access to state information in Peru and Mexico, and foster the growth and strengthening of premier regional civil society networks and associations. With Endowment support, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) worked closely with young political party leaders to increase internal party democracy and strengthen the ability of parties to represent voters in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, and Mexico.
One of NED’s greatest areas of concern in the hemisphere continued to be the Andean Region. In recent years, NED has directed more than half of its funding for Latin America to this area, working with civil society organizations, political parties, and unions to improve representation and avenues for citizen participation and to defend basic political and civil rights. For example, NED grantee Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (Press and Society Institute) has created networks of journalists in Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela to defend and protect freedom of expression and journalists when they are threatened or attacked. With Endowment support, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) continued to work with union leaders throughout the region to expand membership to previously marginalized sectors of the economically active society and to improve transparency and accountability of union management.
In the polarized environment in Venezuela, NED continued to support conflict resolution and mediation programs. NED grantees worked with local governments to improve governance and strengthen judicial systems, and with Venezuela’s congress to support the drafting and passage of a new electoral law under the 1999 constitution. In Colombia, NED grantees were instrumental in training newly elected local officials, creating and strengthening community conflict resolution and judicial systems, representing Colombians of African descent in local and national government, and protecting mayors and councilors under attack from armed groups. In Peru, the International Republican Institute (IRI) worked with national political parties to strengthen grassroots structures and increase the accountability of party leaders to members and their constituency.
Another NED priority country in 2002 was Cuba, where NED programs continue to support the growing pro-democracy movement on the island. Endowment assistance provided much needed material and humanitarian assistance to activists, assisting them in their efforts to conduct civic education workshops, write and produce reports on news and conditions on the island, and develop and strengthen contacts internationally. With NED support, the Federación Sindical de Plantas Eléctricas, Gas y Agua en Exilio (Federation of Electric, Gas, and Water Plant Workers in Exile) was able to produce a complete report on labor rights violations in Cuba, which it presented in international forums; and NDI helped develop an international solidarity campaign for the Varela Project of Cuban activist Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas.
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Latin America Grantee in the Spotlight: RESDAL
The threat to democratic stability posed by the growing role of the military in politics is a growing area of concern in Latin America. To help address this issue, NED has been providing support for the past two years to the Security and Defense Network in Latin America (RESDAL), a network of individuals working to improve and strengthen civilian control over the armed forces in the region.
RESDAL brings together civil and military leaders throughout Latin America to discuss the threat to democracy arising from deteriorating relations between civilian governments and the military. The group’s goal is to create an atmosphere of trust and strengthen the role of civilians in security and defense policies. Based in Argentina and administered through Seguridad Estratégica Regional en 2000, RESDAL is composed of civilian think tanks and NGOs specializing in civil-military relations in Peru, Brazil, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Argentina.
In late 2000, following a series of meetings with top-ranking military officials in Peru, RESDAL signed an important agreement to advise the Peruvian Defense Ministry in the restructuring of Peru’s armed forces under the newly elected government of President Alejandro Toledo. Encouraged by its success in Peru, the staff at RESDAL expanded its reach and began working to improve civil-military relations and foster civilian governments in other countries of the region. RESDAL has participated in a series of civil-military roundtables in Ecuador to discuss civil-military relations and defense policy. It has consulted with the Organization of American States on its discussion on hemisphere security and democracy and the role of civil society. And it continues to conduct a distance-learning program to provide civil-society training to civilians and security training to defense ministries in Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil.
In the last year, RESDAL developed a methodology to measure the transparency of defense budgets. Using this methodology, RESDAL is working with civilian think tanks in three countries in the hemisphere to study the transparency and effectiveness of defense budgets and expenditures and improve civilian capacity in this area.
News and information on RESDAL’s current activities and a comprehensive database of documents and research on civil-military relations can be found at RESDAL’s Web site at http://www.resdal.org.
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