U.S. Urges the Americas to Deepen Democracy

As leaders of 34 nations gathered here for the second Summit of the Americas, White House officials Saturday pressed a series of measures to preserve political freedom and ensure that the region’s fledgling democracies do not backslide toward a darker past.

In his opening remarks, President Clinton called for new efforts to protect journalists from violent retaliation, create a regional justice center to train judges and prosecutors and foster “civil society” in a region that remains riven by deep social divisions.

In addition, the national leaders agreed on greater cooperation in combating narcotics, based on an understanding “that drugs are a problem for all of us,” Clinton said. And they also pledged $8.3 billion in aid to education to be parceled out through international institutions.

“Poverty throughout the hemisphere is still too high, income disparity is too great, civil society too fragile, justice systems too weak,” Clinton said as the hemisphere’s political leaders convened at a Santiago hotel. “In short, too few feel change working for them.”

While White House officials publicly applaud what they describe as a “quiet revolution” of free elections and free markets throughout the Americas, they also note that democracy’s survival is hardly guaranteed in a hemisphere that has been home to brutal tyrannies until recently.

Democracy and free markets are now “in place” throughout the Americas, Clinton said, reflecting the view of many of his counterparts at the summit.

But he cautioned: “We will also work here to deepen democracy and respect for human rights. We know free elections are democracy’s first step, not the last.”

Although every nation in the hemisphere except Cuba now boasts an elected democracy, most Latin American countries remain plagued by deep-rooted problems that continue to threaten their stability--escalating violence, entrenched corruption, ineffective justice systems and aching inequities in an increasingly Darwinian marketplace.

Colombia’s deadly mix of guerrilla armies and drug cartels has pushed sections of the country to the edge of anarchy. In Paraguay, democracy teeters as a result of the presidential candidacy of an imprisoned former general and accused coup plotter, one of several militaristic strongmen whose candidacies have struck a chord with disgruntled voters in South America. Many Peruvians view the government of President Alberto Fujimori as a thinly disguised dictatorship that is accused of persecuting political opponents, judges and journalists deemed unfriendly to the regime.

“I believe that, among the democratic leaders of Latin America, there is a sincere conviction that the best form of government is elective democracy. . . . But the problems are very, very profound,” declared Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch/Americas. “The fundamental danger here is the loss of credibility of democracy and democratic institutions.”

If summit leaders fail to translate their democratic rhetoric into concrete reforms, Vivanco warned in an interview Saturday, the danger is that frustrated voters will turn increasingly to the sorts of militaristic, populist leaders who already have gained strength in such countries as Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay and Colombia.

At the first Summit of the Americas, four years ago in Miami, national leaders broadly agreed on an approach of political freedom and open markets as a course for the hemisphere.

On Saturday, they endorsed more specific, U.S.-backed initiatives in hopes of offsetting the dangers Vivanco warned about.

As one example, they agreed to establish a justice studies center devoted to training judicial officials, such as judges and prosecutors, to help assure “that justice is fair and honest,” said Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger, Clinton’s national security advisor.

The center would also serve as a clearinghouse for justice issues in the hemisphere.

Justice and law enforcement issues remain volatile in large sections of the Americas, undermining confidence in the political system.

Raging street crime, intertwined with systemic police corruption, has overwhelmed nations from El Salvador to Mexico to Brazil.

For voters, crime has become a top issue, along with the judicial and political corruption that dominates the political debate in Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela and many other nations.

The planned center, which could be similar to one created in Budapest, Hungary, after the fall of the Soviet empire, “promises to become an important link to a better future for the Americas,” according to a White House statement.

Hemispheric leaders Saturday also agreed to a U.S.-backed proposal to establish a special advocate for journalists, who have faced an increasing number of fatal attacks in Latin America.

Worldwide, 10 of the 26 journalists murdered last year were from the Americas, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

In contrast to the declining respect for the press in the United States, the press south of the U.S.-Mexico border enjoys higher credibility than government and other institutions, sometimes even topping the Roman Catholic Church in opinion polls.

Latin American journalists have become an increasingly influential force in the effort to consolidate democracy and end corruption and human rights abuses.

South American journalists, who are sometimes cynical about U.S. motives, spoke approvingly of Washington’s support of the advocate, known as a rapporteur. The advocate would be attached to the Organization of American States, and journalists here believe that the position could yield benefits in their increasingly perilous profession.

Among summit leaders, there was widespread agreement that growing access to quality education is a key to a stable society, particularly in the less protected, free-market economies that have been embraced throughout the hemisphere. The leaders agreed to devote $8.3 billion to education, including early childhood development, teacher training, bilingual education, technology, school supplies and other resources.

The largest single share--$3.65 billion--was designated for efforts to reform schools and increase local control. Financing would come mainly from such institutions as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, with smaller shares coming directly from the United States.

“I think it’s noteworthy and exciting that virtually all these countries have placed education as a top priority,” U.S. Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said.

Summit leaders also pledged Saturday to achieve legal equality between men and women by 2002, strengthen “civil society” in the Americas through increased participation of activists, scholars and other parties in policymaking, combat child abuse and the exploitation of children and take other steps to buttress democracy.

After one session, Berger said it was “striking” that the leaders so broadly accepted such fundamental aspects of democracy as elections and political parties.

Berger said the issue, as many Latin American leaders seemed to see it, is whether democracy “can deliver for its people, whether it can translate into practical results.”