Posted: May 29th, 2009 | Author: faelo1 | Filed under: política | Tags: Corruption, democracy, government, Transparency | 1 Comment »
“Transparency is a broad term that, quite literally, means something that can be seen through. When we talk about transparency in terms of government spending, we are referring to government opening its books to the public so that taxpayers can see exactly where their money is going. Transparency ensures that your taxpayer moneys are spent efficiently by making all decisions in the open and on the record. Transparency means that citizens can review and question policymakers’ decisions, examine documents, root out inefficiencies and hold officials accountable for the way tax moneys are spent.”
Excerpt from the transparency section web site of Texas Government, EEUU.
In most of our Latin American countries, the concept “transparency” more than a wish is a utopia. Our societies seem not to be prepared to face this problem, arguing that they have a lot of problems to solve first such as poverty, lack of infrastructure, etc. But these reasons seem to be excuses, because transparency has not necessarily to be related to the development of a country. In fact, Transparency is an important tool to underdevelopment countries because everybody has the access to know about the use of public resources. The more access we have to that kind of information, the better tools we have to demand our rights. Transparency is as necessary in economy as in political stuff. Our democracies are very young, and our economy needs are always bigger than our resources. Political corruption undermines public trust in the democratic process. The integrity of the political system is fundamental to the rule of law and the ability of governments to safeguard the rights of its citizens.
Fortunately, there are two Latin American countries which have enacted a law of access to public information: Uruguay and Chile. Precisely, both countries have been classified among the countries with less corruption in the world by the NGO Transparency International.
In Chile, the new law has been well-received by almost all the people. The first thing that many people did (including myself) was to look for about the wage of important political figures and presidents of national companies, whose owner is the state of Chile, such as Codelco and Enap. But, beyond these kinds of typical attitudes of morbid curiosity of the people, the information is going to be very important to ensure the well use of public resources.
Nevertheless, all these tools are not going to avoid the corruption in Chile and other countries, because the corrupted people always are going to invent new ways to cheat. For this reason, the most important thing is to become honesty the main motto in our society through the system of education, advertisement campaigns against corruption in all levels from the schools to the enterprises as well as in our own families, talking about that problem with our children. It’s not an easy task but it is very important to make a better society.
Rdevia
Posted: April 10th, 2009 | Author: faelo1 | Filed under: política | Tags: Americas, integration, Obama, Summit | No Comments »
“When George Bush was elected, he held out the promise that this would change. He raised the hopes of the region that our engagement would be sustained instead of piecemeal. He called Mexico our most important bilateral relationship, and pledged to make Latin America a “fundamental commitment” of his presidency. It seemed that a new 21st century era had dawned.”
Obama Latin America speech in Miami
May 23, 2008
When George W. Bush ended his period in the presidency of The United States he was not able to show great results about Latin American relationship. During his presidency there were some advances such as the signature of Free Commerce Treatment with Chile, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and República Dominicana; The support to Colombia to fight against the guerrillas, and nothing more.
In contrast, the region suffered many problems such as the influence of the Venezuelan President Mr. Hugo Chavez in some Latin American countries; the growing of Mexican drug traffic cartels; the building of a wall on the boundary between The United States and Mexico, etc. In all these problems the performance of The United States government has been deficient.
Now, Barack Obama represents the hope to change the attitude of The United States towards Latin American countries. The Hispanic people are more and more important in The United States because they can decide a presidential election with their votes. Moreover, the threatening of terrorist groups has provoked worrying about the use of Latin American countries like a platform to launch attacks against The United States.
Next April 17th Trinidad and Tobago will be the venue of the Summit of The Americas in which most of the American presidents will be present. Obviously, the attention will be fixed on United States president. Everybody is expecting his position about the current economical situation, whether United States is going to help Latin American countries, or whether United States is going to raise barriers to the importations from Latin America. In addition, the political situation will be a very important issue because of the influence of the populist Venezuelan leader Mr. Hugo Chavez in other countries, and how United States will face this situation.
The relationship between Latin America and United States has never been a relationship based on the respect to each other but a relationship in which United States has always imposed his point of view. So, the Barack Obama’s challenge will be find out how to change this historical situation and strengthen the trust each other. In times in which the occidental world faces the threaten of terrorist groups from Islamic world, and the power of China, and India, Latin American countries could cooperate to keep the occidental civilization alive. But, first of all, United States should integrate Latin American Countries by giving them not only help to fight against the poverty and drugs but also to treat them as a true partner.
As well as millions of Americans voters put his trust in Obama, Latin American countries hope Obama to break the paradigm of this relationship, inaugurating a new era of cooperation and good relations.
Rdevia
