A seminar organized by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Organization of American States has highlighted the multiple dimensions of dangers to security in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as the threat to democracy poised by frustrations at the lack of economic growth and social justice.
OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria and IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias inaugurated the Sept. 20 event, titled “Security and Development: Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean.” The seminar was attended by more than 150 government officials, academics and other experts.
Mirna Liévano de Marques, the head of the IDB Office of External Relations, said the forum “reaffirmed our conviction that the different dimensions of development reinforce one another. Democracy without economic growth can result in frustration and is not sustainable if it is not accompanied by social protection networks and the consolidation of democratic institutions.”
The meeting was part of a process leading to a ministerial conference on Hemisphere Security that will be held in Mexico in May of 2003.
Representatives of both the IDB and the OAS emphasized the need to strengthen regional cooperation to reduce the vulnerabilities of the Latin American and Caribbean countries to dangers that range from economic crises to natural disasters, crime and terrorism.
Ambassador John Maisto, special assistant to President Bush and Senior Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council was the keynote speaker at the lunch for participants in the seminar.