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POLITICS: Ibero-American Summit Marred by Absences

Raúl Gutiérrez

SAN SALVADOR, Oct 30 2008 (IPS) - Several heads of state and government have sent lower ranking officials to represent them at the 18th Ibero-American Summit in the Salvadoran capital, while others arrived late and will stay only for a few hours.

The theme of this year’s meeting of the leaders of Andorra, Spain, Portugal and 19 Latin American countries, which opened Wednesday evening and ends Friday, is “Youth and Development.”

But despite the fact that it was prominently featured as the main theme of the summit at the opening ceremony – which began 45 minutes late -, it risks being overshadowed by discussions of the current global economic and financial crisis, which was mentioned in almost all the remarks by visiting delegations and is expected to spark controversy when it comes time to sign the final declaration.

According to official documents, the summit’s agenda includes such topics as decent employment, education, values, health, and wholesome leisure and recreation for young people.

In his opening speech, right-wing Salvadoran President Antonio Saca said that young people in the countries of Ibero-America will not settle for declarations of “good intentions,” and expect to see “tangible results” that will address their demands and provide them with opportunities to achieve their goals.

“I believe in the creative potential of our young people,” but “it is of vital importance to promote programmes aimed at keeping them away from drugs, organised crime and violence and vices,” Saca declared.

Observers point out that Saca’s speech is inconsistent with his unwillingness to sign the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Young People, a reluctance that many believe is due to pressure from the most conservative sector of the Catholic Church.

The leaders of all 22 members of the Ibero-American Community of Nations were invited to participate in the summit being held under tight security at the International Fairs and Conventions Centre (CIFCO) in San Salvador.

But the absence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez – confirmed several days ago when he announced he would not show because his “safety was not guaranteed”- was followed by the decisions of three of his counterparts not to attend: Uruguay’s Tabaré Vásquez, Cuba’s Raúl Castro and Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva.

The reason given by Chávez, who claimed an attempt against his life was being planned, upset both host authorities and participants, as well as conservative local media, who say the excuse was not very “convincing.”

Other heads of state chose to arrive late and miss part of the meeting. That was the case of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who slipped in towards the end of the opening ceremony, while Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández, and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived even later.

Lula, moreover, is only planning to stay long enough to pose for the official photograph, leaving for Cuba immediately after.

Although the government has not agreed to sign the convention on young people’s rights, Salvadoran Foreign Affairs Minister Marisol Argueta declared that “all the documents presented to the presidents” would be signed.

“We have committed ourselves to advance specific plans to immediately start implementing concrete actions that will contribute to the concern of finding solutions for young people,” she added.

At the opening ceremony, Ibero-American Secretary General Enrique Iglesias said that while young people today are “better prepared and most highly networked than at any other time in the history of the region,” such gains are only available to a “minority” of youths.

Alongside these fortunate young people live others who are “mired in poverty, ignorance, family break-up and the destitute conditions of slums…and they are the majority.”

Less than 50 percent of the 110 million young people living in the region work, and only 17 percent of these have formal sector jobs, said Iglesias.

In a speech delivered by videoconference, United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on all the countries that have still not signed or ratified the youth convention to do so.

Meanwhile, at least 100 youngsters, members of civil society organisations from Central America, Argentina and Spain, gathered at the public University of El Salvador for the People’s Youth Summit to discuss a range of issues that affect them. Their meeting will end on Friday with a march to the CIFCO convention centre, where they will attempt to present their resolutions to the summit.

Women’s groups will also be rallying to demand that the government sign the Convention and to protest against the presence of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has come under fire from women’s rights groups in his country.

“I don’t believe any of the promises made at these summits are ever met,” Wendy Miranda, who works at a supermarket near the convention centre, told IPS.

What we need to do “is to get young people out of jail and into school, where they belong,” said one of the participants at the summit, which has drawn some 6,000 people and is covered by around 800 local and foreign journalists.