News report of Presidents Meeting

Ten former Latin American presidents warn against inequality and the arms race

By Agencia EFE - 6 hours ago

Lima, Oct 9 (EFE) .- Ten former Latin American presidents are members of the Global Center for Development and Democracy (CGDD) warned today in Lima against inequality, social exclusion and the arms race as the great continental problems.

The CGDD, promoted by the Peruvian Alejandro Toledo, agreed on a "social agenda for democracy in Latin America for the next twenty years", which will be promoted in Washington and Brussels before being presented to the next Ibero-American Summit to be held in November in Estoril (Portugal).

The fifteen recommendations contained in the agenda relating to tax reforms, measures to facilitate remittances, microenterprise development, improving education and health, food security, decent employment, access to drinking water, protection of indigenous people and reducing violence among others.

In this fifth Forum was invited to the CGDD American thinker Francis Fukuyama, who alerted to the fact that Latin America, despite the growth experienced in recent years, is the region with the greatest inequalities, and found that social exclusion is the seed of conflicts and populism.

In his closing remarks, Alejandro Toledo echoed some of the ideas repeated by their peers to end social exclusion brings stability, improves called "country risk", attracts investors and strengthen the institutional and democracy .

Toledo expressed his shock at the 45,000 billion which he said the region has been spent on armaments in the past twelve years, and regretted that this money has not been up schools, hospitals, power plants or other infrastructure.

Later, in the corridors, specifically criticized the government of Venezuela, whom he accused of being the one that is promoting this arms race in Latin America and warned of the alliance between the Venezuelan and Iranian government, and the risks of nuclearization of the continent .

The former presidents were present today in Lima, in addition to Toledo, Ernesto Samper of Colombia, Ecuadorian President Gustavo Noboa, the Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, Argentina's Fernando de la Rúa, the Honduran Ricardo Maduro, the Rodrigo Carazo of Costa Rica, Dominican Hipólito Mejía, Vinicio Cerezo, the Guatemalan and Panamanian Nicolas Ardito.

The CGDD also has among its members with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Brazilian President Fernando Enrique Cardoso, who were absent from the forum today in Lima but sent or prerecorded telephone interventions.