OAS MINISTERIAL CONCLUDES WITH DECLARATION OF RECIFE ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RECIFE 000147 SIPDIS BUENOS AIRES FOR SOA DELEGATION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM SOCI BR SUBJECT: OAS MINISTERIAL CONCLUDES WITH DECLARATION OF RECIFE ON DECENTRALIZATION SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The "Declaration of Recife," adopted on October 28 at a ministerial-level Organization of American States (OAS) meeting in Recife, Brazil, contained a number of references that advance USG views. This included "representative" democracy, democracy as essential to economic development and the importance of civil society. Counter-productive "Chavista" rhetoric was rejected. Brazil noted its appreciation of USG sensitivity to its interests as host of the meeting, particularly in leading efforts that kept the Declaration focused and on message. Text of Declaration follows in para 7. End summary. ¶2. (U) On October 28, the third ministerial meeting of the OAS Inter-American Network on Decentralization ("RIAD") concluded successfully in Recife, Brazil. Adopted by consensus, the "Declaration of Recife" sets the tone for RIAD's work for the coming two years. RIAD is aimed at strengthening decentralization to support citizen participation and levels of government below the national level to fight poverty, support job creation, and enhance transparent democratic governance. ¶3. (SBU) With co-sponsorship from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and Nicaragua, the U.S. inserted several applicable passages from the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IADC) that support U.S. concepts of representative democracy, democracy essential to economic development, civil society, and rule of law. Determined attempts by Costa Rica's Minister of National Planning, Uruguay's Director of Planning and Budget, and the Caribbean to redefine democracy in a different manner from the IADC were stopped by Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, and the United States. ¶4. (SBU) Several delegations also sought to insert language that included political judgments which could have polarized the conference and gone far outside the mandate of RIAD. The U.S., Mexico, Ecuador, and Brazil also had to resist this, successfully arguing that such issues belong to the OAS Permanent Council. ¶5. (SBU) The resulting "Declaration of Recife" is excellent from a USG standpoint and is to be reported to the Fourth Summit of the Americas. For its part, the visibly relieved Brazil delegation quietly told the USDEL it was very appreciative of USG sensitivity to its interests as host of the meeting, particularly leading efforts that kept the declaration focused and on message --balanced so that it would support democracy and advance the work of RIAD-- and thus it could be adopted with consensus language all would support. ¶6. (U) As part of the USDEL, the Inter-American Foundation presented information on opportunity zones for development through democratic local governance. RIAD's Recife meeting also featured an exhibition that was popular with delegates on successful and replicable best practices, in part made possible by a grant by USAID. Both were well-received, with Jamaica, Trinidad, and Suriname inserting language in the Declaration acknowledging the best practices "Expo" supported by USAID. ¶7. (U) The text of the declaration is as follows. Begin text: -------------- DECLARATION OF RECIFE -------------- (Adopted at the fifth plenary session, held on October 28, 2005.) The participants in the Third Meeting of MINISTERS AND HIGH-LEVEL AUTHORITIES OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES responsible for policies on decentralization, strengthening of subnational governments, and citizen participation, assembled in Recife, Brazil, from October 26 to 28, 2005, RECALLING: That the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it; and That democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic development of the peoples of the Americas; BEARING IN MIND: That the effective exercise of representative democracy is the basis for the rule of law and of the constitutional regimes of the member states of the Organization of American States; and That representative democracy is strengthened and deepened by permanent, ethical, and responsible participation of the citizenry within a legal framework conforming to the respective constitutional order; RECOGNIZING: That it is the right and responsibility of all citizens to participate in decisions relating to their own development; That this is also a necessary condition for the full and effective exercise of democracy; and That promoting and fostering diverse forms of participation strengthens democracy; RECALLING that the High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government, and Citizen Participation (RIAD) is the outcome of a series of discussions held in the context of the Summit meetings of Heads of State and Government of the member states of the Organization of American States to identify shared hemispheric challenges, priorities, and goals to be met in the coming decades by the countries of the region; EMPHASIZING that the Plan of Action adopted by the Third Summit of the Americas (Quebec City, 2001) underscored the need to strengthen the autonomy and the managerial and administrative capacity of local governments, as a factor in strengthening democratic governance in the Hemisphere, allowing both greater efficiency in the provision of public services to the community of the region and increased civil society participation in local public administration; CONSIDERING that the Declaration of La Paz (Bolivia, 2001),the document that established the High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government, and Citizen Participation (RIAD),emphasized the special contribution subnational governments could make to strengthening democracy, promoting economic development, and reducing poverty in the region; RECOGNIZING that the Plan of Action of Mexico City, adopted by the member states of the Network at the Second Meeting of Ministers of the RIAD (Mexico City, 2003),is the first document to reflect the views shared by the member states, listing priority topics for analysis and defining strategic actions of the Network; BEARING IN MIND that the Heads of State and of the Government will meet in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina, on November 4 and 5, 2005, for the Fourth Summit of Americas, the theme of which is "Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance"; and RECOGNIZING that several countries of the region are affected by crises of diverse types, whose effects could have a negative impact at various levels of government on democratic governance and stability, DECLARE: ¶1. Their commitment to improving and strengthening the institutional framework of the decentralization process, so as to strengthen local and regional governments, as well as the channels for citizen participation in public administration, which constitute a plan of action for consolidating democratic governance, creating decent work opportunities, and promoting more inclusive development that can reduce social and regional inequalities in the Hemisphere. ¶2. Their commitment to the mission of the High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government, and Citizen Participation (RIAD) to support central governments in the promotion and coordination of the decentralization processes that have intensified since the 1990s. ¶3. The need to enhance implementation of the Network's agenda by promoting political dialogue and the exchange of information and experience among national policymakers in the Network's member states, and between the Network and the meetings of ministers and high-level authorities of the OAS, and by disseminating analyses and studies on decentralization trends in the Hemisphere. ¶4. The importance of cooperation and collaboration between the central government and regional governments in the shared promotion of a more inclusive form of economic development that can strengthen democratic governance in the Hemisphere. In this regard, the Declaration of Margarita on poverty, equity, and social inclusion (Venezuela, 2003) has already pointed out that the reduction of poverty, the creation of new economic opportunities, and efforts to achieve a more equitable distribution of income for the people of the Americas can be pursued, inter alia, through the joint efforts of the national, regional, and local governments of the region, in partnership with the private sector and other civil society actors. ¶5. Solidarity from the region to states whose democratic governance is at risk due to vulnerabilities of different types, whether structural or transitory, and which deserve resolute support, through reaffirmation of the effective exercise of representative democracy, at the level of central as well as regional and municipal governments. RECOMMEND AS PRIORITY ACTIVITIES: In order to achieve its fundamental purpose and establish itself as an instrument of cooperation for the exchange of experience, such as the Expo-Fair initiative of RIAD III and the formulation of proposals and public policies on strengthening the decentralization of local and regional governments, as well as channels for civil society participation in public administration, the Network can act in three principal ways. ¶1. Based on the Plan of Action of Mexico City, identify a common agenda and priority topics for the short and medium terms. ¶2. Cooperate by reinforcing public-private partnerships, which can be a fundamental element in consolidating decentralization processes and coordinating public policies. ¶3. Support regional applied research centers, which is essential to understanding the distinctive characteristics of the decentralization process in each member state of the Network, as well as the general and regional trends of this process. Also, strengthen training and skills development in order to create a synergy with other networks and research centers working on these issues in the region. ¶4. Secondly, the RIAD should include on its agenda an analysis of the effectiveness of the articulation processes and intergovernmental coordination mechanisms in the context of decentralization. ¶5. The third measure has to do with the relationship between the agenda of the RIAD and civil society organizations involved in the decentralization process under way in the Hemisphere. In this regard, it is essential that the RIAD Executive Committee and the Network's national policymakers adopt initiatives to establish, in their respective spheres of action, a dialogue with important civil society leaders that can lead to a viable shared agenda on democratic governance, territorial development, and fighting poverty, social exclusion, and inequality. ¶6. It is therefore essential to strengthen the subregional vice chairs by drawing up a specific work agenda for each of these subregions, taking into account the diversity of the member states of the Network with respect to their national political institutional structures (for example, the differences between unitary and federal governments) and the different processes of decentralization under way in the region, as well as the regional integration processes in the Hemisphere. ¶7. That the subregional vice chairs elected at RIAD III will also serve as vice chairs of the High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government, and Citizen Participation. Likewise, it is decided that the outgoing chair will join the RIAD Executive Committee. ¶8. Lastly, the participants in the Meeting wish to express their most sincere thanks to the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the host country, for its warm hospitality and for the excellent organization which assured the success of this meeting. End text. PAGE