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.


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