Plenary Socialization of the Conclusions of the Work Tables | Parlamentary Session, CUMIPAZ 2017

MODERATOR

Julio César Pineda

Diplomat and internationalist

VENEZUELA

We are going to start the closing of this third day, which, as we said earlier today, was going to consider a very important issue, such as the issue of politics, diplomacy and the new mechanisms of regional integration.

We confirmed what Dr. Soto said, that every action needs for political commitment to be fulfilled; which are the parliaments (of which we spoke of this morning) it is the bilateral and multilateral diplomacy mechanisms that work in this direction and the subject, naturally, of democracy as such.

I am going to allow myself to briefly summarize the conclusions that we could draw from what we talked about this morning.

First Gabriela Lara intervened, who welcomed everyone on behalf of CUMIPAZ and also referred to the Peace Integration Summit 2017 and formally installed this act.

• For her, it was important to build a space for dialogue to generate and achieve peace among people and among nations.
• Dr. Lara said that the Summit needed to have effective actions to contribute and generate development of the countries but also of the human being as a person;
• and concluded by noting that CUMIPAZ is of vital importance as it brings together civil society and politicians in the same space to build a culture of peace with justice and equity.

We also heard this morning a message from Ambassador William Soto Santiago, where, among other statements, he said:

• That it is necessary to address the problems that affect the peace of the human being, in an integral manner, but also refer it to the nations as well as propose - along the same line as the general secretary - actions for their solution.
• Dr. Soto's approach was very important when he said that politics could not be conceived without the imperative of ethics, of morality; and affirmed the importance of respect for human rights and based on a Christian concept (for those of us who believe in religion) of human dignity as beings created by God or, ultimately, as the last scale of evolution in that vision of the human race, man with all rights.
• Dr. Soto said that we must develop public policies for the benefit of society, but affirmed the importance of a culture of peace. He is very insistent on an education for peace with a true objective that was the service of the people.
• He affirmed that peace is the reason of human beings and happiness is their inalienable right, and this is achieved with two objectives: love towards others and political will; rescuing the concept of fraternity a bit. Some say that it is the lost imperative, because we talked a lot about justice (like the French Revolution) and a lot of freedom, but we forgot that term of fraternity, the sense of love that Dr. Soto said.
• And finally, it ended in his message that the GEAP wanted to provide all the possible help to Governments, to generate a culture of peace, strengthening public policies and promoting the growth of the human being; but he insisted: through improvement and education, but also in search of solutions also linked to the environment.
• He made a quick observation on the subject of violence in the world and the issue of the very serious problem of arms race, which together with ecology, currently corresponds to a possibility that any nuclear conflict would be final for humanity. Yesterday the Nobel Prize also talked about this and in that same line Dr. Soto....

Later we had the opportunity to listen to the first speaker, James Matthew Lambert; he has been a career diplomat, ambassador in several countries (always in Latin America), he also worked in the Foreign Ministry of Canada and is responsible for hemispheric actions on human rights, democracy and development.

• He insisted, and is also part of today's conference, on the importance of both bilateral and multilateral organizations and the importance of diplomacy, particularly in the sense of helping the most unprotected communities. And he said that they needed -organisms like the OAS itself- a much more comprehensive vision, much more general, pointing out that the OAS itself has changed over time, from 1948 to the present; that even in 2001 (and it is something very recent) he agreed -concerned about democracy- the Inter-American Democratic Charter that anticipates constitutional ruptures or legitimacy that is lost not of origin but in the exercise of power.
• He said that the democratic strengthening that the region experienced allowed its transformation into an organization; and it was important to point out that before it was very ideological, very politicized, and that now the OAS tries to go more in the technical part, solving problems;
• and he pointed out four fundamental pillars of challenges of the Organization of American States:

First, the challenge of democracy, that's why he spoke of the Democratic Charter; second, the issue of internal and external security; third, the multidimensionality they must have when facing all the problems; and fourth, human rights, but always linked to development. The liberal movements think a lot about human rights, socialists or communists much on the issue of justice, but we must see this with integrity, as he put it: human rights and development.

• He also said that there are factors that have terribly affected democracy, among them exaggerated nationalisms, terrorism, the separation of powers that is denied, the spirit of corruption, the lack of freedom of press and the lack of concern for public services.
• He emphasized the activities of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Inter-American Human Rights System has two instances: The Commission, which is in Washington; and the Court, which is in Costa Rica; and precisely said that there are also instances, such as the Inter-American Commission of Women, which increasingly allows better monitoring of respect for fundamental rights.
• There are opposing forces such as, he said, drug trafficking, gangs and corruption, which jeopardize the progress we have made so far. He also said that the OAS has achieved key elements to deliver beyond its democratic commitment and justice. Above all, more rights for more people, the political will to ensure democratic values, and thus referred to the Inter-American Democratic Charter. We made mention here that the OAS will also present the Inter-American Ecological or Environmental Charter, which possibly, as the Secretary General said, will be taken to the next Conference of the Americas in Peru.
• The OAS delegate also said that there are three fundamental points of the OAS:

- Democratic.

- The issue of financial problems (how the OAS has been managing its resources better to meet the demands of the international community and the better use of financial resources). That is why he spoke of resources on human rights, gender, and childhood and youth, capitalizing on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and also on the Inter-American Commission of Women and the Inter-American Institute of Children and Adolescents.

- Another challenge of the OAS that he addressed was, and he insisted a lot, the issue of corruption. He told us that the next conference in Lima, at the Summit of the Americas, was the fundamental issue. He explained that there is an international anti-corruption treaty, that the OAS was the first multilateral organization to approve a mandatory document to the States on corruption and that new measures will now be announced.

Corruption - he says - not only affects the public sector, but represents a danger to national development, including quality or important programs that affect the sectors of education, health and the environment. (Yesterday, by the way, during the conference we also said that corruption is not only the governments, I think the delegate of Mexico said that corruption has a double way: there are those who are corrupt but there are also those who corrupt, and therefore it is a struggle not only in governments but also in civil society). And he reaffirmed that the Summit of the Americas in Lima, in the month of April, 2018, would be precisely addressing this point.

• Finally, he pointed out a better management of the institutions, aligning our own resources with the real challenges and doses of courage, so that we can continue forward - praising and applauding the work of CUMIPAZ - to continue working on these problems.

Subsequently, Luis Fernando Quirós, president of the Commission of Education, Technology and Communication of Parlatino, intervened.

• He referred to what the Parlatino is as a Latin American parliamentary body and reference; that there are Latin American parliamentary bodies beyond the Parlatino, such as the regional ones: Mercosur, the Andean Community of Nations (which has its parliament) and the Central American one; but he insisted that he has implemented actions to fight against excessive felling of trees and the emission of greenhouse gases - along the lines of CUMIPAZ.
• The Parlatino has participated in assemblies to generate sustainable development and has fought against drug trafficking, working to strengthen democracy and parliaments. Likewise, on behalf of the organization he represents, he referred precisely to the possibility of continuing to move in that direction.
• The Chair of Unesco was also a point that was discussed, how it can generate the design and implementation of public policy to strengthen and promote peace mechanisms, in order to achieve development for social welfare.

In conclusion, because this morning we fulfilled the purpose of the Bureau. Parliaments, whether national, regional parliaments (in the case of Parlasur or Central American Parliament or Andean Parliament, Indigenous Parliament and other parliaments of the region) can perform fundamental tasks, but also regional parliaments, so the reference they made to the Latin American Parliament and to the Confederation of Parliaments of America, which precisely presided over the delegate of Mexico or the PRI, who also spoke to us about the importance of this activity.

And in short, then, we fulfill that task of the importance of parliamentary activity, of the importance of regional organizations and, above all, of the imperative of democracy.

I think we could conclude by saying that although there are many flaws and many mistakes, there are still possibilities of continuing to work, and that has been the objective of this Conference.

Then we will also know (because two work tables were established) the results of each of them. Which of you is the first to give the results? Go ahead then. Senator Jeanine.

 

CONCLUSIONES TABLE 1

Jeanine Áñez Chávez

Moderator of the table

Senator of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

Thank you very much, good afternoon. Hello Mrs. Lara It is a pleasure once again to express gratitude for the invitation, and the entire Bolivian delegation sends greetings to Dr. Soto.

A cordial greeting to the companions of the Table. To tell you that in Table No. 1 we had the theme: "Democracy: the best current system of governance for peace and happiness of the integral human being and of Mother Earth".

The deputy of the Republic of Chile, Tucapel Jiménez, participated as a speaker of the table, with the theme: "The promotion of laws that promote the protection and defense of human rights and the rights of Mother Earth, in a globalized world, for achieve the common good."

 

Deputy Tucapel Jiménez is an electrical and political execution engineer from Chile linked to the Democratic Party (PPD). He has a diploma in Government and Public Management from the University of Chile and a diploma in Applied Affectation Areas (the same house of studies).

He tells us that for the current improvement of governance for peace and happiness of the integral human being and Mother Earth, he proposes:

• Respect the rights of Mother Earth;
• Respect for the rights of indigenous peoples, which is a fundamental path for a sustainable development that allows us to overcome poverty and inequality;
• the erosion of livelihoods based on natural resources;
• migration and forced displacement, which increases their dependence on informal economy;
• and gender inequality, both inside and outside their communities.

The invitation, therefore, is to reflect on how to protect and preserve the environment, not only bearing in mind the future of our sons and our daughters, but also adding to this equation the need to contribute to the welfare of Mother Earth.

We also had the participation of the deputy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Gerardo Amarilla, who spoke to us on the subject of "The importance of democracy for the construction of peace among nations."

Deputy Amarrilla is a doctor in Law and Social Sciences. He holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Law from the International University of Andalusia; Diploma in International Legal Studies from Handong Global University; he has integrated the Housing, Territory and Environment commissions of the House of Representatives; and integrated the Constitution, Codes, General Legislation and Administration Committee of the House of Representatives; and the Special Commission on Population and Development of the same Chamber in 2015.

• Deputy Gerardo Amarilla mentions the rule of law as a rule of coexistence, where democracy is important for the construction of peace between nations.0
• Recognize as an organized civil society: we must work with our governments and parliaments on the importance of preserving transparency in electoral processes and promoting a culture against corruption.
• Develop mechanisms such as civil society to achieve free access to all government information; and be able to judge, question, review, challenge the decisions that affect the resources that are our property.
• To urge the organized civil society of the countries to seek mechanisms that guarantee the full freedom of the press, independence and competence of the media, to comply with good governance and guarantee democracy.

As well as we had the participation of Jorge del Castillo, deputy of the Republic of Peru, with the topic: "The new challenges of democracy in the world and the well-being of the human being in harmony with Mother Earth."

He is a lawyer, has a Masters in Constitutional Law; Diploma in Senior Management Program of the University of Piura. He was mayor of the district of Barranco; prefect of Lima and also mayor of said place. He was a candidate for the second vice presidency of the Republic of Peru; he was the second vice president of the Congress of the Republic; President of the Subcommittee on the Constitutional Reform of the Economic Regime; President of the Working Group of the Law of Political Parties; President of the Proinversion Commission of the Congress of the Republic; and president of the cabinet of ministers in the government of Alan García Pérez.

• He talks to us about the threats to democracy: terrorism, which is an issue; drug trafficking, is a serious threat and not only in producing countries but in every country. Nowadays at the school level, drug consumption is growing at great levels, and that is dangerous; the use of drugs cannot be put at risk; and racism, which also he refers to, that persists in our countries.
• There is a standard in the tax quota; the water system has to be a priority.
• Other priorities to which he refers to, for example, is in mining; he proposes a hydroelectric intercommunication network (they are non-renewable energies); overshoot of energy, principle of regulatory state.

Finally, in the Table we had the participation of the senator from the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Víctor Hugo Zamora Castedo, who refers to the issue of corruption (which is evidently a sensitive issue, so commented, that involves us all): "Corruption in government systems and their impact on human rights."

Victor Hugo Zamora Castedo has a university degree in forestry; Diploma in Environment; Master's degree in Environment, with mention in Hydrocarbons. Regarding his experience, he mentions the following: general director of the Prefecture of the Department of Tarija in 1997; municipal councilor of the city of Tarija and the Cercado Province in the year 2002; departmental counselor of the Department of Tarija in 2004; deputy uninominal of Tarija in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia in the 2010-2015 term; currently senator of Tarija in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly until the year 2020.

• The senator of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Víctor Hugo Zamora Castedo, tells us that the world and regional scenario exposes the lamentable level of impunity and corruption that exists, so we can conclude that corruption is one of the elements that complicates the coexistence of citizens in peace, and distances us and stresses us from their rulers. This allows us to identify that the concept of corruption can be extrapolated to other types of activities that do not have to do with politicians, but also with government policies that disturb the peace of the human being.
• A single person cannot hold all the power "A single person does not change the country or the world. One person can change the thought of another ». This is clear with the multiform that Gandhi left to change human thinking.
• Corruption not only has to do with changing a structure, but it has to do with taking personal advantage of it. It is integration, and it is in power in our countries.

These would be the topics that Table No. 1 addressed.

I will reiterate that it was called: "Democracy, the best current system of governance for peace and happiness of the integral human being and of Mother Earth," and what I have just read would be the conclusions. Thank you very much.

 

MODERADOR

Julio Cesar Pineda

These conclusions read by Mrs. Jeanine Añez Chávez, senator from Bolivia, will be picked up tomorrow in the final report considered by the assembly.

We are also going to present the conclusions of Table No. 2 that she led; and who will present them is Senator Homer Menacho, also a senator from Bolivia.

 

CONCLUSIONES TABLE 2

Homer Menacho

Senator of the Republic of Bolivia

Thank you very much, good afternoon. First of all, thank you CUMIPAZ, Mrs. Gabriela Lara, the president of CUMIPAZ, Mr. William Soto, who gave us the opportunity to come together and be able to parley (which is what we do as parliamentarians) but we can talk to each other, I think with the same goal, the goal common here, which is to protect Mother Earth and, above all, to fight for world peace.

Well, the conclusions that we have in Table 2. In this Table, Mr. José Manuel Bóbeda, senator of the Republic of Paraguay, participated; Homer Menacho, senator from the Plurinational State of Bolivia (me); Carlos Viteri Gualinga, Assemblyman of the Republic of Ecuador; and Tommy Calvert, Commissioner of the state of Texas.

Well, the theme of Table 2 is: "The strengthening of diplomacy and foreign policy to consolidate peace in nations and among nations."

Senator José María Bóbeda, from the Republic of Paraguay, told us:

• That the Earth and man should be the central theme of politics. The treatment of organic and inorganic waste is of paramount importance for Paraguay, so we must implement actions that allow a better social and urban development.
• Foreign policy in Paraguay is the exclusive power of the President of the Republic and therefore in the Senate of the Republic we work comprehensively to develop actions that allow the executive to implement strategies for the benefit of the environment, building a culture of peace based on human rights and unrestricted respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.

Senator Homer Menacho, from the Plurinational State of Bolivia, told us:

• That CUMIPAZ concludes on topics such as the protection of Mother Earth and world peace; that in the XXI century Bolivia is in the process of a new Criminal Code and CUMIPAZ is a space for dialogue to analyze proposals from the civil society, the Government and international organizations.
• Diplomacy is important to avoid conflicts, encourage bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as well as to seek international financing.
• Alternation in power is fundamental to avoid acts of corruption and anarchy.
• Countries must have respect for democracy, human rights, the environment, to be able to cooperate and join foreign policy.
• The problems that exist in other countries (such as what happened between Bolivia and Chile) must be treated through mechanisms offered by diplomacy, to resolve conflicts and not with verbal attacks.

Mr. Carlos Viteri Gualinga, Assemblyman of the Republic of Ecuador, told us:

• «I suggest the implementation of the Manual of the Good Dweller that Juan Carlos Borrero proposed as an option to guide the actions of our lives. I believe it is important to establish an agenda of legislative, social and governmental priorities, to implement the unrestricted respect of the indigenous peoples and the rights of Mother Earth. "
• He requested that we call on civil society actors to eradicate poverty, now called multidimensional poverty.
• It is regrettable that the United States has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement on climate change, and from UNESCO, when it has been one of the countries that contributes the most to the emission of greenhouse gases.

• We must take advantage of CUMIPAZ to promote values such as solidarity, reciprocity, respect between people, their identity, their sexual preference, religion and thought.
• The Summit should serve as a space to build agreements for the benefit of Mother Earth and the integral human being. It must serve as a space to claim the self-determination of the peoples and their democracy.

Finally, Texas High Commissioner Tommy Calvert told us:

• "My lecture is about international relations in action with the new deconstructionist and Leninist world order of President Trump and Steve Bannon."

• In the world it is continually mentioned "what is happening with President Trump?". He is destroying the traditional role of the American leader who has traditionally promoted freedom, justice, human rights and economic prosperity. The president of the United States is trying to destroy multilateralism such as OTAM, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Nuclear Agreement with Iran, among others.
• Hitler marginalized the Jews as the cause of the loss of employment, economic stress in the family and the decline and loss of Germans in the First World War. President Trump marginalizes Latinos and immigration for job loss, economic stress and lack of national identity, which he speaks of as part of the national decline.
• The United States, like other countries, has forgotten its history and we are condemned to repeat it. "I believe that the solution to avoid mistakes of the past is that our schools, media, political leaders and civic organizations, such as the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace, help us to sensitize our citizens to achieve peace among nations and between the nations ».
• Also, political parties and world leaders must also offer concrete economic policies to alleviate people's economic concerns, and thereby achieve social welfare.
• Political parties in the world should not use the expiatory victimization of minorities as the reason for their work, as is the case of Latinos in the United States, or the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement or the hand of work of Mexicans based in that country.
• International relations should be used to offer scholarships and exchange learning workshops to convert their skills for jobs in the information technology economy.
• «This is a proposal that I wish to preserve in favor of the Latino community in the United States. The United States needs to legislate on human rights and achieve campaigns that are aimed at preventing racist attacks».
• "We need to strengthen forums such as CUMIPAZ and invest in advertising campaigns to contribute towards the promotion of laws that allow a life free of violence and social welfare."
• "The forces for us are much greater than the forces against us. We just need to be stronger in resistance and smarter for humanity to determine what is the best course for the survival of the human family."

The Parliamentary, Diplomatic, and Policy Session of the Peace Integration Summit obtained conclusions from Table 2, entitled "The strengthening of diplomacy and foreign policy to consolidate peace in nations and among nations", the following:

• Paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations, states: "Maintain international peace and security, and to that end take effective collective measures to prevent and eliminate threats to peace; and to suppress acts of aggression or other breaches of peace; and to achieve, by peaceful means and in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, the adjustment or settlement of disputes or international situations that may lead to breaches of peace."
• The vision of development for the future must be centered on the principles of human rights, equality and sustainability. Therefore, the results of the Third Peace Integration Summit must provide a vision of international development to free humanity from the shortcomings and fear for present and future generations, built on the basis of foreign policy.
• We know how to develop a kind of new global consciousness, nurtured by all of us who are part of the international system, and with the clear objective and total understanding that we will not achieve peace or prosperity alone, and that we inhabit shared global ecosystems.
• Summit participants agree that, in addition to the institutional framework of the countries, common rules of coexistence based on morals and ethics are required to ensure the common well-being of our societies and the integral development of the human being and the Mother Earth.
• Likewise, the participants of Table 2 in the Diplomatic, Parliamentary and Policy Session agree that international or multilateral organizations are an essential element in helping global communities to advance in the social, political, economic and cultural wellbeing of their communities and environment.

Finally, the participants of our Table highlighted:

• That CUMIPAZ is a dialogue mechanism of the organized civil society, whose objective is to develop collaborating mechanisms linking governments to strengthen and consolidate peace in nations and among nations, avoiding totalitarian actions that may threaten peace and tranquility, and social peace in our countries.
• We also concluded that political parties and world leaders must offer concrete economic policies to alleviate people's economic concerns and achieve social welfare.
• That political parties should not use the expiatory victimization of minorities as the reason for their work, but should use international relations and federative and parliamentary diplomacy in favor of the development of the integral human being and of world peace among nations.
• We agree on the importance that nations must demand from their career diplomats an appropriate training based on experience and knowledge to settle and propose peaceful solutions based on the pillars of diplomacy and international law.
• We need diplomatic forgers of peace.

Thank you.

 

MODERATOR

Julio César Pineda

With this intervention by Senator Homer Menacho we close all of today’s scenarios.

I want to thank, first the presence of all of you who have been here all morning and afternoon following our work tables; to the lecturers, who have done an extraordinary job. I also appreciate the opportunity to moderate the leadership of the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace; and I just want to end with two sentences, one profane and another religious:

I believe that here we have done a good exercise of what verse 1 of Saint John says: "In the beginning was the verb and the verb became flesh". We have talked, talked; we have ideas, we have projects; but you have to make them flesh, you have to make them real, you have to turn them into actions.

At the end of these conferences we will go to our countries to try to concretize, especially the parliamentarians, also the diplomats and the politicians, the message that we have received.

And finally, a phrase of Don Quixote, because we have heard of so many problems, so many difficulties, so many conflicts, that we have to do so much for the world, that I remember when Sancho Panza says to Quixote: "Teacher, this situation is so bad, what should we do?". And Don Quixote tells him: "Know, Sancho, that all these storms that happen to us are signs that presto has to calm time and things have to happen to us well, because it is not possible for evil and good to be durable". And Don Quixote tells Sancho: "It has been here for such a long time, that it has been present in this region, good will soon come and stay for life."

I believe that this is going to touch us, that little by little with activities such as CUMIPAZ we are going to plant good and the bad things will be in these squalls, in order to have a better society, as Dr. William Soto says: with justice, with freedom and peace.

To close, our general secretary, Gabriela Lara, with closing remarks and an invitation for tomorrow. Thank you very much to all.

 

Mrs. Gabriela Lara

Director general of the GEAP

Well, good afternoon. I will be very brief, after this session where we feel very happy because we have fulfilled, first, all the objectives that we had set for the Political Session; and above of all because we have truly seen that there is a will, a will of the political community to work on strengthening projects, campaigns, proposals, to build a culture of peace, to seek that happiness that the human family longs for.

So thank you very much. Tomorrow we have the Educational Session, and we invite you to present at an international level the structure of the Chair for Peace; and during the night we will have the Assembly, where the International Alliance of Universities, composed of 180 universities in Latin America, will be choosing a new secretary for this new management.

So thank you very much for your participation, tomorrow everyone is invited, and on Friday we will conclude the Peace Integration Summit with the Justice and Democracy Session. See you tomorrow. Thank you very much.