I am pleased to join you at this working lunch of the Global Trade Forum of the 8th World Conference of Consuls. I wish to place on record my sincere thanks to Mr. Arnold Foote, your very able chairman and director of the World Federation of Consuls, for his kind invitation. I also want to congratulate Mr. Foote with his election as the President of the FICAC. We look forward to your initiatives in the coming three years and we stand ready to explore possibilities of collaboration with FICAC.

Your theme, “Sustainable Development through Trade”, is a particularly relevant one in the current international and regional economic environment, with the challenges of globalization and trade liberalization, and the imperatives of guaranteeing security in all its dimensions, modernizing and, in some cases, restructuring our economies, enhancing national competitiveness, and reducing poverty.

For those who do not know, the Organization of American States is the premier political organization in the Western Hemisphere, established in its modern form in 1948 in Santa Fe de Bogota, Columbia. The OAS has 34 active members and is the oldest regional organization in the world.

Yesterday you had the privilege to listen to Dr. the Hon Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community, on the challenges the sub-region is facing. Allow me to share with you some perspectives on sustainable development in the Americas.

This morning we heard three excellent presentations demonstrating in clear terms from the perspective of international trade and the environment the challenges and threats our societies are facing in creating viable and sustainable economies.

In my view, it is clear that we need a mindset change, a new understanding in our thinking on how to build stable and viable societies, that take into account of the risks we as a global community are running.

It is from this perspective that I will address you today. A perspective that is political and broader in scope, one that is aimed at building sustainable economies and peaceful societies, which, in my view, are necessary pre-conditions for sustainable development.

I am of the opinion that realizing sustainable development is a responsibility of all in society. Governments alone cannot be held accountable for balanced growth and progress. Of equal importance, as part of modern governance, is the responsible engagement of civil society - that is, the business community, trade unions, religious organizations, the media, etc. In short: sustainable development is a collective responsibility!

While sustainable development demands a long-term and strategic perspective on creating growth and wealth in an economy, the reality we, regretfully, face in many countries in the Americas is, generally, an absence of vision and strategy. Too often the main focus of governments is towards the next election, creating an environment of short-term goals and ad-hoc actions. While politics focuses on the next election, economics and sustainable development require a long-term and strategic approach.

I firmly believe that sustainable development requires a more holistic approach, an integral and integrated approach to development that combines governance, economic, cultural, social and environmental issues. The interdependence of democracy, integral development and multidimensional security is clearly stated in the Charter of the OAS and in the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Secretary General Insulza and I have stated many times that each is equally important and mutually reinforcing. For your information, the Ministers responsible for sustainable development will be meeting at the end of this month in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to evaluate and celebrate the progress since the Summit on Sustainable Development took place in 1996 in the same city.

In my view democracy and democratic governance are threatened by the growing gap between rich and poor and the inefficiencies in society that culminate in corruption and exclusion. And economic growth alone is not the answer for the reality is that the Americas have some of the highest levels of income inequality in the world. There is clearly a need for soci0-economic policies that promote equity and inclusion.

Now, stability and development can only be achieved through a process of democratic governance, which needs to be transparent, efficient, effective, inclusive, fair, accountable and credible. And to guarantee stability and development, priority must be given to ensuring security of citizens, creating jobs, generating steady income, providing education and opportunity to all to be part of the process of production and growth.

I therefore believe that the time is ripe for the introduction of a new paradigm for development. But let me first expand on the context for this statement.

We have seen a spate of elections in the Americas in 2005 and 2006, during which period almost 55% of the peoples of the Americas will have been involved in some sort of electoral process. The political landscape in the Americas is changing and presents new opportunities as well as new challenges in the relationship between the countries in the Americas. The OAS has been invited in most of these cases either to provide technical assistance or to observe the elections through long-term or short-term missions. We just concluded our observation of the elections in Nicaragua and we intend to observe the elections in Venezuela and Saint Lucia later this year.

But democracy, as an institutional and legal framework of representation has not brought the expected or anticipated benefits to a major part of the people in many countries. The reality of 230 million (30%) of the population of the Americas still living in poverty is a telling story of failure, a reality that cannot and should not be ignored, a reality that is unacceptable and one that should be high on the list of priorities of the countries to be tackled with high political commitment and sound economic policies.

What does this mean then for a hemisphere where the transition from dictatorships to democracies is still a relatively recent reality and where there still exist the realities of enormous and unacceptable levels of poverty, discrimination, inequality, social exclusion and marginalized economies?

I believe that societies and people cannot and should not be divided in terms of democracy, development or security. I also firmly believe in the principle “prevention is better than the cure”. Whether in avoiding social and economic problems through sound policies, promoting investment, building equity and so on, or in preventing political crises by early engagement through quiet diplomacy, in my view it pays to be proactive! The challenge for organizations like the OAS is to be able to determine when and where timely engagement is required to guarantee and enhance democratic governance, financial stability, economic prosperity and social cohesion.

I will go further. More then a culture of prevention and protection, we need a culture of mutual acceptance and respect. Many of the basic human values that are considered part and parcel of inter-personal relations at the group and national levels, need also to become part and parcel of inter-state relations at the regional and global levels. Prime Minister Douglas yesterday reminded us of the negative impact of cultural degradation, the loss of basic values and the need to address these disturbing phenomena. I fully concur with the Prime Minister on these observations. I believe that in our educational systems and institutions we not only need to reproduce knowledge and focus on academics, but also endeavor to teach the basic human values and skills our youth will need to communicate, prevent conflicts, etc. to be able to contribute to peace and strengthen social cohesion. On another occasion recently I proposed that in the curriculum at all levels a mandatory subject teaching our youth “democratic citizenship” should be included.

I therefore also believe in the need to advance a hemispheric development agenda that pays special attention to the unique needs of the smaller and more disadvantaged countries of the Americas. We should urge increased financial and technical assistance from the richer countries in the OAS and in Europe to those less fortunate and vulnerable countries and sub-regions. To be successful in our integration efforts, these countries and sub-regions should be supported, not only by embedding them in a hemispheric free trade market that takes account of their special and differential needs and their constraints, but also by strengthening their democratic institutions, education systems, institutional capacity, law enforcement agencies and the social environment. In the end, achieving sustained stability and security will be in the interest of all in the Americas, and even beyond.

We consequently need to increase partnerships to build equity within and among countries. For development without equity is unsustainable and will ultimately undermine democracy and governance.

The OAS is a unique political vehicle that brings together 34 Member States. Even if the differences among them are deep and intense, in most instances, consultation and negotiations usually result in a consensus on collective action.

An integral part of forging a hemispheric perspective will be dedicating attention to strengthening relations between the institutions of the inter-American system, the OAS, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), as well as promoting relations between the different sub-regions, which culturally, economically and linguistically are different from each other.

One of the challenges for the OAS will be to use the inter-American system to unite the hemispheric nations to create the critical mass for consensus and action on a common policy for hemispheric development. Another challenge the OAS membership and leadership will face in the coming period, especially in light of the changing political landscape, is to avoid strained bilateral relations between member states. One of the most important assets of the OAS, if not its most important one, is its convening power in the Western Hemisphere, as it provides a platform to strengthen unity and collectivity among its Member States.

In the 34 Member States of the OAS, we see an ongoing process of change as countries go through processes of political evolution and economic transformation. We see change, as civil society in many countries feel more empowered to participate actively in public discourse. We see change as long-marginalized groups, including indigenous communities, youth and women, have assumed more prominent roles, challenged traditional notions of leadership and brought attention to a range of new human development and capacity building issues.

Clearly, the political agenda of the OAS cannot and should not be divorced from the reality of these changes in attending to the social and economic needs of the peoples of the Americas. There is an undeniable relationship between political stability and democratic governance on the one hand, and our ability on the other hand, to provide opportunities for prosperity, for concrete action to fight poverty, inequality, social exclusion, illegal drug trafficking, the spread of HIV/AIDS, the impact of natural disasters, and trans-national crime, just to mention some of the problems OAS Member States face in their quest for social and economic progress. And if these myriad challenges are daunting enough for the bigger countries of the region, imagine what it must be like for the more vulnerable countries of the Caribbean and Central America, for whom having to cope annually with devastating hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters, is an unsustainable burden.

The OAS, as the premier hemispheric multilateral vehicle to discuss political and economic challenges and opportunities and to reach consensus on collective action, is in an ideal position to institutionalize the development agenda in the political dialogue of its Member States. It is only in the political debate that a sound understanding of the underlying causes of poverty, inequality and social exclusion can be gained. In other words, the OAS can provide political weight and momentum for concerted action to address the developmental challenges faced by the countries of the Western Hemisphere.

So, it is in this spirit that I close my remarks by urging us all to establish a new paradigm for development in the Americas, one that is based on the interdependence of establishing viable democracies and comfortable levels of security, one that takes into account the diversity in size and levels of development in our Hemisphere, one that is based on collective responsibility and sharing of the burden within states and in the Americas, one that is aimed at achieving peace, solidarity and justice in the Americas.

I thank you for your attention.