30 June 1993

Doc.  6888

MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION

on the social circumstances of the people

of Latin America

presented by Mr FOSCHI and several colleagues

1.       The people of Latin America, many of European origin, are now experiencing one of the most dramatic situations in their history: in most of the countries concerned their poverty, hardship and marginalisation in society are worsening, while they are losing all hope.

2.       After two decades of dictatorial regimes - the fruits of the doctrine of national security - which held sway in almost two thirds of the countries concerned, the democratisation process began in a disastrous economic and social situation, under the threat of debt, usually paid by the poor, and of a dependence aggravated by the structural adjustment policies imposed by international bodies and now giving rise to new kinds of even more serious hardship and marginalisation in society.

3.       The conditions in which individuals and families are living today in the Latin American region are described below:

      - half of all housing (if housing is the appropriate word) has no electricity;

      - one third of the population has no drinking water;

      - 84.8 % of the children are suffering from malnutrition, 50 % severely;

      - almost 60 % of the potential labour force is part of the informal economy, out of work and without social security provision;

      - 2 % of food production is lost each year;

      - the wages paid now are worth two thirds of their value in the eighties;

      - the number of illiterates is rising, while education budgets are being cut drastically. The school dropout rate has reached 50 %;

      - legislation protecting minors in employment, laws on safety in the workplace and on fundamental rights and freedoms and international agreements are systematically violated.

4.       The instability and political and social disintegration at the root of the latest events in Peru, Venezuela, Haiti and Guatemala and the violent incidents in Colombia and other countries are worsening and jeopardising the fragile process of democratisation. Unfortunately, present conditions are favourable to social outbursts and to the unleashing of violence, which might well compromise peace and are thus a matter for international responsibility.

5.       It is disturbing to note - in spite of the close and unbreakable historical and cultural links between Europe and Latin America - the following:

      - serious disinformation is being spread about the actual situation in the region;

      - awareness of the problem is gradually declining, leading to a failure to understand the reasons for the priority need for co-operation between European countries and Latin America;

      - European states' individualistic, protectionist attitudes to the countries of Latin America are having negative effects.

6.       In the light of certain Council of Europe documents dating from a period when much attention was paid to Latin America and to the tens of millions of emigrants of European origin who are an integral part of the Latin American population, there is an urgent need to reopen the debate on the real social prospects of the people of Latin America and on their human development, also taking account of the annual UNDP reports, which reveal that 85 % of all wealth belongs to just 8 % of the world's population.

7.       For all these reasons the Parliamentary Assembly can only strongly recommend that the Committee of Ministers embark on a serious dialogue on the necessary strategies to prevent further rapid deterioration of the social circumstances of the people of Latin America, who, far from being foreign to Europe, must be fully part of Europe's responsibilities.

8.       The main objectives which must inspire the new strategies intended to launch change must have nothing to do with a sort of "economic-social Neo-Darwinism" or with a passive noting of the new situation on the ground to which we must "adapt"; on the contrary, they must be to:

i.       prevent social conflicts,

ii       promote the full development of humankind,

iii.       prevent new mass migration born of necessity,

iv.       bring practical application of the principles of solidarity and international co-operation,

v.       consolidate democratic freedoms and guarantee respect for human rights.

Signed: Foschi, Ferrari, Agnelli, Rubner, Guzzetti, Parisi, Columberg, Liberatori, Grzeskowiak, Bloetzer, Psaila Savona, Karcsay, Bühler, Ferrarini, Paire, Fava, Leccese, Jung, Jeambrun, Dumont, Birraux, Seitlinger, Croze, Alloncle, Trabacchini,n Rodrigues, Pahtas, Efraimoglou, Seeuws