25/09/2012
"The middle class is the spinal cord of a society [...] The bigger and thriving, the more prosperous a country will be"
"To make the benefits of an economic cycle turn into prosperity we must persevere in discipline"
"We must preserve fiscal stability; deepen reforms and advance liberalisation and openness"
"Spain will succeed with will and braveness; making reforms and seizing the initiative"
"Globalisation is a catalyst of opportunities and a passport to prosperity"
The former Prime Minister of Spain and president of FAES Foundation, José María Aznar declared in Peru that "the first thing Europe must do to get out of the crisis is stop the destruction of its middle classes" and that "Spain will succeed with will and braveness; making reforms and seizing the initiative". Aznar made these statements in Lima at the launch of the FAES report on ""Latin America: An Agenda for Freedom 2012" during the opening session of the FAES Campus Peru, where he participated with the Vice-President of Peru, Marisol Espinoza Cruz, and the founding president of San Ignacio de Loyola University, organizer of the Campus, Raúl Díez Canseco.
During his stay in the country, Aznar also met with the ministers of Economy and Defence, Luis Miguel Castilla and Pedro Cateriano, respectively. In his address, Aznar declared that "one of the main differences between the situation in Latin America and Europe is precisely the situation of its middle classes. While in Latin America they are expanding non-stop, in Europe they are contracting very rapidly. And this is a tragedy". In this sense, he assured that "if the first thing that Latin America has to do to consolidate its prosperity is reinforce its middle classes, then the first thing Europe must do to get out of the crisis is stop theirs from being destroyed".
Aznar said that "The middle class is the spinal cord of a society; it supports and unites it; it gives it strength and stability. Therefore, the bigger and thriving, the more prosperous a country or region will be"
Aznar also said that "prosperity is not easy to achieve, and when you do, it's not guaranteed". "We must preserve fiscal stability with a serious and responsible public spending policy; deepen structural reforms to make the economy more flexible and competitive; advance commercial liberalisation and openness to generate new partners and new opportunities, and try to forge a broad middle class that's strong and sound", he added.
According to Aznar, "To make the benefits of a positive economic cycle turn into the foundations of a lasting prosperity we must persevere, with determination, along the path of discipline and reforms". "Believing that just receiving a good economic inheritance is enough to deliver a prosperity legacy is a very serious mistake", he said.
OPENNESS, COMPETITION AND FREEDOM
At the opening session of the FAES Campus Peru, Aznar received the keys of La Molina, one of Lima's districts where the prestigious San Ignacio de Loyola University is located. This university, presided by Raúl Diez Canseco, is where the Campus is taking place; Aznar also received an Honorary Doctorate from it.
During his address, the former Prime Minister of Spain congratulated Peru's democratic governments for "the success achieved with their openness and freedom policies". "Some will call this the 'Peruvian miracle' just like some said some time ago that what was happening was a 'Spanish miracle'. But in politics miracles don't exist", Aznar declared. For him, "Peru's economic success, like Spain's economic success in 1996 to 2004, is the result of some good policies of openness, positive competition and freedom". "I'm sure Peru will continue advancing along the true road of prosperity. And I'm sure Spain will manage to succeed like it always has: with will and braveness; making reforms and seizing the initiative", he added.
With regard to Atlantic issues, Aznar said that "it's true the global financial and economic crisis has affected Europe, the US and the Latin American nations differently, and also that their responses have been different". However, he also said that "I have no doubt that the only possible solution will come from an intense cooperation of those three axes that form the Atlantic triangle". "The West is the cradle of the great values which have made societies advance. Those values cannot be substituted or sacrificed for economic pragmatism. On the contrary, these are values that we must strengthen at these times of crisis for some and crossroads for others", he said.
Aznar, who also referred to globalisation, stated that it is "a catalyst of opportunities and a passport to prosperity for those who wish to take the opportunity". "Openness to a globalised world is and was the great engine for the generation of wealth for citizens", he assured