14/03/2012
"Challenges and Risks for the Future", First Day of the FAES Campus Argentina The first two tables have revolved around "The Political agenda for the Future" and "Latin America's Economic Challenges" Madrid/Buenos Aires, 14.03.12.- The first day of the Campus FAES Argentina 2012 March 14, has unfolded under the title "Challenges and Risks for the Future". During the morning, the Buenos Aires City Legislature has hosted the celebration of two round tables: "The Political agenda for the Future" and "Latin America's Economic Challenges". The first table, "The Political agenda for the Future", has had as speakers Guillermo Hirschfeld, FAES coordinator for Latin American programmes; Miguel Braun, Executive Director of Fundaci?n Pensar; Fernando Straface, Executive Director of the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC); and Guillermo Arocha, coordinator of Venezuela's Mesa de la Unidad. The panel was chaired by Fernando de Andreis, head of PRO's parliamentary group at the autonomous city of Buenos Aires (ACBA). According to Guillermo Hirschfeld, "we are witnessing a novel situation in this thirty years of democracy in Latin America: the voters, in those countries having better results, do not have any problem in voting for the alternation of people and projects if they see that the continuity of good policies is guaranteed. For Hirschfeld, the winning formula would involve a programme guaranteeing the improvement of reality without erasing and breaking away from what came previous to it. A true democrat prefers the coexistence in peaceful tension of political projects instead of the complete hegemony on one of them. This formula would need, from his point of view, three pillars: investing in education, in talent, and in innovation, which means investing in progress. The countries that have invested in human capital are the ones that have achieved the best living standards, Hirschfeld stated. Miguel Braun, in turn, declared that leaders in office must be prepared to face new thematic challenges which are already emerging as problems and he mentioned, for instance, the ageing of the population and climate change. In this sense, the Executive Director of Fundaci?n Pensar has stressed how important it is for political parties to have teams capable of giving quick responses to emerging public policy problems. Fundaci?n Pensar is that team for the PRO. Therefore, it could be said that it is a modern party, he said. Another speaker was Guillermo Arocha, coordinator of Venezuela's Mesa de la Unidad. He stated that, in spite of the exiles, political prisoners and attacks to freedom of speech, Venezuela's democracy mentality is increasingly consolidating itself and it continues thriving. At the primary elections more than three million people voted and that terrifies the Government Arocha assured. He also asserted that the winner of those elections, Henrique Capriles, is touring the country, going house by house to obtain the victory at the presidential elections. Fernando Straface, Executive Director of CIPPEC, called for long-lasting political projects and declared that the greatest challenge of a political agenda for the future will be reconciling the citizen's agenda with the governing agenda. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The second panel, Latin America's Economic Challenges, was chaired by Guillermo Hirschfeld and hosted as speakers Luciano Laspina, Banco Ciudad's chief economist, and Rogelio Frigerio, President of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance of the ACBA. Luciano Laspina declared that The development currently enjoyed by Latin America is a tailwind, but it doesn't entail a sustainable development for our countries. For the chief economist of Buenos Aires' Banco Ciudad, most Latin American countries are below the level they should have attained based on their income level. In turn, Rogelio Frigerio stressed the importance of, specifically, Brazil's growth for Argentina. A favourable exchange rate would offer us a sort of additional protectionism, he assured, although he underlined that the greatest challenge for Latin America, is the social challenge. We must transform this prosperity. We must use this growth and change it into development so that people can live better, Frigerio asked. OPENING SESSION: Mauricio Macri and Javier Zarzalejos | Programme (in Spanish) DAY: "CHALLENGES AND RISKS FOR THE FUTURE": "Latin America"s Political and Economic Agenda" | "Regional Management" DAY, "IDEAS FOR A WINNING POLITICAL PROJECT": "Citizen Security and Quality of Life" | 'Ideas in Politics' DAY, 'ARGENTINA, LATIN AMERICA AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: 'The New International Arena' | Closing of the FAES Campus Argentina 2012