Events

Julio María Sanguinetti

Politics and the crisis

The Rafael del Pino Foundation hosted the lecture by Julio María Sanguinetti entitled "Politics and the crisis", as part of the series of Master Lectures "Lessons from the crisis", on 19 April 2010.

Julio María Sanguinetti stated that "the economic bonanza led some Latin American countries to fall into the temptation of populism. The use of state power and the state budget for electoral purposes, with a certain contempt for representative institutions and a messianic leader above the Constitution who represents progress. The most typical case of this situation is Venezuela. A country with great prosperity in income but great turbulence in all other aspects. In other countries there have been other populisms, but more moderate ones. The consequence is that these countries do not receive investment, they are rejected by international investors and they are not countries that are going to follow the path of progress that other countries in the region are already following".

Regarding the economic future of Latin America, Julio María Sanguinetti said that "Brazil offers better conditions; Chile was already a very prepared country; Peru has improved notably... In the area as a whole, conditions are much more favourable than in previous years. Colombia can be a good example: twenty years ago it was a problem, and today it is proof of how democracy and the rule of law can be preserved in the midst of a thirty-year war. The overall scenario is highly favourable.

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The Rafael del Pino Foundation is not responsible for any comments, opinions or statements made by third parties. In this respect, the FRP is not obliged to monitor the views expressed by such third parties who participate in its activities and which are expressed as a result of their inalienable right to freedom of expression and under their own responsibility. The contents included in the summary of this conference are the result of the discussions that took place during the conference organised for this purpose at the Foundation and are the sole responsibility of its authors.