On Tuesday, 7 July 2009, EWI’s Preventive Diplomacy Initiatives hosted representatives from Latin American and Caribbean embassies, the Council of the European Union, NGOs and academia for a seminar on conflict and security in Latin America and the Caribbean. The event, held at EWI’s Brussels Center, was the first step in a process  feeding into regional dialogues across the four continents, to identify key spaces for preventive action.

The goals of the roundtable were to explore and identify:

• The main challenges to peace and security in the region;
• Existing frameworks and initiatives to address these challenges, including lessons learned and success stories; and
• Opportunities for more effective preventive action.

Main Challenges to Peace and Security in the Region

The discussion covered a wide range of threats to peace and security in the region, but it centered on citizen security, crime and violence. Specific security challenges participants identified were rising levels of violent crime, transboundary and international organized crime, drug trade, weak governance and ineffective law enforcement and justice systems.

The drug trade, for example, is not only funding paramilitary groups and destabilizing governments in the region; it is also threatening the security of ordinary citizens. The problem seems especially pervasive in Central America, which is a trafficking corridor and has seen an increase in drug-related violence and criminal activity.

Participants identified youth crime, such as the extreme violence of “Maras” youth gangs, as another destabilizing factor. Some also pointed to interest groups’ control of the formal economy, many of who use illegal means to do business. Problems in the Caribbean are also connected to these challenges, especially through trafficking.

To address these interconnected challenges, participants highlighted the need for a comprehensive regional approach. Without such an approach, participants suggested, solving the problems of one region will likely just displace them to another.

The discussion highlighted different perspectives on obstacles to regional cooperation, but most participants agreed that the biggest hurdle is the lack of government funds and political will to foster effective and stable governance structures.

Other obstacles to cooperation included:

• The lack of trust between states in the region and large-scale disagreement about historical narratives;
• Competing development models that vary from country to country; and
• Outdated concepts of security and sovereignty, mainly because conflicts in the region rarely escalate into humanitarian crises, and the concept of security is still understood in terms of national frontiers rather than a social and human perspective.

These challenges make regional cooperation difficult even when it is clear that many of these problems can only be solved through closer regional cooperation.

Frameworks of Cooperation

Latin American and Caribbean countries have tried to institutionalize regional cooperation, but have hit two persistent obstacles. First, the lack of a permanent body, similar to the Commission of the European Union, to drive the integration process forward and ensure continuity. This is a major problem, for example, for the Rio Group, which doesn’t have a permanent body or secretariat, relying instead on yearly summits of heads of states.

A second obstacle is the lack of neutrality and inclusiveness of organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), which was criticized for being too U.S.-centric. As a result, countries in the region tend to turn to bodies such as the United Nations for security assistance rather than regional organizations.

There has been some success, though, with processes like the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Central American Integration System (SICA), which have shown promise in contributing to regional peace and security. UNASUR’s South American Defense Council, in particular, has raised hopes for improved collective security, although it is too early to assess the effectiveness and potential of enhancing Latin-American security.

Opportunities for More Regional Cooperation and Preventive Action

Participants suggested that the region’s governments should begin improving cooperation in the security and intelligence sectors. The fight against organized crime, for example, is a common threat and can serve as a starting point for further preventive diplomacy.

Participants also noted the need to focus on practical implementation that builds on existing ideas rather than developing new mechanisms. The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development is one such framework, and has shown promise for fostering cooperation efforts. Additional suggestions included the expansion of bilateral initiatives that have proven successful in the past. The European Union was identified as one player that could provide technical assistance in this regard, especially if it can overcome taboos against providing foreign assistance to the Latin American security sector.

Next Steps

The feedback gathered from this roundtable discussion will feed into EWI’s regional preparatory meetings in Latin America, scheduled for October 2009. These meetings will identify regional priorities and strategies and feed into a global action program to spur new thinking and approaches to security and conflict