Marginalization of Rule of law and the criminalization of politics in the digital age were the focus of Tuesday’s meeting at MDC’s Wolfson Campus, where former presidents from several countries met to exchange views with civil society and academics.

According to former Bolivian president Jorge Tuto Quiroga, it is “important” that Venezuela be free and democratic by 2024. He added: “María Corina Machado was activated by the people, she is a hero. People with disabilities are the drone tyrants of Nicolas Maduro”.

In a message sent to the forum, Machado, who is prohibited from leaving the country, called IDEA Group an organization that “plays an important role in strengthening democratic institutions in the region.”

The opposition leader won the opposition primary on October 22 with 92.35% of the vote, in a process involving 2.6 million Venezuelans.

However, the political leader will be subject to a 15-year disqualification from holding public office imposed in June by the Comptroller General’s Office, which is controlled by dictator Maduro.

“The technological revolution is driving the massification of populism, and we must be careful,” Machado said in his message to a gathering of former presidents in Miami.

According to former Costa Rican president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, in Venezuela “Latin American democracy is at stake.” He recalled that the preliminary election process in the country emerged after “an agreement between the opposition and the government, with international guarantors. [EEUU, UE, Canadá y Reino Unido]”.

“There have been demonstrations of more than 2.5 million citizens who voted for candidates with more than 92% of the vote; “It’s incredible that in a vote with more candidates, someone gets that percentage of the vote,” he said.

He noted that Machado had a “very clear mandate” and wondered “how they are going to try to stop María Corina,” to which he responded: “María Corina has to be the candidate.”

In the opinion of former Ecuadorian president Osvaldo Hurtado, “since Chávez died, there has not been a leader of Machado’s stature in Venezuela; this is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored through a comptroller’s resolution determining his incompetence.”

He argues that the US has become a major actor in democracy in Latin America. However, he asked the Biden administration that “if Mrs. Machado’s incompetence continues, sanctions against Venezuela must be reimposed and even tightened.”

Rule of law

The IDEA Group Presidential Dialogue is an important forum that brings together former leaders and figures from Latin America, Europe and other parts of the world to discuss issues of global relevance.

DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS editor and MDC Mezerhane Chair president, Nelson J. Mezerhane G., highlighted that the marginalization of the rule of law and the criminalization of politics in the digital era “are central issues that require our attention and attention. action”.

He clarified that IDEA is a private project that has no public participation. “We do not depend on any party in any country, but only depend on the rule of law and democracy,” he stressed.

He argued that “political enemies” resort to online defamation and other tactics to discredit their opponents, which is why he called for awareness and action on this issue that hinders public debate.

In contrast, MDC president Madeline Pumariega predicted that “democracy is fragile, we see it in the world. I think this conversation is very useful for all of us here, especially for students, who can see leaders talking about democracy.”

“As the nation’s largest and most diverse educational institution serving largely the Hispanic community, Miami Dade College is proud to be a facilitator between Ibero-American and global leaders,” he said.

This year, former Spanish Government president José María Aznar was unable to physically attend the event, but spoke via video call from New York.

According to Aznar, “the constitution and the rule of law are only for minority groups who want to destroy them.” Regarding Spain, he said, “populism is centered on politics.”

Almagro

One of the parties invited to the meeting was the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro. From his perspective, “democracy and freedom in the digital age, when organized crime is more influential in politics,” he said, “is playing out in a scheme that has no rules.”

“Another element was introduced, namely AI (Artificial Intelligence), and this began to have a positive or negative impact on democracy. We still have a lot of work to do to further build the rule of law. have lost it in the scheme of polarization,” he argued.

“It is increasingly difficult for us to think through the differences, to understand the value of the arguments as well as the counterarguments. That’s democracy. It’s different if we have political enemies rather than enemies. We are in a scheme where coexistence is increasingly difficult. ,” he said. .

Other forum topics

Ecuador’s former president Jamil Mahuad gave a kind of ‘communication theory’ class to reflect on the younger generation and the messages that permeate that age group.

Based on a parable focused on the Galapagos tortoise and Darwin’s theory of the evolution of species, he concluded that those who adapted best would survive there, both in biology and in society and politics.

“Darwin defined who survives is not the strongest, he is the one who adapts, we must learn and look for democratic mechanisms to survive in the digital world,” was the beginning of the former Ecuador president’s intervention.

Meanwhile, Ivan Duque, former president of Colombia, emphasized that “technology and social networks require an ethical framework.”

“Some politicians should be told that trilling is not governing, it is an addiction, but instead of getting them close to the people, it is getting them close to stupidity,” he said.

“Those who call themselves progressive are ‘poor’ because they impoverish the nation,” he said.

Sebastián Piñera, former president of Chile, highlighted that “it often happens that we, politicians, are late to the revolution, for example, in the technological revolution that is taking place today.”

“It is important to analyze how we will join this technological revolution,” he exclaimed and said that “immediacy is very characteristic of the modern age and networks offer just that.”

Laura Chinchilla, former president of Costa Rica, argued that “appreciation of existing means is as valuable, if not more so, than the goals the government seeks to achieve.”

For Chinchilla, “Latin America is the region experiencing the greatest decline in democracy,” therefore, he said that “we must prioritize the least disadvantaged groups.”

Youth representation

During the dialogue, the topics of which were debated in panel presentations, a large number of students remained present in the auditorium and interacted with the former presidents in the question and answer session.

Held in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation in English, the event featured two panel discussions on the theme “Marginalization of the rule of law and criminalization of politics in the digital era.”

The first panel, “Political interference with justice or the politicization of judicial power”, moderated by NTN24 Content Director Idania Chirinos, was led by the words of Diego Valadés, president of the Ibero-American Constitutional Law Institute. The panel consisted of former president Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica); Osvaldo Hurtado (Ecuador); Andrés Pastrana (Colombia); and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Costa Rica).

The second panel, “Political representation in the network era and legal and judicial control over digital governance”, moderated by the director of Noticias RCN, Claudia Gurisatti, opened with a presentation by Dr. Asdrúbal Aguiar, executive director of the Spanish and American Democratic Initiative (IDEA Group). Among the panelists were former president Ivan Duque (Colombia); Luis Alberto Lacalle (Uruguay); Jamil Mahuad (Ecuador); Sebastián Piñera (Chile); and Jorge Tuto Quiroga (Bolivia).

ABC News journalist María Elena Salinas served as host.

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