WORLD EXPERTS DISCUSS HEMISPHERIC SECURITY AT FUNGLODE
Santo Domingo , August 1, 2005

Hemispheric security within democratic values was the topic of the panel discussion that gathered President Fernández, Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdés, especial UN envoy to Haiti , Joseph Tulchin, Director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center , and Raúl Benítez Manaut, scholar and professor at the Autonomous University of Mexico.

The presentation took place at the auditorium of FUNGLODE in Santo Domingo , which attracted a large audience of high ranking civil and military officials among other local experts, professors and historians and general public. The event, as well as individual participants, was given wide coverage by the local media.

The discussion opened a one-day workshop that, under the title "Building a Democratic Security in the Caribbean ," gathered experts in different aspects and threats to the security in the region and the Hemisphere at large. The event was organized by FUNGLODE and Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, GFDD, the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, Dr. Guillermo Manuel Luengo Foundation, and the Latin-American University for Social Studies, FLACSO (as per acronym in Spanish.)

The ongoing crisis in neighboring Haiti centered much of the discussion and the following question and answer period. During his presentation, President Fernández announced the creation of a new protection system of the border with Haiti . Ambassador Valdés gave a positive review of the, still, precarious security situation in Haiti where, finally, troops and equipment promised have only recently been deployed. He also reported on the optimistic development of the registration process for the upcoming election.

A relevant change in the struggle against political and criminal threats in the region is the substitution of the U.S. troops as regional gendarmes by forces from the rest of the Hemisphere in implementing stabilization and peacekeeping missions in conflict countries was noted by Dr. Tulchin, Director of the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center .

Other issues threatening the regional security were also discussed, as is the increasing role of the countries in the region as distribution points in the traffic of drugs and weapons.