VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #8692/01 3622017
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 282017Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0702
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7962
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 9711
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 5747
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 1014
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 6452

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV ASEC KPAO OIIP CO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPONSORS CONFERENCE ON 
SOCIAL JUSTICE 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
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¶1.  Embassy Public Affairs sponsored the 12th Houston Series 
seminar with a focus on "Social Justice: Reducing Poverty, 
Building the Economy and Peace."  110 leaders and  officials 
from the private sector, academia, government and NGOs 
participated in the three-day conference held in Cartagena 
from November 16-18.  The conference fostered a lively 
debate, productive discussion on the relationship between 
inequality and conflict, and the roles of the government and 
the private sector in addressing inequality.  Despite a wide 
diversity of viewpoints, participants reached general 
consensus that security was fundamental to social justice, 
that the government must be more active in combating 
inequality, and that the private sector has a significant 
role to play in strengthening social justice.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Security Critical for Growth and Poverty Reduction 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2.  The Houston Series, begun nine years ago in 1998 through 
the Public Affairs International Visitors program, brings 
together influential American and Colombian policymakers, 
press and academia to address key issues.  Debate has long 
been the  critical format and topics traditionally relate to 
the country's search for peace and democracy.  Previous 
topics have included the role of the media in promoting 
peace, human rights, civil-military relations and private 
sector issues.  This year's conference attracted a 
star-studded participants list including several members of 
President Uribe's cabinet, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos 
Gutierrez, Medellin mayor (and Presidential hopeful) Sergio 
Fajardo, high ranking Senators and representatives of Afro 
Colombian and indigenous groups. Through debate sessions at 
the end of each segment, the forum allowed a rare opportunity 
for government and non-government players to address and 
critique various policies and approaches. 
 
¶3.  Ambassador Brownfield underscored the importance of this 
year's topic on Social Justice at the conference opening, 
encouraging open discussion and debate among the 
participants.  Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos cited 
improvements in economic, security and human rights 
conditions in the country under President 
Uribe's democratic security policies.  Other high-ranking 
officials who addressed the conference, including Minister of 
Foreign Relations Fernando Araujo, Minister of Agriculture 
and Rural Development Andres Felipe Arias and Minister of 
Education Cecilia Maria Velez, echoed Minister Santos' 
positive assessment of Colombia. 
Secretary  of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez lauded Colombia's 
 
SIPDIS 
trade and social policy advancements and noted the positive 
effects of the expansion in bilateral ties. He said the 
U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement was a "win-win" for 
both the U.S. and Colombia. 
 
¶4.  Alejandro Reyes of the Rural Roots of Insurgence Group 
agreed that the GOC's democratic security policies have 
helped reduce conflict, and hence inequality, by weakening 
illegal armed groups.  Still, he said the GOC must do more 
against emerging criminal bands and narcotraffickers.  Fabio 
Sanchez, Director of the Center for Economic Development, 
also linked security and inequality, noting that illegal 
armed groups create a separate "narco-economy" that 
undermines the formal economy and weakens local government 
authority.  This reduces tax revenues that fund anti-poverty 
programs and the ability of local government to effectively 
implement such programs. 
 
¶5.  Andres Escobar, Deputy Director of Colombia's National 
Planning Office, said that security is a prerequisite to 
economic growth, which reduces inequality.  Escobar noted 
that Colombia's security situation has improved markedly from 
2000 to 2007: homicides decreased 40 percent, kidnappings 
decreased 83 percent, terrorist attacks decreased 61 percent, 
and deaths of trade unionists decreased nearly 70 percent. 
Guillermo Perry of the economic think-tank Fedesarrollo 
pointed out that the causality between economic growth and 
inequality: inequality leads to increased crime, reduced 
human capital growth, and lower quality political 
institutions, all of which reduce the rate of economic growth. 
 
----------------------------- 
Policies to Reduce Inequality 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. IIP speaker Mark Schneider, Vice-President of the 
International Crisis Group, said the GOC could must 
effectively address inequality and poverty through reforms in 
rural development, land titling and microcredit financing. 
While some participants agreed, others voiced concern that 
Colombia was not adequately confronting poverty through 
specific government programs.  Jairo Nunez Mendez of 
Colombia's Mission Against Poverty and Inequality discussed 
specific GOC programs to reduce poverty, including expanding 
post-secondary education opportunities (from 1.2 to 2.7 
million individuals), creating more jobs for vulnerable 
populations, and developing micro-finance programs.  Still, 
he noted that the GOC needs a more unified social protection 
system in order to combat poverty. 
 
¶7.  In response, Accion Social Director Alfonso Hoyos 
explained Accion Social's anti-poverty efforts which will 
include 1.5 million families in the "Families in Action" 
program by 2010.  Diego Molano of Accion Social also 
explained how the GOC addresses the needs of Colombia's 2 
million internally displaced people (IDP).  He noted that the 
number of registered IDPs dropped 50 percent from 2005 to 
2007, in part due to Accion Social programs.  Accion Social's 
programs to help IDPs include  socio-economic stabilization 
projects in 32 focus cities and 170 municipalities.  Molano 
said that over 600,000 IDPs received subsidized health care 
in 2006, over 200,000 received education assistance, and 
65,000 received housing subsidies. 
 
¶8.  Mauricio Cardenas, Director of the economic think-tank 
Fedesarrollo, cautioned that some government policies aimed 
at reducing poverty could worsen the "vicious cycle" of the 
informal labor market in which populist social policies lead 
to higher labor taxes, driving workers into the informal 
labor market because employers cannot afford the benefits 
packages for its the workers.  This, in turn, creates 
pressure for additional government-funded social safety nets 
which leads to higher taxes and perpetuates the cycle. 
Cardenas also noted that Colombia's fragmented Congress makes 
it difficult to enact social programs that address economic 
inequality. 
 
------------------------------------- 
The Private Sector and Social Justice 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  Luis Carlos Villegas, President of the National 
Association of Industries, pointed out Colombia's positive 
economic indicators across the board as progress towards 
expanding economic opportunity and social justice.   While 
increased security has contributed to Colombia's improved 
economic situation,  pro-market policies and regulations were 
essential to attracting foreign investment.  Foreign investor 
confidence has helped raise the GDP and lower the poverty 
rate, affecting the larger population.  Villegas said the 
private sector's corporate social responsibility programs 
could play a critical role in reducing poverty.  Claudio 
Loser of the Inter-American Dialogue said that Colombia has 
done better than most of Latin America in terms of per capita 
income growth, poverty reduction, income distribution, health 
and education.  Still, he said Colombia needs to work on 
improving government regulations and institutions in order to 
have the continued economic growth. 
 
¶10. Karl Lippert, President of Colombian operations for the 
international beer giant SABMiller, highlighted the role of 
the private sector and free markets in promoting peace. 
Lippert said  Colombia must continue to accelerate economic 
development but also target that development towards peace. 
While Colombia has improved economically, a slow judicial 
system and poorly defined property rights remain obstacles to 
economic growth.  Lippert argued for more infrastructure 
investment which would reduce transportation costs and 
facilitate internal trade, thereby 
increasing rural employment and creating more security. 
 
------------ 
Reaching Out 
------------ 
 
¶11.  In subsequent weeks the media addressed the value of the 
Houston Series, and its contribution to Colombia's struggle 
for a stronger democracy.  Media coverage included two 
reports in Cartagena's liberal daily El Universal 
(circulation 65,000, commentary on La FM Radio (national 
audience 210,0) and RCN Radio (national audience 723,000), an 
interview on RCN Radio with conference speaker Mauricio 
 
Cardenas, an op-ed by participant and former Minister of 
Finance Juan Camilo Restrepo in El Nuevo Siglo (Bogota daily, 
circulation 128,000), and an article by participant Claudio 
Loser in the Latin Business Chronicle. 
 
¶12.  Post intends to continue building on the Houston Series 
tradition by hosting the seminar in 2008.  To offset costs, 
Post intends to increase the level of co-sponsorship through 
mechanisms such as private sector participation. 
 
Nichols