The Ibero-American Summit is the annual meeting of Heads of State and Government of the 22 Latin American countries and the Spanish and Portugese speaking countries of Europe. These countries participate in the Latin American Conference of Nations.

The Latin American Conference is a privileged forum of consultation and political concentration whose purpose is to reflect on the international challenge, as well as driving regional cooperation, coordination and solidarity. The member countries of the Conference are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela and Andorra.

On this Secretariat website http://munusal.org/secretariat.php

TOPIC A: Governance for an Efficient and Participatory Democracy

There is a general agreement about democracy as a form of
government: despite having been been established throughout the region, and enjoying a
great suport, it seems it does not work. In fact,
most citizens of the Latin American countries are unsatisfied with its functioning
and results. Particularly in recent decades, the most serious threat to the
democratic governance is represented by the appearance of certain “social
movements” that submit an overload of requests to the government who is not able to
satisfy them in due time and form. The inability of governments to
respond to these requests increases the frustration and agression levels of those who
are involved in these movements.
The governmental instability in Latin America goes back to the beginning of history. Being an
extremely controversial topic in every country, the discontent and ineffectiveness of many policies has become
a common problem, mainly causing large social inequality and public discontent. Taking into
account the government inefficiency, there are some factors that all Latin American
countries have in common: corruption, the lack of a
total and participtory democracy, incomplete educational systems and flawed
leaderships by heads of state. Each one of these factors is a crucial
element that should be studied in order to find its main cause.
The socioeconomic and political dimensions of governance in democracy
and the possible reinforcement of public institutions should be discussed.
It must be noted that globalisation and the political and economic processes that come with it
have altered the traditional forms and areas of local politics and economics. Thereby it has generated
new types of relationships between the State and the society, and has particularly
reshaped the activity and power of the State.

TOPIC B: Program for Development and The Fight Against Poverty in Latin America

Most countries in Latin America are developing countries, they have a
tremendous amount of social inequality and a large number of people living in poverty.
Poverty and its consequences are a constant threat
for the democratic system in several Latin American countries. Many of
them have seen the removal of various almost successively
because of the difficulties posed by poverty for governments
when making decisions and taking action. However, poverty is not the only
problem; there is also social exclusion (certain parts of the population
are not taken into account when making decisions), government subsidies and
aid, access to credit, education, health and access
to a decent job for everyone. That is why it is essential to overcome this problem
in order to consolidate democracy and governance in Latin American countries.
Stimulating economic growth is necessary to fight against poverty
and social exclusion. The development of inclusive policies and plans to redistribute
resources equitably are also of vital importance when looking for
solutions. Every Latin American country has a fundamental duty to improve
the life standards for its citizens, after all, this is the
goal that every nation should pursue. Policies must be in
accordance with the Law and must never go beyond the law and of justice. Social
tension as a result of poverty only increases and exacerbates problems
that derive from crime, migration and drug trafficking; problems that
are present in every Latin American country.

Countries

Permanent Members (With vote, 22 in total):
Andorra
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Columbia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Chile
Ecuador
El Salvador
Spain
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Portugal
Dominican Republic
Uruguay
Venezuela
Associated Members (Without vote, 3 in total):
Italy
Morocco
France