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Latin America

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, for giving the House the opportunity today to discuss Latin America. Her own experience and her commitment to the region since her studies in Ecuador are well known and admired. I know that she also, as she reminded us, spent some fruitful years as president of Canning House, a fine institution which is vital to our analytical efforts on Latin America. As I expected, she provided us, as have other noble Lords, with some new insights on this subject. I respond immediately to a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings. While Her Majesty announces the intention to make state visits to various countries, it is the abiding custom not to announce the Prime Minister’s visits in advance, for security reasons. That has been so across a number of governments. I guess at this stage it is important to do that. I can say that, in advance of Gleneagles, a number of leaders of countries in Latin America or their Foreign Ministers are visiting the United Kingdom. My own diary has a number of those visits. I am very grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate. I felt, although they were not here, the spirits of the noble Lords, Lord Howell, Lord Moynihan and Lord Ashcroft, and my noble friends Lord Brennan and Lord Levy. I probably should add the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, whose record on human rights in Latin America is so impressive. We will soon be joined by Lord Foulkes, who as a Minister did a huge amount of work in the subcontinent as well. I have been Minister for Latin America for just three weeks. It is a responsibility that I am delighted to have, but I also recognise the depth of knowledge in this House compared with the knowledge that I have. Perhaps I may start with a brief look backwards. A number of noble Lords have referred to the long history of strong links between Latin America and the United Kingdom. I agree that there is a good deal to be proud of in the past three centuries. We have supported independence movements, headquartered as they were in Westminster at various times, as well as the economic development of several new states. In many ways that has left a remarkable legacy. We must now make full use of the links that were forged. The world has changed since Simon Bolivar sought sanctuary and inspiration in London, and since Britain   was able to dominate trade with Brazil and Argentina. It is perfectly fair, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, asks, for me to say what my priorities are. They include security—both internal and external—and the development of democracy to try to ensure security. We want there to be trade between the global community and those 19 countries whether they are giants or small economies, with a thought to how the smaller economies can be lifted to become more prosperous economies. Priority must also be accorded to drugs, the subject where there is often a confluence of security issues and illegal trade issues. There should also be a priority in looking after the United Kingdom’s own interests, whether in the Security Council or elsewhere. If there has been an emphasis on Africa, as both the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, and the noble Lord, Lord Luke, said, everyone knows that the Commission for Africa has a particular traction at this stage and in the run-up to Gleneagles and beyond. But that does not mean that Latin America will be neglected. I turn to Latin America and to the recent developments that have been the focus of today’s debate. I shall share some thoughts on what it all means for our Government’s engagement with the region. The debate has highlighted a number of specific reasons why we should be concerned—because it is a dynamic region which changes a good deal internally. I shall deal with some of the countries, albeit briefly. I begin with Bolivia, which was mentioned by my noble friend Lord Lea and many others. It is an area of concern because of recent instability, a matter that   has been raised effectively today. Bolivia faces many challenges and we recognise that the Bolivian Government have a heavy and complicated agenda in 2005. Recent developments on the hydrocarbons law, calls for autonomy and feelings of social exclusion have all contributed to growing social unrest. The noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, elaborated on those difficulties. The Government believe that the development of Bolivia’s oil and gas sectors could and should play a significant role in Bolivia’s future economic growth and development. But potential can be unlocked only if the legislative framework does not endanger existing or future investor confidence. We hope that Bolivian plans to hold a constituent assembly and extend decentralisation will strengthen social integration within the country. We have encouraged President Mesa to deliver sustainable political and economic reform and to resolve those social issues. Of course, we have our part to play, as the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, pointed out. We can hardly help people in their agricultural exports under the present CAP regime, so we shall work hard to ensure that it is fully reformed. I welcome the visit of my noble friend Lord Lea, the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, and, I believe, the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, to that country and wish them success. Ecuador has also gone through a difficult period of instability, as noble Lords have mentioned. The former president’s removal from office on 20 April following mass demonstrations calmed the situation on the ground. However, the reason for the protests remain. There is real public dissatisfaction with state institutions, including the congress. The new president, Alfredo Palacio, has an onerous task, as the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, so adequately illustrated, in strengthening democracy and state institutions, and in engendering confidence among the people of Ecuador in their elected officials. We shall help in any way that we can. The noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, and others mentioned Colombia, which is also important to us. We have not seen the same kind of political instability in Colombia, but the situation there is one that needs   constant attention. I have seen the Colombian ambassador this week to discuss some of those issues. Colombia has suffered from over 40 years of internal armed conflict and, more recently, from the evils of the drugs trade. We support the Government of Alvaro Uribe and the efforts that he is making to tackle the inter-connected problems of armed conflict, illegal trade in drugs and human rights violations. We note that under his presidency a state presence has been restored to most areas of the country whereas, previously, large tracts were under the control of illegal armed groups. However, we have made it plain that in tackling the   country’s severe problems, human rights and international humanitarian law must be respected. I can tell my noble friend Lord Lea that it was in that light that I raised questions with the ambassador, not only about trade union rights, which are very important, but about the rights of all other organisations in civil society. Venezuela, too, continues to be in the news. It has the potential to be a very prosperous country. However, there are huge inequalities in Venezuelan society, as is found in many other Latin American countries. President Chávez is addressing this issue with social projects to help cover some of the problems. There is also the issue of political polarisation in Venezuela and instability, which culminated in the presidential recall referendum in August 2004. It is in the interests of the entire region that the Venezuelan Government pursue policies that promote stability, and it is vital that all parties in Venezuela work together in the spirit of reconciliation. The Venezuelan Government must accept their lead role in promoting and defending democracy and human rights. I shall write in more detail about any nuclear aspirations, which are often overstated by people who have them. When considering a country with such a complex provision of and uses for energy sources, it is right to deal with that in more detail. There has been a good deal of attention on Cuba in the past few days. I am glad to say that there is some sign of movement. The Cuban Government have allowed a meeting of 150 members of a peaceful organisation in Havana to go ahead—an event unprecedented since the revolution in 1959. However, several MEPs and journalists who attempted to attend the event were expelled from Cuba. That is unacceptable. In January the EU agreed temporarily to suspend measures that it had introduced in response to a crackdown on dissidents by the Cuban Government in 2003. That policy is due for review in June. We shall seek an outcome in the review which allows us to maintain a firm stance on human rights, and our embassy’s active programme of contact with the peaceful opposition will continue. We also want to be in a position to have meaningful dialogue with the Cuban Government, not least because we want to raise   human rights concerns. However, we also want to co-operate on matters of mutual interest such as child protection, drugs trafficking and money laundering. Noble Lords raised questions about other countries. I shall deal briefly with the question of deforestation in the Amazon forest, which was raised by the noble Baronesses, Lady Miller and Lady Rawlings. We keep in close touch with the Brazilians on the issues that are relevant to deforestation. The challenges and pressures are indeed very great. The Amazon is a huge area to police and economic activity—both legal and illegal— which impacts on conservation, is extensive. None the less, we are in active discussion on those questions. On Peru, I can tell the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner, that I have not seen the programme on the Shining Path militarists to which she referred. We certainly do not want to see their return. They caused incalculable misery to the Peruvian people. We accept that we must be on our guard and work in close contact with the democratic institutions to avoid further conflict. I can tell the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, that we have supported a wide range of projects on human rights and civil society dialogue in Peru, including a national police reform project to support the new office of the police ombudsman and a national media project to strengthen national standards of professionalism and to tackle corruption. We hold regular discussions with Peruvian authorities on human rights issues and on the formation of an effective press council. I turn very briefly to one or two comments made about Brazil by the noble Lord, Lord Brooke. I was very grateful for his description of his nuptial arrangements. I can only say that I am thankful that mine were a good deal more sedate. From what he said, it was little short of a miracle that he got married. Even if it is very belated and I cannot congratulate his late wife, I congratulate him. The noble Lord, Lord Luke, raised some important questions about Argentina. There is no substance in   the story in the Sunday Express. I say that unequivocally. Although it is common knowledge that the current Argentine Government have reduced the level of co-operation on the Falkland Islands, there is no reason to believe that there is an increase in the threat to the islands’ security. There are no plans to increase the size of British forces in the Falkland Islands and the deployment of HMS ““Portland”” to the South Atlantic is routine. A constructive and positive relationship in the South Atlantic is in everyone’s interest, not least because of the economic questions that the noble Lord, Lord Luke, himself raised. Economic stability is vital. I recall last week reading chapter 4 of the International Monetary Fund discussions about the Argentine economy. We monitor that closely, encourage the Government there to pursue policies that will promote economic stability, and are committed to working with United Kingdom companies that have been affected by the current changes. I have dealt with political instability; I have said a bit about crime, drugs and human rights concerns. I have also mentioned inequality, but it is very important to remind ourselves, as have several noble Lords, that the region still has a high level of severe poverty, with 132   million people living on less than $2 a day. As the noble Lord, Lord Luke, and others, reminded us, it is not only Africa that is in dire need because of poverty, although Africa as a whole is a continent that is going backwards, which is not the position overall in Latin America. However, we think that Latin America is on course to meet most of the 2015 millennium development goals. On current trends, it will not meet all of the targets for reducing the proportion of people living on less than $1   a day and the rate of maternal mortality, because inequality remains severe, fuelled by widespread socio-political and economic exclusion. However, overall, there is progress and we will work on it. I fear, as I describe it, that I am falling into the trap of dealing only with bad news. As a consequence, I will probably get job offers as a journalist. I do not want that. As I said, Latin America is a dynamic region. It is rich in natural resources and in its people. It is hardly any surprise, then, that China takes such an interest in what can be done in trade and other terms. It has recognised its significant economic potential and several Latin American countries, especially Brazil and Mexico, are now playing a vital role on the world stage. For those reasons, our priorities will be those that I have mentioned. But they will also include child protection—I make this point in response to the noble Baroness, Lady Miller. We have made it clear to governments in central America—bilaterally and with the EU—that we attach great importance to the respect for human rights that must extend to children. We monitor the progress being made by authorities in countries in central America. We are providing support for several local projects to help to protect children, as well as funding equipment and training for local police forces across central America. That is true in Guatemala; it is true in Honduras; that is very important work. In that context, I turn very quickly to what I think the Government’s agenda will mean for the region. First, I do not accept the notion advanced by the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, of benign neglect—I think I cite her properly—nor the proposition advanced by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, that it is an almost nothing area. It is true that we have closed some posts in the region and there have been other cuts; it would be fruitless to disguise that. However, it goes without saying that, as the world changes, new priorities appear and new demands on our resources are made. I am sure that everyone will understand that events in the Middle East and Afghanistan, for example, have required a high level of resourcing in both a human and financial sense from our Government. The Foreign Office and other government departments have therefore had to make hard decisions. That is the context, for example, of the decision to have a non-resident ambassador to Paraguay, based in Buenos Aires. The focus on priorities does not mean abandoning countries or that we are only a fair-weather friend. We focus our resources because we must. We have 15 embassies in the region, as well as consulates and other offices. That is because we value a constant dialogue with the region and have regular high-level political talks with several governments in the area. I look forward to being involved in them myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting in Luxembourg—my noble friend Lady Royall kindly took my place—precisely because I do not want this House to believe that this debate is of any less significance than a debate on Africa or any other matter. The Prime Minister has invited two leaders from the region—President Lula of Brazil and President Fox of Mexico—to the global outreach session at Gleneagles. Others will of course be visiting on the margins. Their contributions on all economic subjects, not least on climate change, will be vital. The noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, is completely right to emphasise the extent of trade in which Mexico is engaged, the growth—albeit slowing down—in Brazil and the role of the OECD in ensuring that we are very close to those economies. Our presidency of the EU will give us further opportunities to take a lead in some of Europe’s business with Latin America. We will work closely with several other countries in multilateral bodies such as the UN and the World Trade Organisation—not having a dialogue just for the sake of it, but because in so many areas we share common objectives and a desire to make progress. The noble Lord, Lord Brooke, was absolutely right to emphasise the importance of the United States in such partnerships; I wholly agree with him. Nor is our commitment focused only on common political interests on the global stage: we are committed to helping the region in its fight against drugs and crime; to work to promote stability and strengthen democracy, good governance and social cohesion; and to work to help to tackle poverty and exclusion. We are doing that in Colombia, with the regional drugs and crime initiative; we are doing that through the global conflict prevention pool, in which there is a great deal of effort. That is, thankfully, work that also helps some parts of Latin America stay free from conflict, which, as well as resolving conflict, must also be an objective. However, there are still important conflict prevention and resolution questions. There are also important questions about indigenous peoples, to which we are attending. That is why the Government are providing £3.75 million in support of international efforts to resolve and avoid conflict for all peoples in Latin America and in security sector reform initiatives during 2004–07. It would probably be to trespass on your Lordships’ patience to go through the entire DfID programme, but our work in Latin America amounts to about £100   million of aid expenditure each year. The annual bilateral programme of £11 million complements that support, especially by helping the Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank. Those areas of aid were raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner, who also raised the question of water aid, which is a part of that aid programme. That is an important—vital—area of work. If we consider all the initiatives being taken—initiatives of substance rather than wordy commitments—there is strong evidence that we are doing our part and will continue to do so. The debate has been very valuable. It has drawn attention to a region that, I recognise, can suffer if it gets less attention than it merits. That is why I am grateful to the noble Baroness for having secured the debate. We have a full agenda on which to work with Latin America. I certainly look forward to helping to make that agenda work and to all the assistance that I know I will receive in your Lordships’ House in that objective.