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Complacency Threatens
Reform Effort in Latin America Despite the gains made against inflation and a surge of investment capital into the technology sector, an atmosphere of complacency is hindering serious reform efforts in the hemisphere, concluded participants at a high-level conference at the Council on Foreign Relations last week. The conference, "Latin America: Sustaining Economic and Political Reform," convened 200 Latin American and US leaders from the business, investment, policy, academic and NGO communities in New York City on May 18-19. Contributing to the
complacency in the region, the participants noted, is the fragile state of
democracy in many countries. The challenge to democracy is particularly great in
Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. Without vigorous political support for the next
phase of reforms, Latin America's economies will be vulnerable to renewed global
financial Speakers included Chilean President Ricardo Lagos; former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin; Mexican Energy Minister Luis Tellez Kuenzler; and William McDonough, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. C�sar Gaviria, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, and Thomas F. McLarty, the Clinton administration's former Special Envoy to the Americas, served as conference co-chairs. For more information
about the conference, consult the Council on Foreign Relations,
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