A Chilean-German Forum, entitled “Challenges for Democracy”, was held in the context of a visit to Chile by German President Joachim Gauck on 12-13 July. The forum was jointly organised by the Ministry General Secretariat of Government, and German Foundations Konrad Adenauer, Heinrich Böll, Friedrich Ebert, Hans Seidel, Rosa Luxemburg, and Freidrich Naumann. FLACSO-Chile and International IDEA also provided their support.
The aim of the activity was to offer political representatives, academics, and civil society representatives of both Chile and Germany a platform for dialogue about the main challenges for democratic development in both countries. With this perspective, issues like the relation between politics and money were discussed, along with the role of political parties in the political system, impact of the media in democracy, and the importance of the constitution in stable democracies.
The Forum was opened by Presidents Michelle Bachelet and Joachim Gauck. “Democratic institutions and practices have been seriously questioned. Leadership has been seriously questioned in Latin America, for reasons that range from the difficulty of political systems to process differences, all the way to corruption cases,” said President Bachelet. “And in Europe we are seeing the decision of one [EU] member to leave the most ambitious political, cultural, economic and social endeavour we have ever known, a space that was built based on an agreement to consolidate tolerance, peace, and welfare based on the notion of citizenship”.
Organisers Edgardo Riveros (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs) Ursula Mannle (on behalf of all German Political Foundations), and Director of FLACSO Chile Ángel Flisfisch spoke at the opening session, while Daniel Zovatto (Regional Director of IDEA International for Latin America and the Caribbean) was also in charge of moderating panel 1 on regulating the relationship between politics and money. All four panels were made up by both German and Chilean experts.
The activity was held at the former National Congress of Chile, in Santiago.
