Democracy, Markets and Transparency in Mercosur

Organized by CADAL and Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the International Seminar ''Democracy, Markets and Transparency in Mercosur'' took place in Montevideo on November 28. The event was sponsored by El País newspaper, Centro de Estudios Jean François Revel and Cámara Nacional de Comercio y Servicios del Uruguay. Among the speakers were former President of Uruguay, Luis Alberto Lacalle; former Vice-President of Uruguay, Luis Hierro; and President of the Parliament of Mercosur, Roberto Conde; and former President of the Central Bank of Uruguay, Julio de Brun. The opening of the seminar was in charge of Rüdiger Graichen, Officer of Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Gabriel C. Salvia, Chairman of CADAL, presented the research report ''Democracy, Markets and Transparency 2007''.

Organized by CADAL and Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the International Seminar "Democracy, Markets and Transparency in Mercosur" took place in Montevideo on November 28. The event was sponsored by El País newspaper, Centro de Estudios Jean François Revel and Cámara Nacional de Comercio y Servicios del Uruguay.

In the first panel, chaired by Javier Bonilla, Academic Coordinator of International Studies at Universidad ORT, the "Situation of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay regarding democratic freedoms, economic policies and transparency" was analyzed by the following speakers: Lorenzo Livieres Guggiari, Executive Director of CEPPRO (Centro Paraguayo para la Promoción de la Libertad Económica y la Justicia Social)  – Paraguay; Gustavo Gutiérrez, former National Representative and member of Coalición Cívica – Argentina; and Eduardo Viola, Professor at the International Relations Institute of Universidad de Brasilia – Brazil. At the end of this panel, there was a presentation on "The Development Bank of Mercosur: risks and fears in terms of transparency and monetary policy", in charge of Julio de Brun, head of the Banks Association of Uruguay and former Chairman of the Central Bank of Uruguay.

Later "The role of Uruguay in Mercosur" was debated, with lectures by Gustavo Penadés, Senator (Partido Nacional) and member of the Parliament of Mercosur; María Dolores Benavente, economist, Cámara Nacional de Comercio y Servicios and Roberto Conde, Chairman of the Parliament of Mercosur. The panel was chaired by the journalist Oscar Vilas, editor of the Economy section at El País newspaper.
 

Finally, the last panel was chaired by philosopher Pablo da Silveira, Director of Centro de Estudios Jean François Revel. The panel was entitled: "Is it possible to improve the institutional quality and economic performance of  Mercosur?" The speakers in this last panel were Luis Alberto Lacalle, former President of Uruguay; Ricardo López Murphy, former candidate to President of Argentina and Luis Hierro López, former Vice-President of Uruguay.

In one of the breaks, Javier Bonilla, Luis Hierro López and Ricardo Zerbino, former Minister of Economy of Uruguay.

Economist Ricardo López Murphy being interviewed by Canal 10.