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Marco Enríquez-Ominami (Santiago de Chile, 1973), a Franco-Chilean politician and filmmaker, is the founder of the so-called Grupo de Puebla, which has just completed its first year of life with the aim of "articulating progressive leaders with a vocation in Latin America of change and political action ".

During this period, a large group of ex-presidents, ex-chancellors and prominent Latin American politicians have gathered together , among which are, to cite just a few examples, the Argentine president Alberto Fernández or the former Bolivian president Evo Morales.

In statements to EL MUNDO, Enríquez-Ominami recalls that "the Puebla Group is a group of progressive women and men from 14 countries who represent themselves and not parties or institutions." "Everyone has scars and conjugates two verbs: think and coordinate," he says. "It is not only a group of thought but of action," he adds. Hence, this organization has "a legal, legislative and academic arm, for which it has created a center of thought."

"In total, the Puebla Group brings together 100 leaders from 16 countries," said this former member of the Socialist Party, formally withdrawn from active politics in which he chose the Chilean presidency three times in eight years. Being, in addition, the youngest candidate with 35 years and the most voted as independent.

During the first year of the organization's life, its creator highlights that "it has held six continental meetings with enormous impact, attended by Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who is one of its founders." But also "in the sphere of action we were part of the rescue of former Bolivian President Evo Morales" during what he calls a "military coup" in the country to remove him from the government.

The Chilean politician highlights that the Puebla Group "has acted legally in the case of Ecuador, has promoted the debate on human rights in Chile and has maintained a very important dialogue between the leaders of Mexico and Argentina." At the same time, he values his work to "end the sanctions of Cuba and Venezuela" and help solve "Argentina's debt worldwide" once and for all.

In the medium term, Enriquez-Onamami sets an immediate objective from the organization that he pilots, "to participate in the imaginative and creative construction to protect our peoples during and after the pandemic so that there is universal access to the vaccine and restore dialogue in the Caribbean that was destroyed with conservative governments. " In short, to "help promote peace on the American continent."

"The Puebla Group came to complement the political debate and has grown a lot because it does not intend to replace it. In the group there are government and opposition leaders who are not retired," he says.

THE ECONOMIC PROBLEM AFTER THE PANDEMIC

Enriquez-Onamami analyzes the complicated economic situation and warns that "if it is going to contract four points worldwide, in Latin America it will be 9.1". "We are going to reach 37% poverty and we will witness unprecedented problems , " he continues .

"Latin America lost the prominence it had had in interregional trade, value chains ... What is coming is very difficult and we must assume that Latin America had already regressed in inequality and competitiveness with the right to power."

"This class and deadly virus requires credible leadership and a social structure. Countries like Brazil, Chile or Peru are devastated by the virus . The fiscal and public package require a very thick response," he says.

"The European economic agreement sheds some light," says Enriquez-Ominami. "What happens in Europe, you have to multiply it by two or by ten in Latin America. Tourism is going to drop by 35% and for countries like Mexico or the Dominican Republic tourism is essential."

"In addition, we are going to have an increase in the shadow economy . Already 100 billion dollars of foreign investment has gone, so the situation is going to require a huge fiscal effort in Latin America." It also highlights the seriousness of the situation in Argentina, "which has an unpayable debt . " "There are economies that have to pay 1% of their GDP just to pay the interest on the debt."

"THE FALL OF BRAZIL DRAGONS ALL OF LATIN AMERICA"

For Enriquez-Onamami, "Brazil" constitutes a cornerstone that will determine political and economic evolution in the coming years. " Brazil explains Latin America in many aspects and the fall of Brazil drags all of Latin America . It was already very bad in all parameters, but if you add the virus with confinement, social distance, contagion and death, we find ourselves in a perfect storm " "The fall of Brazil also has very serious consequences for interregional trade, it is no joke."

"In turn, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, are in institutional difficulties and the problem is aggravated by far-right governments in Colombia or Paraguay and Panama, who do not know what they want to do in foreign policy ...".

The creator of the Puebla Group is also very critical of Europe's position in the face of the Latin American crisis . "I am half French, because I was exiled in Paris and it hurts me that Europe does not understand Latin America."

"To think that Sebastián Piñera, Mauricio Macri or Iván Duque are your interlocutors is not to understand anything. The most recent mistake has been made with Evo Morales, with whom there was never an understanding. The setback in Latin America is also a problem for those of us who understand this values".

"THERE WAS NO FRAUD IN BOLIVIA"

This well-known Chilean politician deals in detail with the situation in Bolivia and carries out a closed defense of former President Evo Morales , who had to leave the country accused of perpetrating electoral fraud and whom the country's Prosecutor's Office now accuses of terrorism. "Morales is a president-in-office, American academics took the databases and showed that the fraud report was a fraud."

"The previous Bolivian elections showed that the rural vote favored the MAS. What the OAS (Organization of American States) did is very serious . There was no fraud in Bolivia, says the 'New York Times', says the' Washington Post 'and the researchers of the best American universities ".

In the words of Enriquez-Onamami, the OAS representatives "made a certainty of a random sample . " "They found 200 minutes with problems, written by hand. Of course! In the towns the mechanics are very rudimentary." "The OAS letters are delusional, which does not exempt from the legitimate debate on Morales's fourth term, which, however, has suffered a military coup in his third term."

The creator of the Puebla Group stresses that "Morales caused the greatest growth in the history of Bolivia, being the country that grew the most on the continent . " As for the next elections to be held in the country, he indicates that the MAS candidate will be "the former Minister of Economy, Luis Arce, who will comfortably win over the de facto president, Jeanine Áñez, whom I call dictator. "

Regarding the possibility of Morales returning to Bolivia, he explains that "right now there are no minimum conditions." "The law is being twisted to harm political leaders, it is a clear case of 'lawfare'," he adds.

VENEZUELA, A "VERY COMPLEX" SITUATION

Another of the episodes on which Enríquez-Onamami is pronounced is that of Venezuela, where "the situation is very complex, with unproductive sanctions and which do not achieve normality or stability . " "But they also do not strengthen the opposition, because Juan Guaidó is weaker," he says.

"Those of us who love Europe, France saved me from death, it is striking that he had no authority on the subject of Venezuela," he criticizes. At the same time, he refuses to recognize Guaidó as a legitimate president and denies that the Maduro government is a dictatorship . "The president of Venezuela is the one chosen by Venezuelans on a Sunday in May. When Spain has a problem with its citizens in Venezuela, it calls Maduro, not Guaidó. The problems are solved between governments, not between opponents. The World Organization of the Health (WHO) calls Maduro, not Guaidó ".

" Europe must show that its agenda is really economic, not political . That is why it prioritizes Venezuela and silences the situation in other countries. Maduro seems to us that he has a democracy in trouble and whoever wants to deny that he has institutional problems, makes a mistake. But the legitimate president is Maduro, "he points out while clarifying that he is making this reflection in a private capacity and not on behalf of the Puebla Group.

At a time when the United States has already put a price on the head of President Nicolás Maduro and his main lieutenants, Enriquez-Onamami censures the possibility of "foreign intervention" in the country.

"We have never proposed foreign incursions into Bolivia, to cite another example. There is a 'de facto' government and we do not ask for sanctions or foreign intervention. What we ask is for the rule of law to be restored, not for a group of mercenaries to enter" .

Of course, he warns of "a change in North American diplomacy" with respect to Venezuela . "I am hopeful that a productive dialogue will take place. The United States will benefit from a cohesive and dialogue Latin America, I see small symptoms of wanting to talk."

That yes, assures that it is realistic, and "it does not aspire to that nobody retracts of anything". "You just have to be productive," he adds.

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Know more

  • Venezuela
  • Bolivia
  • Europe
  • Brazil
  • Evo Morales
  • Chile
  • OAS
  • Argentina
  • Ecuador
  • Mexico
  • Alberto Fernández
  • GDP
  • Peru
  • Sebastián Piñera
  • Colombia
  • Cuba
  • Juan Guaidó
  • Mauricio Macri

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