Prensa Libre Editorial on Under Secretary Karen Hughes' Visit to Guatemala

This is a free translation of the editorial originally published in Guatemala’s daily Prensa Libre.  The on-line Spanish version is available at the newspaper’s web page.
 
PRENSA LIBRE
Guatemala
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
EDITORIAL

A GOOD, NEW INITIATIVE

Few people heard about the offer President George W. Bush made in the past Summit of the Americas to call on American businessmen to establish aid mechanisms, mainly economic, toward Guatemala, and because of that, the visit of Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Ms. Karen Hughes, who arrived in the country along with Steve Reinemund, president of PepsiCo, and Bob Lane, of Deere and Co, was a nice surprise. 

The President' s initiative is similar to an initiative focused on Pakistan, where he recruited five business people with a similar purpose.  The proposal to benefit Guatemala will be known next week, once the visitors return from the meetings that they held here and the visits they made to those places where the funds will be put to work or granted.

According to the information released, the main themes are education, land, and resources in general.  It is a good choice, because it is increasingly evident that the lack of education is the worst problem a society can have, since its effects reach all sectors at every level.  Moreover, the topic of land is equally important, because it has been historically difficult and will require consideration of ideological and political concerns.

Since the suggestions of the American business people have not been finalized, it is a good time to make a couple of suggestions.  The first is to invite corporations to participate in the reconstruction effort, even if they are not multinational mega-corporations.  And the second is to invite the Guatemalan private sector, which has not done enough, to take similar actions and to participate in the planning of future reconstruction efforts. 

It is most probable that next week's offer will be very generous.  It is important that the authorities are ready to put this aid to use and to better the conditions of the victims and also to address problems that have existed for many decades.  

Another suggestion for the businessmen is that they take into account the views of the communities and sectors that will benefit [from this assistance].  A past error is thinking that there is only one way to do something, instead of adapting to the specific conditions and cultures.

The [business/government] initiative has the opportunity to become a kind of pilot plan to be applied in the Latin American countries that need it.  It is our moral obligation to participate without reservations or ulterior motives in the effort to concretely and substantially improve the lives of the victims of this storm.  It is helping those who help us.