The Ecuadorian ambassador to Spain, Andrés Vallejo, yesterday participated in the second session of the Latin America Summit organized by the School Law School of the University of Navarra. The forum brings together until next Friday different experts who analyze the trends, challenges and challenges of the region in the current international geopolitical context. Andrés Vallejo addressed the problems and episodes of violence and instability occurring in Latin American countries. He spoke of inequality as its main cause and advocated applying the principle of solidarity as a solution, so that those who have the most should contribute the most and achieve a fairer and more egalitarian socioeconomic system. "Governments must act with more solidarity to narrow the existing gaps and care for those who have the least, as well as strengthen the independence of institutions. With all its flaws, there is no better system than the democratic system," he stressed.

The Ecuadorian ambassador acknowledged: "Latin America is the region with the greatest inequality in the world: where the distance between rich and poor is greater and with a class average that is not as strong as in other continents". Vallejo then cited the case of Chile, which went from being an example of success and good macroeconomic results as well as a reduction in poverty levels, to having a class average indebted and with serious difficulties, due to a pension system from which the principle of solidarity was annulled. "Pensioners, who were part of the class average that sustained the system, began to have serious difficulties. The rise in subway fares was but the spark that set off the bomb. Episodes of violence do not come out of nowhere, there are causes", he commented.

He then referred to the case of Colombia, where two parties, the Liberal and the Conservative, took over Colombian politics, leading to the birth of the guerrillas and their alliances with drug trafficking; or the case of Ecuador, which, for some time now, has become a transit country for drugs from Colombia to the US and Europe, through Mexican cartels; in addition to the problems generated by the indigenous movement. "Ecuador is a country with a high percentage of child malnutrition and 70% of these children belong to indigenous communities. These realities must be taken into account. Outbreaks of violence do not happen overnight. Their causes must be tackled: inequality and poverty. The obligation of those in power is to use their resources to address these problems," he said. "If governments attend to the big macroeconomic issues without attending to these 'micro' problems, they will only aggravate them".

Vallejo also spoke of the deterioration of political activity in Latin America and the weakening of political parties, which leads to the emergence of populism. The pandemic, the recent war between Ukraine and Russia and the conflict between the United States and China only aggravate these problems, according to Andres Vallejo. "China maintains a policy of credit with Latin America that exceeds the contributions of the Inter-American Bank, World Bank and Andean Corporation. Our main creditor is not even the international organizations of credit but China," he warned. "I am hopeful that Spain's policy of strengthening relations with Latin America and the upcoming Spanish presidency of the EU will foster the relationship between the two continents and contribute to alleviate the tension between the United States and China."