Latin America in the New Era of Globalization
Through his decades of devotion to resolving economic issues and inequality in Latin America, Enrique V. Iglesias has left a lasting impact on the lives of many. The former president of the Inter-American Development Bank has held a variety of high-level positions, and is regarded as one of the most prominent and influential policy-minded individuals in the Western Hemisphere. Iglesias was born in Spain, and moved to Uruguay at a young age where he received his education. He became the president of the Uruguayan Central Bank, where he worked to create the first development plan utilized in Uruguay. Iglesias later served as the Executive Secretary of CEPAL and Uruguay’s Minister of Foreign Affairs before rising to the presidency of the IDB. He later went on to serve as the Secretary General of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB).
On Monday, November 16, Enrique Iglesias, Nancy Birdsall, Nora Lustig, Peter Hakim, and Oscar Echevarría joined the Inter-American Dialogue for the launch of Latin America in the Era of Globalization: Essays in Honor of Enrique V. Iglesias. Edited by Robert Devlin, Oscar A. Echavarría, and Jose Luis Machinea, the book concentrates on Enrique Iglesias’ areas of focus and is written from the perspective of his friends and former colleagues. Enrique himself contributed a meaningful essay to the volume entitled “Ideas and Practice in the Experience of an International Civil Servant,” which reflects on a lifetime of experiences. The rest of the collection of essays addresses topics ranging from multilateralism to democracy to economics, and encompasses Iglesias’ ideas and values to create a final product that the book launch speakers characterized as a significant and important contribution to our global discussion of modern trade and economic policy.
The panelists touched upon Iglesias’ various contributions to policy within the Americas. As Nora Lustig noted, Iglesias was one of the first within the policy community to bring the idea of inequality to the forefront, spearheading discussion on a topic that would eventually become a high priority for the international community. Birdsall focused on Iglesias’ promotion of humility as an approach to the complex issues of development and the current issues within the Latin American economic system, which Iglesias described as “structural and unfair.” Peter Hakim’s discussion highlighted integration as a achievements, it is much more than a trophy book. The accounts and perspectives provided offer fundamental facet of Iglesias’ thinking on Latin America. From Iglesias’ perspective, integration is important on a global level, but it is possibly even more crucial on a regional level. Oscar A. Echevarría stressed that while the collection is a reflection on Iglesias’ important ideas on how to approach policy in Latin America, which stem from Iglesias’ strong moral and ethical compass.
The event culminated in a short speech by Iglesias, who discussed the importance of his “generation’s dream of multilateralism.” As Iglesias stated, the current trend is to move away from multilateralism, which presents the risk of fragmentation. Iglesias believes that even though the economic world and the world of development are changing through technology and innovation, integration is a key element to strengthening Latin America and solving modern problems. According to Iglesias, Latin America has evolved significantly since his arrival in Washington in 1969. The Latin America of today has better resources for coping with issues, including a more effective, more targeted approach to the economy and more experience with democracy.