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Poverty, lack of education and rising crime are pushing Latin American voters away from some democratic governments in the region, said Ambassador Charles Shapiro, senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Western Hemisphere economic initiatives.

From Mexico to Argentina, from Jamaica to Chile, “the biggest threat is the persistent poverty of people who spend their lives in the informal economies of their nations,” Shapiro said during a Feb. 24 presentation at the Institute of the Americas.

“If voters don’t feel that their economy holds hope for them -- hope that their lives are going to be better, hope that their children are going to get educated, hope that their children’s lives will be better than their own -- they are much, much more likely to vote for candidates who make promises of quick and easy solutions to what are really difficult and sometimes, intractable problems.”

At a regional conference that Clinton will attend next week in San Jose, Costa Rica, leaders of 14 countries will talk about ways to help small- and mid-sized businesses become more productive and successful.

The leaders will also discuss “concrete, practical measures” to reach out to people who are living on the margins of the economy, said Shapiro.

“”We as nations need to broaden the benefits of economic growth. It’s the poor who we, working together with Latin American colleagues, have got to work to move out of poverty. We need to find a link between the macro economy and the micro economy because that’s where we all live,” he said.

Many countries in the Western Hemisphere have been successful in opening their economies to more of their citizens.
Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico “have reduced the number of people in poverty and are busy working to end social exclusion,” Shapiro said.

“Good governance and open economies work, but they must be linked to social inclusion,” he said. “Democracy must deliver the benefits of good government to our citizens. That’s the key".