Cisneros urges public, private attack on poverty

from the Miami Herald

Venezuelan business leader Gustavo Cisneros proposed a public-private summit to tackle poverty.

By CASEY WOODS AND JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros called on Latin America's private and public sectors to meet in Miami next year to help eliminate poverty in the region by giving the poor the tools they need to get out of misery and stop electing populist leaders.

Cisneros, a controversial figure in Venezuela, never mentioned President Hugo Chávez by name during his speech Friday and took several jabs at U.S. policy toward Latin America.


But before going into his prepared speech at The Miami Herald Americas Conference at the Biltmore Hotel, Cisneros answered claims that he had cut a deal with Chávez to obtain a license to keep his Venevisión TV network on the air, even while the government refused to renew another TV station's license and threatened others with closures. Chávez has accused several privately owned TV stations of backing a brief coup against him in 2002.

''No deal for a license was proposed, discussed or made,'' Cisneros said. ''Venevisión is neither an opposition station or government station but an independent station trying to cover the conflict between them fairly.'' In fact, he said, he plans to appeal to Venezuela's Supreme Court the government's decision to give Venevisión -- now the largest private network in Venezuela -- a five-year extension of its license instead of the 25 years it requested.

Before Cisneros's luncheon address, two small groups of mostly Venezuelans and some Cuban Americans lined up outside the hotel. One group of 10 tied red bandannas across their mouths to symbolize self-censorship. Another group of 14 held signs that said, ''Don't close Venevisión,'' and ``Cisneros supports democracy.''

Though Cisneros touched on the issue of free media in his speech, most of it was focused on poverty and U.S. policy.

''What is the United States solution to Latin America's poverty, inequality and lack of education?'' Cisneros asked. ``Could it be a 2,000-mile wall separating Mexico from the United States? How could a country that is the world's best example of progress produced by globalization believe that a wall between it and its best trading partners can lead to anything but trouble?''

Cisneros said it is time for the hemisphere's wealthiest to begin to teach the poorest about wealth creation.

''Together, if we can do half as well as China did in the last generation, there will be no poverty in Latin America by 2025, and we will all be living in full democracies, respecting everyone's free speech,'' Cisneros said.

Ernesto Ackerman, head of the South Florida group Independent Venezuelan American Citizens, said he was not impressed. ''How can you not take a position when the country is at the point of being destroyed by Chávez?'' he asked.

But Allen Morris, a Miami-based commercial real estate developer, applauded Cisneros' proposal for a summit of Latin American private and public-sector leaders to tackle poverty.

''I am hoping they can get past self-interest and to focus energy, thought and capital into this so needful area of Latin America, which will also be protection from political instability and the resurgence we see in despotism,'' he said.