Daniel Chavez Moran on Democratic Progress in Latin America

Strengthening democracy and promoting economic and social development to reduce poverty and social inequality in Latin America are two of the aims of the Vidanta Foundation, founded by Daniel Chavez Moran.

Chavez Moran is pleased the United States Senate recently recognized democratic progress in Latin America at a Foreign Relations Committee panel hearing chaired by Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Experts testified that Latin America as a whole is more democratic today than it has ever been in the past. More citizens are participating in government as there is a broader acceptance of elections as the way to transfer power.

Roberta Jacobson, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, testified:

“Mr. Chairman, I have heard you highlight the important success many societies in Latin America and the Caribbean are enjoying today. We share your assessment. That success is measureable in very tangible ways: in rising levels of political and personal freedom, greater economic prosperity, and increasing global integration. These factors work together in remarkable synergy. They generate vast opportunity. They strengthen institutions. They have helped lift scores of millions of people out of poverty in the last decade—and in the process brought forth huge new pools of talent and energy that are literally transforming very diverse countries. It is difficult to imagine this happening without the consolidation of democratic and market societies in most of Latin America and the strengthening of democratic institutions in much of the Caribbean over the last two decades.”

Whether in his earlier business dealings or in his founding of the Vidanta Foundation, Daniel Chavez Moran has hoped to inspire others to dream more, to learn more and to be more.

Related posts: Philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran on U.S.-Latin American relations and Daniel Chavez Moran announces Vidanta Foundation Prize entries.

Daniel Chavez Moran: On Sustainable Development

Daniel Chavez Moran is now retired, but he remains committed to environmental stewardship. Throughout his career prior to his 2005 retirement, Daniel Chavez Moran invested heavily in sustainable economic development and resource conservation as a developer of five-star hotels, resorts and golf courses across Mexico and Latin America.

Daniel Chavez Moran is pleased to learn of plans for Earth Summit 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro in June of 2012.

According to Earth Summit 2012 organizers, the objectives of the Summit are:

To secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development; to assess progress towards internationally agreed goals on sustainable development and to address new and emerging challenges. The Summit will also focus on two specific themes: a green economy in the context of poverty eradication and sustainable development, and an institutional framework for sustainable development.

The summit will be attended by politicians and heads of state/heads of government from member countries as well as officials from member countries and international institutions.

...The world is facing a mounting crisis. In recent years we have experienced a combination of a global financial crisis, a food crisis, volatile oil prices, accelerating ecosystem degradation and an increasing number of climate-induced extreme weather events. These multiple and inter-related crises call into question the ability of a growing human population to live peacefully and sustainably on this planet, and demand the urgent attention governments and citizens around the world.

Earth Summit 2012 will be the fourth Summit of its kind and represents another milestone in ongoing international efforts to accelerate progress towards achieving sustainable development globally.

Read more about Daniel Chavez Moran's guide to saving natural resources and the work of the Vidanta Foundation to improve the quality of life for the people of Latin America.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Economic Outlook for 2011

As a young man in Mexico with a degree in civil engineering from the Universidad de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Daniel Chavez Moran dreamt of building a successful international business. Three decades later, Chavez Moran is now retired, having successfully developed five-star hotels and resorts, golf courses, vacation ownership resorts and tourism infrastructure throughout Latin America. His passion and interest in economic and social development continues through his philanthropic work with the non-profit Vidanta Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to promote scholarship in the social sciences and culture, to promote intra-Latin America relations, and to influence the formulation of public policies that strengthen democracy and economic sustainability for the future of Latin America.

Chavez Moran follows international economic trends and notes this recent analysis of the debt crisis now facing the United States as published by Reuters news service:

Role reversal: Latin America taunts U.S. on debt woes

(Reuters) - After three decades spent battling their own debt crises and getting constantly lectured about them by Uncle Sam, many Latin Americans are watching the countdown to a possible default in Washington with a mix of schadenfreude and fear of what a collapse might mean for them.

For everybody from presidents on down to street vendors, seeing U.S. politicians argue over where to make painful budget cuts has also been a reminder that those days are over in Latin America. For now, at least, as most of the region enjoys an era of economic prosperity and comparatively tiny deficits.

...These days, Latin America's economy as a whole is expected to expand about 4.7 percent in 2011 -- almost twice the expected rate in the United States -- thanks to strong demand for the region's commodities and a decade of mostly prudent fiscal management, itself the product of many hard-learned lessons of the past.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on partnering for progress and Daniel Chavez Moran on the path to Mexico's future.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Market News in Latin America

Understanding that inter-American cooperation is critical for Latin America’s success in a global economy, philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran notes this recent market news published in the Wall Street Journal about Brazil’s and Colombia’s stock and future exchanges signing a partnership accord:

"Brazil's BM&FBOVESPA (BVMF3.BR), which runs Brazil's main stock and futures exchange, and its Colombia counterpart signed a memorandum of understanding in order to evaluate alternatives focused on a possible interconnection of their equities, fixed income and derivatives markets to promote the development of the capital markets," BM&FBOVESPA said over the weekend.  

"With the signature of a memorandum of understanding, the two exchanges are keen on starting an exploration phase, that will establish a plan that would make feasible the interconnection of securities trading platforms in both countries, which allows the bid and ask order routing," said BM&FBovespa.  

"The purpose is to explore the benefits and value opportunities in both markets and this is the first step of the process; the modalities and the date for the happening of the interconnection will be discussed and established by the exchanges in the future," it added.

Daniel Chavez Moran founded a conglomerate of companies that actively participated in the socioeconomic development of Mexico and Latin America through the strategic development and construction of new tourist destinations, hotel operations, urban infrastructure, roadways, real estate developments and a new international airport. Though now retired, Chavez Moran now dedicates his time to his family and the philanthropic work of the Vidanta Foundation to help create a sustainable economic future for the 580 million people of Latin America. Read more about the work of Daniel Chavez Moran.

Chavez Moran: About International Studies

Until his official retirement in 2005, Daniel Chavez Moran worked for over three decades to make his business dreams come true.  In founding the non-profit Vidanta Foundation, Chavez Moran continues to make a difference in the lives of the people of Latin America with his support of economic and social development projects and causes. 

The Vidanta Foundation hosts international seminars and conferences; awards prizes in recognition and support of outstanding projects in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce poverty, inequality and discrimination; and publishes scholarly works on public policies that support economic growth and strengthening democracy.

Among the Foundation’s affiliated institutions is the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.

From the school’s website:

Seven Decades of Educating Global Leaders

SAIS has always looked to the future. When the school was founded in 1943, World War II raged in Europe and Asia. But a group of visionaries —led by statesmen Christian A. Herter and Paul H. Nitze—foresaw the need for a graduate school that would prepare young men and women to assume responsibilities in the postwar world. In today’s post-9/11 era, the challenges are enormous and unprecedented. Yet SAIS’s mission is more relevant than ever: to train the next generation of leaders in the global arena. 

A division of The Johns Hopkins University since 1950, SAIS is truly an international institution, with campuses in Washington, D.C., Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China, that draw students from throughout the world. Unique among its peers, SAIS provides the opportunity for students to take advantage of all three campuses during their graduate experience—designing a degree program based on individual academic and professional interests. 

SAIS offers the building blocks of leadership in all professional fields: core functional disciplines, such as strategic studies and international development; strong emphasis on international economics; robust regional programs; and essential foreign language training.

Daniel Chavez Moran salutes all of the internationally recognized institutions supporting the efforts of the Vidanta Foundation. For more on Daniel Chavez Moran, the Vidanta Foundation and its affiliated institutions, read here.  

Daniel Chavez Moran On Latin America's Decade for Growth

Daniel Chavez Moran notes this interesting blog post from Mauricio Cárdenas, Director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.:

“Historically, experts have often characterized Latin America as a region with poor economic features: hyperinflation, fiscal populism, and costly industrial policies rife with corruption are just a few examples. However, experts are beginning to change their tune. In fact, many analysts are referring to the 2010s as Latin America’s decade. Last year, The Economist ran a special report, where the magazine turned the hemispheric map upside-down under the label ‘Nobody’s Backyard,’ suggesting that the region had learned from its previous mistakes and is entering a brighter phase. Although predicting the future is always dangerous, especially in a place where so many booms have ended in severe crises, the argument that Latin America is entering a decade of considerable opportunity does have merit.”

Cárdenas offers three interconnected reasons to make this point: The changing demographics of Latin America, the economic growth of China as a trading partner, and trends in global savings and liquidity. 

And he continues: “Whether Latin America can seize the moment and take advantage of this extraordinary chance to speed-up prosperity is still an open question. What is certain though is that there is no time for complacency or self-gratification...If Latin American leaders focus on this task ahead, this will be a transformational decade indeed. Otherwise, it will simply be another cycle of high and unsustainable consumption, a wasted opportunity of which the region has seen plenty in the past.”

Helping to address and resolve the economic and social development challenges faced by the nations and people of Latin America is what Daniel Chavez Moran focuses his philanthropy on through the nonprofit Vidanta Foundation he founded in 2005. Read more here about Daniel Chavez Moran and how the Foundation supports the integration of Latin America with the rest of the world through the strengthening of democracy and economic opportunity.

Daniel Chavez Moran: For the Children

Daniel Jesus Chavez Moran remembers well the lessons his mother taught him, that is why he seeks to improve the lives of those less fortunate. Toward this goal, Chavez Moran created Fundación Delia Moran A.C. in 2002 to provide assistance to children ages 6 to 12 whose day-to-day life is a constant struggle. The foundation is named in honor of his mother, a great teacher who dedicated her life to helping children combat the destructive combination of ignorance and poverty. It has opened numerous cultural and educational centers to provide these children with medical assistance and opportunities so that they can become healthy, contributing members of the community.

Daniel Chavez Moran was pleased to note in recent news that El Salvador, Spanish for “the savior,” the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America is hosting the 8th Forum of Ministers of Social Development in Latin America.

The meeting is sponsored by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), which reports that the President of El Salvador, H.E. Mr Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena, will participate in the opening session, as well as Pilar Álvarez Laso, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences. Representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, France, Honduras, Uruguay, Panamá, Perú and México will particípate, among others.

One of the expected results of the forum will be the design and implementation of strategic and efficient policies for development involving youth and social inclusion.

Daniel Chavez Moran salutes the efforts of these leaders to exchange ideas on the state of the art of policies for social inclusion in Latin America, a shared goal with the nonprofit Vidanta Foundation Chavez Moran founded in 2005. Read more on Daniel Chavez Moran, and his philanthropic work through the Vidanta Foundation here.