Nowadays, as Latin America is going through several changes, even turmoil, news about problems, crises etc. dominate the agenda. However, there are also good events that do not receive that much of attention. I could go on and on about why bad news prevail over good news in the agenda, but this is not the topic of this post. Instead, I would like to highlight a favorable event that took place two weeks ago in Chile.
Last August 11, 2008, Michelle Bachelet signed the “Ley sobre Transparencia de la Funcion Publica y Acceso a la Informacion de los Organos de la Administración del Estado”(see here). In doing so, Chile becomes the latest country in the region (and the world) to adopt Access to Information (ATI) Legislation (it might also be longest title for an ATI Law). After a long journey, with remarkable efforts from civil society as well as the emblematic case Claude M. Reyes y Otros vs Chile at the Inter American Human Rights Court, Chile can officially claim that there is an ATI Law. Congratulations to Chile and to the organizations and people that pushed several years in this direction.
But why is this a good thing for Chile? Well, first of all, given that access to public information is recognized as a human right by the Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the American Convention on Human Rights, it is important to have legislation to regulate this right. Furthermore, as an instrument, its exercise changes the relationship between the government and the governed, by empowering the latter with information on the actions and performance of the former. In addition, it fosters accountability, good governance and development. Since Latin America is not a region characterized by strong accountability systems, good governance (see World Governance Indicators) and staggering development, this kind of laws can set the ground for improvements.
Chile, with their brand new law join Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua in the club of countries with ATI Law in Latin America. However, as it is clear now, having a law is not the end but the beginning, as the implementation phase poses several challenges.
It seems that the Chilean legislation is ambitious and it is generating expectations (see here), while the government has showed political will (see here), setting a sound base for an effective implementation. Time will tell if they manage to do so. In the meantime, I only hope for this to happen.
A successful implementation of the Chilean ATI Law will of course be beneficial for Chile, however, I believe this would also help to build momentum around the topic in the region, particularly the Southern Cone and Brazil, thus enhancing the chances for success of initiatives and current efforts these countries. Furthermore, having Chile’s ATI experience as a good practice will provide another reference point in the region, besides Mexico, demonstrating the importance of these laws and its proper implementation.
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