Preparing for the Fourth Summit.

• Author: Conaway, Janelle
• Position: OAS/INTER-AMERICAN SYSTEM

THE CENTRAL THEME of the next Summit of the Americas--"Creating Jobs to Confront Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance"--responds to challenges created in the region by inequality and extreme poverty, said Acting Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi.

"If democracy is the glory of the Americas, injustice is our Achilles' heel," Einaudi told a meeting of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG), which met in Buenos Aires in March to continue preparations for the Fourth Summit of the Americas. The heads of state and government are scheduled to meet in Mar del Plata, Argentina, November 4-5.

Argentina's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Jorge Taiana, said the focus on employment shows that the Summit process is sensitive to the hemisphere's realities and problems. He underscored the connections between creating jobs, combating poverty, and promoting democratic stability.

Job creation is a vehicle for social integration, noted Argentina's Minister of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Carlos Tomada. Cautioning that not all economic growth generates employment, he said appropriate policies on the minimum wage, collective bargaining, and other issues are necessary to generate development that is sustainable and integrated.

In his remarks at the preparatory meeting, Einaudi said the consolidation of democracy is adversely affected by a range of...