■ La Carta de la ciudad de México por el derecho a la ciudad, basada en el movimiento urbano ■ Ejercicio de la ciudadanía, función social de la tierra y democracia, entre los puntos a tocar El jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, se comprometió con organizaciones de la sociedad civil a escuchar sus propuestas y presentar las de su administración para elaborar la Carta de la ciudad de México por el derecho a la ciudad, e invitar a la Asamblea Legislativa a participar para darle valor jurídico. Al asistir a la instalación del Grupo Convocante al Foro por el Derecho a la Ciudad, en el ex Templo de Corpus Christi, Ebrard dijo que se debe establecer un instrumento que defina obligaciones, políticas públicas y formas de gestión diferentes, construido desde el mismo movimiento urbano popular. Enrique Ortiz Flores, presidente de la Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat-Oficina Nacional para América Latina (HIC-AL), planteó seis fundamentos para armar este documento como una estrategia, más que como un programa para el manejo de la ciudad con una perspectiva de los derechos humanos. El primero de ellos, dijo, es “el ejercicio pleno de la ciudadanía”, como la realización plena de todos los derechos civiles, políticos, económicos, sociales, culturales, ambientales, para todos; el segundo es “la función social de la ciudad, de la tierra y de la propiedad”, que en otros países, como Brasil, ha dado fundamento a la elaboración de instrumentos para el control del suelo, de la especulación, de captación de plusvalías, para evitar que la tierra sea inaccesible a la gente. El tercero es “la gestión democrática de la ciudad”, y en este punto aludió al ejercicio de participación ciudadana del domingo pasado, en el que la población opinó con relación a la reforma energética que se debate en el Congreso, y que significa nuevas formas y prácticas de participación de la comunidad en las decisiones de la ciudad. “No se trata simplemente de cómo fortalecemos la democracia participativa, sino de abrir cauce a instrumentos de democracia directa y a la democracia distributiva”, apuntó. El cuarto fundamento es “la producción democrática de la ciudad”, reconociendo el esfuerzo social que hay detrás de la producción social del hábitat y al cual se debe encauzar y darle apoyo, porque no todo se ha hecho a partir de los desarrolladores inmobiliarios y que tiene que ver también con la iniciación productiva de los jóvenes en la economía de la ciudad. Como quinto fundamento estratégico señaló “el manejo sustentable y responsable de los recursos naturales, patrimoniales y energéticos de la ciudad y de su entorno”, y finalmente, “el disfrute democrático y equitativo de la ciudad”. Por su parte, el presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal, Emilio Álvarez Icaza, señaló que la construcción de la Carta de la ciudad de México por el derecho a la ciudad, refleja un cambio en el proceso democrático de la entidad, al unificar la forma de aplicar y ejercer los derechos humanos mediante un pacto político-social en el que participa la sociedad civil, los organismos autónomos, el gobierno, las instancias educativas, entre otras.
El gobierno del distrito federal con la participación de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil esta elaborando un documento que se llama La Carta de la Ciudad de Mexico por el Derecho a la Ciudad. Por una parte habla del fortalecimiento de la democracia directa, segun el ejemplo de la reciente consulta energetica. Esta Carta puede ser un pacto productivo para la gente pero solamente si aprovechan del poder politica que les ofrecen los políticos en la forma de más oportunidades para participar en el proceso, y más plebescitos y referendos. Si el pueblo no se mobiliza para usar su poder, pierde oportunidades importantes en la lucha. - EditorInvita Ebrard a crear pacto para aplicar y ejercer los derechos civiles en la capital
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY vs REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
We as citizens of the United States observe politics from afar and the vast majority of us may participate in the political process only to the extent that we go to the polls once a year to vote. We may endeavor to follow the news accounts of our nation's politics as they unfold, and of the consequences those political actions yield, but we have little power to influence our "democratically" elected officials. Perhaps we write an occasional letter to our senator or representative, but we almost inevitably receive a vague and impersonal response explaining why they will vote in our opposition.
Over the decades, our representative democracy has been systematically undermined and has ultimately failed in preserving the well being of the people of this nation. The system that the founding fathers painstakingly devised in order to best serve the interests and the will of the people has been corrupted and the systems of checks and balances on power that they instituted have been stripped away. Most of us accept this reality as being beyond our control and continue to observe, comment, and complain without aspiring to achieving any real change, without any hope of instituting a new system of governance that would instead take directly into account your views, and the views of your neighbors, and would empower you to make real positive change possible in your communities.
This site will attempt to explore in depth the places in the world where people are successfully bringing about that type of change in the face of similar odds, where an alternate form of democracy, which is called participatory or direct democracy, is taking root. Initiative, referendum & recall, community councils, and grassroots organizing are but a few ways in which direct/participatory democracy is achieving great success around the world.
Our system of representative democracy does not admit the voice of the people into congressional halls, the high courts, or the oval office where our rights and our liberties are being sold out from underneath us. Our local leaders and activists in our communities, and even those local elected officials who may have the best of intentions are for the most part powerless to make real positive change happen in our neighborhoods, towns and villages when there is so much corruption from above.
In places like Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, India, and the Phillipines, new experiments in grass roots community based governance are taking place. There is much to be learned from these and other examples of participatory democracy from around the world when we try to examine how this grass-roots based governance could begin to take root here in our own country in order to alter our political system so that it might better serve the American people.
In the hope that one day we can become a nation working together as a united people practicing true democracy as true equals, we open this forum…
Over the decades, our representative democracy has been systematically undermined and has ultimately failed in preserving the well being of the people of this nation. The system that the founding fathers painstakingly devised in order to best serve the interests and the will of the people has been corrupted and the systems of checks and balances on power that they instituted have been stripped away. Most of us accept this reality as being beyond our control and continue to observe, comment, and complain without aspiring to achieving any real change, without any hope of instituting a new system of governance that would instead take directly into account your views, and the views of your neighbors, and would empower you to make real positive change possible in your communities.
This site will attempt to explore in depth the places in the world where people are successfully bringing about that type of change in the face of similar odds, where an alternate form of democracy, which is called participatory or direct democracy, is taking root. Initiative, referendum & recall, community councils, and grassroots organizing are but a few ways in which direct/participatory democracy is achieving great success around the world.
Our system of representative democracy does not admit the voice of the people into congressional halls, the high courts, or the oval office where our rights and our liberties are being sold out from underneath us. Our local leaders and activists in our communities, and even those local elected officials who may have the best of intentions are for the most part powerless to make real positive change happen in our neighborhoods, towns and villages when there is so much corruption from above.
In places like Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, India, and the Phillipines, new experiments in grass roots community based governance are taking place. There is much to be learned from these and other examples of participatory democracy from around the world when we try to examine how this grass-roots based governance could begin to take root here in our own country in order to alter our political system so that it might better serve the American people.
In the hope that one day we can become a nation working together as a united people practicing true democracy as true equals, we open this forum…
LATEST ENTRIES:
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
MEXICO: Derechos civiles y Participación Ciudadana en la capital
Posted by Democracy By The People at 10:34 PM
Labels: Democracia Directa, Democracia Participativa, Ejercicio de la ciudadanía, Mexico
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment