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PAFSO Awards
Douglas Challborn
Acceptance Speech by Douglas Challborn
June 7, 2001
"When I asked to be posted to Lima in 1999, little did I think that I would find myself in the midst of a major diplomatic initiative in a country apparently remote to Canadian interests. Not long after my arrival, the unconstitutional "re-re-election" campaign for President Fujimori began to unfold in earnest. Through this experience I was able to witness personally the cost to Peru of a regime which would stoop to any means in order to cling to corrupt power. And yet, through it all, the common sense of the Peruvian people seemed to win through in the end. The regime bled legitimacy day by day, beginning with the elections themselves which utterly lacked credibility, and running through the huge and profoundly moving pro-democracy rallies in central Lima. I shall always remember that black day - the inauguration of President Fujimori last July 28th, surrounded by 30,000 soldiers – which culminated in violence and the deaths of six innocent people.
The Canadian Embassy played a crucial role in helping to call into question those flawed elections, which helped set the stage for the Resolution on Peru at the Windsor General Assembly of the OAS. We shall never know how the project - the High Level Mission led so splendidly by former Minister Axworthy and Secretary General Gaviria, and the "Mesa de Dialogo" presided by Eduardo Latorre - would ultimately have fared had the Fujimori regime not fallen for reasons external to the dialogue process itself: the exposing of a profound lie – through a leaked videotape - which brought down an authoritarian, corrupt regime built on lies. To me, the central question then becomes: what would have happened to Peru had their been no High Level Mission, had there been no Dialogue Table? I have no doubt that there would have been a violent rupture. But because a dialogue mechanism was already in place when the government began to crumble, and because the OAS was there to underwrite the process, key political accords could be crafted to manage and define the transition. For a period of several weeks, the Mesa de Dialogo became key to Peru’s political destiny, and it was a privilege for us to participate in those discussions.
The transitional government of President Paniagua proved to Peruvians how much can be accomplished when good people set their hearts and minds to making positive change. Within the space of six months, the transitional authority prepared the ground for free and fair elections, ensured economic stability, restored judicial autonomy, and dramatically improved respect for human rights and free expression. I sincerely hope that the new government of Peru which was just elected on Sunday will be composed of equally good men and women. The people of Peru desperately need and deserve a good government for a change: one that will uphold the law instead of undermine it; one that will encourage investment in people instead of robbing them.
I was deeply honoured simply to have been nominated for this award, and I am still literally stunned to be here to receive it. I do not believe that I did any more than any one of you would have done in my shoes. If there is anything I am particularly proud of, it was simply that I tried to distinguish the truth from the lies. I tried to communicate that difference as effectively as I could to people that mattered, as well as why it mattered to Canada. When the mission and the Mesa de Dialogo were officially wrapped up, a very special person left me a gift on my desk alongside a note which said: "You fought the good fight with the power of the pen all during the OAS mission. You also had a good nose for who was fibbing or not. Here is a small knife to keep your edge sharp and a "Pinocchio pencil" to remind you of the difficulty of distinguishing between reality and appearance". However, this is an award for an entire team of people, all of whom played essential roles at different levels and in different ways. I therefore want to make special mention of certain very special people from whom I have learned such a great deal.
First of all, Ambassador Peter Boehm and his wonderful team at PRMOAS, Renata Wielgosz and Etienne Savoie, all of whom were drafted to Peru on several urgent occasions. Ambassador Boehm effectively co-led, along with Gaviria, six separate missions to Peru on behalf of Canada – in addition to the principal Axworthy mission - meeting with the President and opposition leaders, and steering the process forward through extremely sensitive and difficult moments. Ambassador Boehm literally became a nationally recognized figure in Peru, a figure of trust and a guarantee of international watchfulness.
Obviously, the entire OAS team itself, led in Peru by Eduardo Latorre, who presided the Mesa de Dialogo, which included our own Patricia Fortier, who worked as a "special advisor" for the OAS, and who so effectively facilitated negotiations on reforms to Peru’s electoral laws (Patricia is also the special person who gave me the letter opener and pencil and the words of wisdom).
From Ottawa, George Haynal who lent overall strategic vision, and who constituted a special "swat team" in support of the High Level Mission process, including Alexandra Bugailiskis, Ron Davidson, John Clarke, Bernie Etzinger, Geoff Gartshore, Justin Robertson, and of course Louise Crosby, Desk Officer for Peru, our mainstay of support over the past two years. At the Canadian Embassy Lima, the entire LES "team of eight" - in particular Carla Escalante, Katia Rivadeneyra, and Georgette Pepper - without whose dedication, critical advice, and support this mission would not have been successful. Ivan Roberts, our head of CIDA section, deserves special recognition for the remarkable way he so quickly put into place support mechanisms for electoral assistance and democratic reform initiatives, making Canada a leading donor in this area. And of course, Kimberley Ferguson, our wonderful new political officer who joined us last September, and who worked side by side with me throughout the dialogue process.
J'ai attendu à la fin pour vous mentionner la contribution la plus spéciale, celle de l'Ambassadeur Graeme Clark. L'Ambassadeur Clark a dirigé toute cette initiative sur le terrain, et c’est lui qui a agi comme coprésident de la table de dialogue. C'est lui qui a su interpréter les principaux joueurs politiques et réagir correctement aux événements par des stratégies et approches qu'il choisissait au fur et à mesure que la situation évoluait. C'est également l'Ambassadeur Clark qui a su promouvoir de façon si efficace et si humaine les valeurs fondamentales du Canada pendant ces moments les plus intenses et les plus délicats qu'un ambassadeur puisse imaginer. Je suis très fier, Graeme, et profondément honoré, d'avoir eu l'opportunité de travailler à tes côtés pendant cette période de crise.
Finally, thank you, et merci, PAFSO, for this honour. You are my colleagues, and therefore yours is the highest praise I can imagine. I shall remember this gesture for the rest of my life."
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