Celebrate Latin American heritage by recognizing relationships

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY—Over the past weeks, Canadians have been celebrating Latin American Heritage Month, an opportunity to honour the culture, values, and numerous contributions of Latin Americans to the fabric of Canadian society. In doing so, you may have invoked bold colours, boisterous celebrations, a longing for tropical temperatures, a seemingly inborn ease with rhythm and dance. Latin American culture is at times reduced to “Five F’s”: family, fiesta, faith, food, and fútbol. I am prone to dismiss such cultural simplifications, because of course, it is both challenging and risky to attempt to define a singular Latin American experience. The region’s incredible diversity in language, history, geography, traditions, and cuisine should not be overlooked. We teeter on the edge of stereotyping. Yet, whether home is in Canada or elsewhere, there is undoubtedly something to be said for a shared identity among Latin Americans. To me, that enigmatic common ground has much to do with an esteem for relationships. In their different forms, relationships inspire joy and perseverance in the face of adversity, providing a foundation of resilience that is certainly beneficial in our current global circumstances as we reckon with all that we took for granted in pre-pandemic times. As a politician in Paraguay, I have deepened my appreciation for relationships over the years; I have served as minister of education and culture, was the first woman to run for the presidency of my country, and have been a Senator since 2013. An investment in strong relationships paves the way for necessary political compromise and policy-minded thinking that stretches us past our comfort zone, in a good way. When political party divides seem impossible to overcome, the breakthroughs are often forged through relationships of trust. When distilled, politics is about relationships, after all. I believe that the most productive political relationships are informed by an open exchange of knowledge in all its forms and by an intrinsic curiosity and respect for one another’s experiences. We are proud of who we are, yet we want to know sincerely: how do you think I can do better? The best relationships in our personal lives are likely built of similar material. I am proud to serve as the president of ParlAmericas, the inter-parliamentary institution headquartered in Ottawa, which for the last 20 years has convened the members of parliaments of the Americas and the Caribbean. Its purpose is to strengthen our diplomatic ties and democracies, as well as our capacity to respond to public needs through legislative action and collaboration. In ParlAmericas’ cross-cultural working spaces, I have found an invaluable forum that is sensitive and responsive to the realities of the Americas. Whether we hail from Nunavut or Tierra del Fuego, we share the goal of being better legislators. Through ParlAmericas, we can come together as Parliamentarians ready to dialogue and problem-solve on the difficult issues our hemisphere is confronting. We are concerned about worsening social inequities, economies that still do not value women’s labour to the extent of men’s, a climate crisis that requires far more ambitious mitigation measures and adaptation support, complex threats posed by disinformation, and a devastating loss of confidence in public institutions. In relation to this last point, ParlAmericas has played a leading role in advocating for parliamentary openness. Guided by a Road Map on transparency, accountability, citizen participation, and ethics, we have advanced institutional and individual legislative commitments that better situate our countries to meet our international obligations, among them Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite some important progress, across our hemisphere we need to repair the relationship between citizens and their governments. We need to show how political processes benefit from a plurality of voices. In other words, we need to rethink and rebuild the social contract. This will be the theme of focus at ParlAmericas’ Plenary Assembly meetings next month, in which we will assess the legislative branch’s role in this endeavour alongside specialists and civil society and youth representatives. The late Canadian senator Tobias Enverga was inspired by his participation in ParlAmericas in bringing forward the motion that created the Latin American Heritage Month Act, which honoured the relationships he built through and with our organization. Thank you for carrying forward his project to ingrain a deeper understanding of Latin America and its rich cultures by celebrating our region’s heritage each year. Relationships are dearly important in Latin America, and continuing to strengthen our ties can only serve to benefit all of our peoples. Senator Blanca Ovelar of Paraguay is the president of ParlAmericas. The International Secretariat of ParlAmericas is headquartered in Ottawa. The Hill Times