The bet on development of the French Dominicans in the Southern Cone: Paul Ramlot, OP and the IEPAL

Abstract

In the middle of the 20th century, the community experience of the French Dominican friars of the province of Toulouse in Montevideo began, within the framework of a progressive economic, social and political crisis. Settled in Montevideo since 1954, Fr. Paul Ramlot, OP became, with the support of Fr. Louis-Joseph Lebret, OP, one of the leading references of the Economy and Humanism movement in Uruguay and in the region. In 1963, Ramlot founded the Institute for Political Studies for Latin America, the IEPAL, "to stimulate reflection on the political implications of development ", at the level of "agents" and at the level of "institutions". This stage of Ramlot's life was marked by his commitment to development and integration as instruments of humanization in Latin America, based on a rigorous knowledge of the realities of very vast and varied territories. Ramlot launched a project promoting "integral human development", aimed at the leading sectors, businessmen and union leaders. In times of radicalization and revolutionary utopias, Ramlot and the IEPAL were praised by some, and questioned by others. Ramlot was never a liberationist, but a progressive Catholic man, solidly trained, never radical.