Panama: NGOs "aim to destabilise" Latin American governments says Argentine President Kirchner

"They clearly aim to destabilise the governments from the region and curiously it's those governments who did the most for equity, education and social inclusion", said Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner when discussing the impact of non-governmental organisations (NGO) in Latin America during her address at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, Saturday. Kirchner explained that, in recent years, "more subtle ways to intervene and influence in our governments have come up through what is known as a soft coup". The Argentine president stated that these 'soft coup' forms of intervention are "more sophisticated" than in the past and that "they always find their origins in new organisations under the name 'NGO'". Regarding the dangers of NGOs, Kirchner criticised them for attempting to destabilise governments and expressed worry about their accountability, stating that "no one ever knows how they are financed" and "they are always ready to make the most exoteric allegations, although they can never prove them".