There is something genuine with this man.Bush is not going tell us anything new,there are 40 million Americans,if not,without health insurance. For Freedom Saiks >===== Original Message From The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> ===== >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 10:18:57 -0800 >From: David Mozer <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: [log in to unmask] >To: an WASAN <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: [WASAN] Monterrey Conference > >I am forwarding the following pieces because, while not specifically about >Africa, the International Conference on Development Financing, which is >discussed, affects Africa and the information presented below is not likely >to be covered in the US media. >dm > >-----Original Message----- > > >March 21, 2002 >Granma International > >In Monterrey, Fidel urges an end to conditions for development funding > >MONTERREY, Mexico.- President Fidel Castro stated today Thursday that >allocating funds for nations’ development should be carried out with the >democratic support of all, and without sacrificing any countries’ >independence and sovereignty. > >When speaking at the International Conference on Development Financing, the >Cuban leader commented that resources for providing direct help to countries >should be in the hands of the United Nations, and not disastrous >institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). > >He considered that the forum’s planned resolution, called the Monterrey >Consensus, should not be imposed at the conference by the world’s masters, >thus delegating us to humiliating, conditional and interfering charity. > >Fidel Castro affirmed that the rich world should forgive foreign debts and >offer new, soft loans for development financing, while traditional offers of >aid, always miserly and very often ridiculous, are insufficient or not >fulfilled. > >In that regard, he urged that all the international finance organizations >that had been created since the Bretton Woods Conference until today, should >be rethought. > >The Cuban president highlighted that in the face of the current serious >crisis, we are being offered an even worse future, where an increasingly >ungovernable world’s economic, social and ecological tragedy will never be >solved, where poverty and hunger increase daily, as if a large part of >humanity were superfluous. > >This is the time for politicians and state leaders to reflect calmly, >suggested Fidel. > >He called the current world economic order a system of plunder and >exploitation, the like of which history has never seen before, and which has >led to the underdevelopment of 75% of the world’s inhabitants. > >Every day people believe less and less in statements and promises, and the >prestige of international financial institutions has dropped to below zero. > >Cuba’s president referred to the world economy as a gigantic casino, when >explaining that according to recent analysis, for every dollar used in world >commerce more than $100 USD are used in speculative ventures that have >nothing to do with the real economy. > >He also pointed out that 1.2 billion persons now live in extreme poverty in >Third World nations, while the abyss is growing, not getting smaller. In >1969, rich countries had 37 times more income than poor nations; the figure >currently stands at 74. >He indicated that we have reached such extremes that the world’s three >richest persons possess assets equivalent to the combined GDP of the 48 >poorest countries, while in 2001, the number of hungry people was 826 >million. > >Currently, there are 854 million illiterate adults, 325 million children who >do not attend school, two billion persons who lack essential low-cost >medicine, 2.4 billion who have no basic sanitary conditions. At least 11 >million under five’s die every year from preventable causes and 500,000 go >incurably blind due to a lack of vitamin A. > >He stressed that the inhabitants of developed countries live 30 years longer >than sub-Saharan African people, calling that true genocide. > >Fidel stated that poor nations should not be blamed for the tragedy, because >they had not conquered or looted entire continents for centuries, nor >established colonialism, nor re-introduced slavery or created modern >imperialism. They are its victims. > >The main responsibility for financing development belongs to those states >which today, for obvious historical reasons, enjoy the benefits of such >atrocities. > >Thus he proposed that the rich world should forgive foreign debts and gives >new, soft loans to finance development. > >The belief that the economic and social order that has shown itself to be >unsustainable could be imposed by force is a crazy idea, he emphasized when >calling on humanity to say a farewell to arms once and for all, as something >has to be done to save the human race, and that a better world is possible. > >During his six-minute speech, the Cuban president received several rounds of >applause. > >&&&&&&&&&&&&& > >Cuba's Castro attacks West on poverty at UN summit. >By Kieran Murray > >MONTERREY, Mexico, March 21 (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro on >Thursday ridiculed efforts by rich nations to reduce global poverty, saying >they were masters of a "genocidal" economic system that condemns billions to >misery and deprivation. > >In a brief visit to a major U.N. aid summit, Castro said the West now lorded >over the rest of the world because it had plundered entire continents during >centuries of colonial rule. > >"The existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and >exploitation like no other in history," a combative Castro said in an >unusually short speech. > >The communist leader then excused himself before the more than 50 heads of >state present, saying he had to return to Cuba immediately because of a >"special situation" there. He gave no details. > >His rapid departure meant he would not cross paths with U.S. President >George W. Bush, due to arrive at the summit in Mexico's northern city of >Monterrey later on Thursday. > >Castro arrived in Monterrey on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after >confirming he would take part in the summit, which is aimed at boosting aid >flows to poor nations in order to slash poverty levels across the world. > >Castro dismissed the summit's draft action plan, saying it was imposed by >the "masters of the world" who simply want poor nations to "accept >humiliating, conditioned and interfering handouts." > >"The world economy today is a huge casino," he said, reeling off a list of >statistics showing the dramatic concentration of wealth in the developed >world while hundreds of millions of starving people lacked even basic >medical and social services. > >"The life span of the population in the developed world is 30 years higher >than that of people living in sub-Saharan Africa. A true genocide!" Castro >said, dressed in his familiar olive green fatigues. > >He called on developed nations to condone the foreign debt of all poor >nations and open up hefty new lines of credit to finance their development. > >"As I have said before, the ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the >arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the >ill, the poor and the hungry but they cannot kill ignorance, illness, >poverty or hunger," Castro said. > >&&&&&&&&&&&&& > >Summit braces for Castro U.S. foreign aid focus of event >The Miami Herald - Thu, Mar. 21, 2002 - BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER > >MONTERREY, Mexico - The expected arrival Wednesday of President Fidel Castro >of Cuba for a United Nations summit on poverty is prompting worries among >organizers that he will rob the limelight from President Bush's promise of >major increases in U.S. foreign aid. > >Cuba communicated Castro's last-minute decision to attend the summit to >President Vicente Fox of Mexico at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Expressing their >concern, Mexican, U.S. and European officials said privately they fear >Castro's anti-globalization rhetoric will draw attention from a >groundbreaking final document expected to be signed by the United States, >Europe and virtually all developing countries. > >Latin American officials were especially worried that Castro may want to >participate in Friday's closed-door retreat for Bush and dozens of other >heads of state to discuss the war on poverty. > >''If Castro goes, Bush won't go, and the meeting will be worthless,'' said a >Latin American official involved in the summit's organization. > >But Mexico's foreign minister, Jorge Castañeda, said Wednesday that Castro >would address the summit in the morning session of today's meeting, and that >the Cuban leader's visit to Monterrey was expected to be ''for a very brief >period.'' Bush is expected to arrive this afternoon. > >NOT TOGETHER > >Castañeda's words were interpreted by Latin American officials as a Mexican >hope that Castro will be gone by midday, before Bush's arrival, and that the >two leaders will not be in the same room at any time. > >''Castro will have it both ways: He will grab the headlines from the world, >and he will do Fox a favor in not requesting to be invited along with >everybody else to the closed-door retreat,'' one Latin American official >said. ``It will be his way of telling Fox, ``You owe me one.'' > >Relations between Cuba and Mexico have been tense since an incident last >month in which 21 Cubans broke into the Mexican Embassy in Havana, >presumably in an effort to leave the country, and were evicted by Cuban >police at Mexico's request. > >Mexican officials first blamed Miami Cuban exiles for instigating the >would-be refugees' action, but later said privately that the Castro regime >might have encouraged the embassy takeover as a subtle punishment for >Mexico's policy of supporting human rights activists on the island. > >Asked whether Castro would meet with Fox, Castañeda told reporters, ``We >still don't have the exact arrival and departure times of President Castro, >so we don't know.'' > >FINAL DOCUMENT > >Even if Castro leaves before Bush's arrival, his likely statements >criticizing U.S.-backed free-market policies are expected to take some of >the glitter away from what U.S. and United Nations officials are calling a >groundbreaking final document entitled ``The Monterrey Consensus.'' > >Breaking with decades of sterile arguments in which poor countries demanded >more aid from richer nations, the U.S.-backed document sets new ground rules >under which poor countries will adopt free-market policies, respect human >rights and fight corruption in exchange for greater financial assistance >from rich countries. > >As a show of support for the new agreement, the Bush administration has >announced a 50 percent increase in U.S. foreign aid by 2006. The United >States now spends about $10 billion a year in foreign assistance, and is the >least generous donor relative to its economy among rich nations. > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> >FREE COLLEGE MONEY >CLICK HERE to search >600,000 scholarships! >http://us.click.yahoo.com/iZp8OC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/DKgolB/TM >---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > >Next WASAN meeting is Wednesday, March 27, 2002. Location: Mt. Kenya Safari Club, 9415 Rainer Avenue S., Seattle >7:00 PM WASAN Annual meeting > >We usually meet the fourth Wednesday of the month. For a calendar of local Africa events see http://www.ibike.org/africamatters/calendar.htm . To post a message: [log in to unmask] To subscribe send a message to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe send a message to [log in to unmask] . 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