LATIN AMERICA:
Food Summit Declares
Regional Emergency
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA (IPS) -
The presidential summit
on "Food for Life", held
in Nicaragua, has ended
with 16 Latin American
countries agreeing to
produce more food and
sell it at low prices
through strategic
alliances, amid
criticisms of free
markets and capitalism.
The summit on regional
food sovereignty and
security was convened by
Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega to debate
the global crisis caused
by food shortages and to
seek regional solutions.
Presidents Manuel Zelaya
of Honduras, Óscar Arias
of Costa Rica, Rafael
Correa of Ecuador, Evo
Morales of Bolivia and
René Préval of Haiti
attended the summit
meeting on Wednesday.
Delegations from El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Mexico, Venezuela,
Belize, Panama,
Dominica, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, the
Dominican Republic and
Cuba also took part.
Representatives of
United Nations agencies,
the Organisation of
American States (OAS),
the European Union,
international financial
institutions and the
business world were
present as observers.
Ortega, as host, chaired
the discussions, and
during breaks between
speakers he wasted no
opportunity to condemn
the "empire", meaning
the United States, and "neoliberal
policies imposed by the
international financial
institutions."
The presidents of Haiti,
Bolivia, Ecuador and
even Costa Rica joined
Ortega in blaming the
world’s most developed
countries for the global
food crisis.
According to statistics
from the U.N. Food and
Agriculture
Organisations (FAO),
over the last year the
international price of
maize increased by 31
percent, rice by 74
percent, vegetable oils
60 percent, dairy
products 83 percent,
soybeans 87 percent, and
wheat 130 percent.
The Economic Commission
for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC)
warned in late April
that "the steep and
persistent rise in
international food
prices is hitting
particularly hard on the
poorest in Latin America
and the Caribbean."
To illustrate, Cuban
Vice President Esteban
Lazo said that in 2005,
his government paid the
equivalent of 250
dollars for a ton of
imported rice in 2005,
while "it now costs us
1,050 dollars -- four
times as much."
"The food crisis is
exacerbated by the high
price of oil, which is a
result of the war being
waged in Iraq, climate
change, and neoliberal
policies in the United
States and Europe," Lazo
added.
Ecuadorean President
Correa said that "the
enormous difference
about world poverty in
the 21st century is that
it is not due to
shortages, but to
unequal distribution" of
resources.
Like the rest of the
participants, Correa
stressed the urgent need
to step up agricultural
production in Latin
America and abandon
neoliberal food import
policies which, he said,
the international
financial institutions
recommended to
developing countries in
recent years with the
backing of the United
States.
Morales declared his
opposition to the use of
food crops for making
biofuels, and berated
the industrialised
countries.
"Unlimited
industrialisation is the
drug of planet Earth,
and capitalism is
synonymous with death,"
he said.
Following the autonomy
referendum held Sunday
in the eastern Bolivian
province of Santa Cruz,
which the government
regards as illegal,
Zelaya called on the
countries present to
support Morales, who
received an ovation.
At Ortega’s request,
Préval described the
dire situation in Haiti,
the poorest country in
the Americas.
"What is happening in my
country is a
catastrophe," said
Préval. Food shortages
led to violent
disturbances in April
that left at least six
people dead and several
people injured, while
shopkeepers incurred
damages as a result of
looting.
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez was not at
the meeting due to
illness.
The surprise of the day
came from Costa Rican
President Arias, who
harshly criticised the
United States and
European countries.
According to Arias, the
present state of affairs
is the result of "the
hypocrisy of the United
States and Europe when
dealing with the most
important issues on the
international agenda."
The United States has
offered only one billion
dollars in food aid to
the world’s poorest
countries, "the same
amount they spend in
half a week on the war
in Iraq," Arias said.
The World Trade
Organisation (WTO)’s
Doha Round of talks,
aimed at freeing up
trade in agriculture and
other areas, "is an
example of hypocrisy on
the part of developed
countries, that continue
to subsidise farm
goods," he said.
Another "great monument
to hypocrisy" is the
Kyoto Protocol on
climate change, Arias
said, "because rich
countries, having
polluted the planet in
order to enrich
themselves, are now
asking us not to do so."
After a session of
speeches lasting four
hours, Ortega gave the
floor over to Venezuelan
Foreign Minister Nicolás
Maduro, who made the
only formal proposal
received by the meeting,
consisting of seven
points.
Venezuela offered to set
up an agricultural fund
of 100 million dollars
to finance concrete
plans arising from the
summit.
Maduro also proposed a
special plan within
Petrocaribe -- an oil
cooperation scheme
between Venezuela and
Caribbean nations -- to
finance agricultural
production and make fuel
available for food
production at low
prices.
In exchange, beneficiary
countries would join the
Bolivarian Alternative
for the Americas (ALBA),
a regional integration
initiative led by Chávez.
Mexican Foreign Minister
Patricia Espinoza said
she was not in favour of
including the Venezuelan
initiative in the final
summit declaration, as
it was only a proposal,
and recommended that it
be discussed later on. A
meeting of technical
experts in Mexico in
late May was proposed
for that purpose.
However, the final
document did include the
Venezuelan agricultural
fund proposal.
President Arias, who
withheld his signature
from the final document,
said "there are some
value judgements,
concepts that I don’t
agree with."
The final statement,
signed by all the
countries at the summit
except El Salvador and
Costa Rica, declared a
regional food
"emergency" and urged
the 63rd U.N. General
Assembly to address the
world food crisis when
it meets in September.
It also called on Latin
American and Caribbean
governments to increase
investment in
agriculture, and
suggested that private
banks in the region
invest up to 10 percent
of their assets in
agricultural
development.
The document called for
a draft plan of action
within 30 days to boost
local food production in
the region and establish
a system of "fair trade
within and between the
countries that results
in fair prices for
producers and
consumers," and urged
the international
community to
"significantly" boost
cooperation to ease the
crisis. |
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