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Fri 5 Sep, 2003 10:26 am
RELIGION-LATIN AMERICA:
Catholic Bishops Speak Out Against Free Trade Area
Raúl Pierri - IPS 9/4/03
MONTEVIDEO, Sep 4 (IPS) - The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) looks less like a true regional integration project than a ''neo-colonialist'' plan that will make poor communities even poorer and will not respect national sovereignty, said the Catholic bishops of the members of South America's largest trade bloc.
''What we condemn is that the only aim of the project is to increase trade flows, regardless of whether or not it devastates everything and everyone in its path,'' the secretary-general of the bishops' conference of Uruguay, Bishop Pablo Galimberti of the southern Uruguayan city of San José, told IPS on Thursday.
The Catholic bishops of the countries of South America's Mercosur trade bloc -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- and the bloc's associate members Bolivia and Chile met Tuesday through Thursday in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, to discuss the challenges of integration in Latin America and the ''ethical and moral'' aspects of the creation of the FTAA.
The initiative promoted by the United States will create a free trade zone made up of 34 countries -- all of the nations in the Americas with the exception of Cuba -- with a total population of 800 million people and a combined Gross National Product (GNP) of over 11 billion dollars by 2005.
The main objections to the FTAA raised by the bishops were that it will benefit the richest countries -- like the United States and Canada -- at the expense of the less competitive members, and that it will consolidate the hold of ''unfettered neo-liberalism'' on the entire region.
''Christian ethics and the Christian vision encompass everything, not just the moral aspects,'' said Galimberti. ''They encompass the spiritual as well as the economic. We do not separate out religious and social aspects..''
In a statement, the bishops said the creation of the FTAA would have ''grave consequences'' due to ''the excessive disproportion of the competitive capacities of the countries, some of which have very strong, developed economies while others are weak.
''This initiative will foment the concentration of economic power in a few hands, favouring the formation of monopolies and oligopolies, which will end up imposing their hegemony over governments, especially in the weakest countries in the Americas.
''Rather than integration, this could involve neo-colonialism, with a negative impact on local communities...The chief aim of an initiative like the FTAA should be to promote the common good and solidarity between nations, and not merely to search for the greatest advantage for just a few,'' they said.
The bishops also expressed concern over the future of indigenous and rural communities, ''which in this system would run the risk of being displaced,'' from land rich in natural resources, for example.
In addition, they said the strategic natural resources of poor nations ''should not be susceptible to appropriation by private interests.
''A true process of integration in the Americas should be based on a continent-wide policy that takes into account human rights and the principles of sovereignty, justice, solidarity and respect for the cultural identities of nations,'' said the statement.
The secretary-general of Brazil's bishops' conference, Bishop Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo, told IPS that the Brazilian Catholic Church is working with non-governmental organisations on a campaign aimed at raising awareness about the FTAA, which will include another ''people's referendum'' in which Brazilians will be asked what they think about the future free trade area.
''We will hold an unofficial popular referendum this month to allow Brazilians to express their opinions about the FTAA. Our big concern is human beings, who should always take top priority,'' he said.
In a similar ''referendum'' held in September 2002, 10 million Brazilians said they were opposed to the free trade area, according to the organisers.
The president of Argentina's bishops' conference, Eduardo Mirás, stressed the negative impact that the prescriptions of the multilateral lending institutions have had on his crisis-stricken nation.
''Our countries need help, without a doubt, but they don't need an invasion of our sovereignty, which also implies a loss of our identity. By meddling in our educational programmes, for example, they are undermining the free determination of nations,'' Mirás, the archbishop of the eastern Argentine city of Rosario, told IPS.
The bishops who met in Montevideo did not agree on any concrete common strategy, nor did they decide to discuss their point of view with their respective governments.
''We are making closer contact with political leaders, but we are not a political party. This statement simply has the objective of helping to form the faith of Christians, with a social dimension,'' said Galimberti.
The declaration signed Thursday by the bishops of the Mercosur nations and their associates Bolivia and Chile concurs with the pastoral letter Ecclesia in America that Pope John Paul II made public in Mexico in 1999.
Ecclesia in America stated that ''more and more, in many countries of the Americas, a system known as 'neo-liberalism' prevails; based on a purely economic conception of man, this system considers profit and the law of the market as its only parameters, to the detriment of the dignity of and the respect due to individuals and peoples.
''At times this system has become the ideological justification for certain attitudes and behaviour in the social and political spheres leading to the neglect of the weaker members of society. Indeed, the poor are becoming ever more numerous, victims of specific policies and structures which are often unjust.''
The views of the Roman Catholic Church are of great significance in the Americas, which is home to 528 Catholic faithful, nearly half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, according to statistics from the Vatican.
But Bishop Walter Pérez of the central Bolivian city of Potosí said the Church's influence on complex social realities is often limited.
Pérez cited the failure of the ''Reencuentro Nacional de Bolivia'', a panel set up to seek an accord between the government of President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and the opposition, which is demanding changes in economic policy, and is opposed to the FTAA.
It's necessary for South America to stay poor so that wealthy Americans have somewhere to go buy body parts for transplant.
Wilso, again you are letting your hatred for America get in the way of facts.
What you reference is an urban legend despite some isolated cases. those cases involved many nationalities other than Americans.
Craven, I saw an interview with one on 60 minutes. He needed a kidney transplant. He went to S.A and bought one for $40 000. They also interviewed the doctor who performed the transplant. Check you're facts.
The fact also remains that the United States is without doubt the single most selfish, self absorbed, inward looking society that has ever existed on the face of the earth.
Wilso,
Does the fact that an Australian has also done the same mean Australia is keeping the third world nations in check?
And as to your silly claim about the US we already know you think so, doesn't make it a "fact".
Terms like that are subjective. You might want to look up the word "fact" in the dictionary.
I won't defend an Australian doing the same thing because unlike Americans I won't try to defend the indefensible. The FACTS are there for anyone who wants to take the time to see them. I be very dead if I held my breath waiting for Americans to do so.
And yes I do detest America. I think it would be a great day when the plug was pulled and the entire slimy pile of crap was sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Wilso wrote:And yes I do detest America. I think it would be a great day when the plug was pulled and the entire slimy pile of crap was sink to the bottom of the ocean.
But that would lead to the end of Able2Know. We wouldn't want that, I should move the site offshore perhaps?
Would you object if the American Able2Know members were to evacuate first? Maybe bring their families and a few belongings too? Or should we all just die?
Another point that just occured to me is that you might be a bit unreasonable here.
Well, don't try to come here - we will just put you in camps in the Pacific!
Now, as to the isssue as raised by BBB - reading....
click on the link above Deb.
Craven de Kere wrote:Wilso wrote:And yes I do detest America. I think it would be a great day when the plug was pulled and the entire slimy pile of crap was sink to the bottom of the ocean.
But that would lead to the end of Able2Know. We wouldn't want that, I should move the site offshore perhaps?
Would you object if the American Able2Know members were to evacuate first? Maybe bring their families and a few belongings too? Or should we all just die?
Another point that just occured to me is that you might be a bit unreasonable here.
Fine, so long as you don't bring the Replicans, the Gun Lobby, and the Right-to Lifer's.
But maybe their children? The ones young enough to not have been 'corrupted' already?
Are there any other demographic groups that should be exterminated?
This isn't a novel idea you know.
I'm not playing the game anymore.
Wilso - while I have no doubt you recognize the wrongs of many Australian policies, I really do not think this justifies the kind of polemic you use against the USA. How is this different from the nonsense of "evil empires" and "axes of evil" you would doubtless condemn from American leaders? Or from the extremist rhetoric of Islam's lunatic fringe?
I would be very interested to hear comments about the actions of the Catholic Bishops. I would tend to share some of their concerns, but I do not feel I know enough about the details of the FTAA and its likely consequences to comment with any real intelligence.
Catholic power vis the Islamic power: similar woes
I posted this provocative article to make us aware of crucial political, economic and cultural attitudes BEFORE events take place that may produce unintended consequences. In North America and in the Western world, generally, we pay too little attention to the peoples of this gigantic area.
What I found so interesting in the Catholic Bishop's statements is their failure to recognize similar concerns about the same types of threats that Muslims feel in Islamic countries.
Some things never change vis Organized Religion. Its always about retaining and expanding population theology power and mind control, which always leads to economic treasure. These regions always have high birth rates because that expands the Religion's power base. Ergo fight birth control and abortion; control the economy; control the politics---all to protect The Faith.
The lack of separation of Church and State, Temple and State, Mosque and State, etc. foments regional and international strife as Organized Religions battle for dominance throughout the world.
We are witnessing an organized attempt by the Islamic power structure to spread and dominate the world the same way that the Catholic power structure did in the past and continues in competion today. We are also witnessing a similar, though smaller scale attempt by Christian Fundamentalists to achieve the same goals in the U.S.
The world is rapidly entering new phases of competing Religions using their States to expand their cultural and economic power. What is happening in South American is a potent advance warning.
This age-old-war has always existed everywhere on large and small scales. But today's technology and weaponry makes today's world a very dangerous place for those advocating separation of Church and State. But we must prevail!
---BumbleBeeBoogie
Cancun: Riots threat grows as WTO stalls on tariff reform
Riots threat grows as WTO stalls on tariff reform
Nick Mathiason
Sunday September 7, 2003 - The Observer
Hopes for any significant breakthrough at the World Trade Organisation talks, starting this week, have been dealt a severe blow as it emerges that plans are already in place for an unscheduled ministerial trade meeting early next year. This new meeting has been discussed as fears grow among trade negotiators that agreement will not be reached on vital issues such as agricultural tariff reduction by Europe and America.
The news will provoke fury from the thousands of protesters gathering in the Mexican beach resort of Cancun this weekend and could spark a repeat of the riots that brought similar talks in the American city of Seattle to a chaotic close.
The talks look to be head ing for crisis following a ferocious attack on poor countries by the European Commission in which proposals by 20 developing nations were labelled as 'cheap propaganda'.
Digby Jones, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, attacked the European Union's reluctance to move faster on tariff reform. 'We are urging Europe to table a more significant offer on agriculture,' he said. 'It needs to move or the talks will collapse.'
Steve Tibbett, director of policy and campaigns at War on Want said: 'The EU and US consistently refuse to give an inch to developing countries and manipulate negotiations to extract ever greater concessions from the world's poorest nations.'
It now appears that some measures to open developing countries' economies to multi- nationals will have to dropped. Two of the four so-called Singapore issues on investment and competition are likely to be mothballed.
A new alliance of China, India and Brazil is expected to hold out for meaningful reform at what is the fifth WTO ministerial. Delegates, including Trade Ministers from 146 countries, will face thousands of Mexican farmworkers among a wave of colourful protesters.
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