Published: Sep 7, 2005 MEXICO CITY (AP) - Telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim, Latin America's richest man, called for an effort to reduce poverty on Wednesday, saying it was good business.
Posted on 09/07/2005 4:15:44 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
Latin America's Richest Man Calls for Reducing Poverty
Published: Sep 7, 2005 MEXICO CITY (AP) - Telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim, Latin America's richest man, called for an effort to reduce poverty on Wednesday, saying it was good business.
"We have to fight poverty for ethical reasons, but also for economic reasons," Slim said in a speech to students. Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, speaking at the same event, echoed Slim's comments, noting "poverty is not good business."
"A businessman has to feel solidarity with the country he lives in," said Slim. "Wealth must be seen a responsibility, not as a privilege. The responsibility is to create more wealth."
Slim's companies include Telmex, Mexico's main telephone carrier, which sponsors the charity foundation that held Wednesday's event.
"It's like having an orchard, you have to give away the fruit, but not the trees," he said. He picked the tourism and entertainment industries as good targets for investment.
In a veiled criticism of some free-market policies, Slim said "economic stability is a policy instrument, not an objective." He accused the country of frittering away the current boom by importing too many goods and services and said Mexico should rely more on itself for things like engineering services.
Slim said Mexico should take advantage of the "good conditions" it has right now, with high oil prices, rising remittances from workers abroad and steady tourism income, to increase its investment in infrastructure, and he advocated opening such projects to private investment.
Slim has established his own private construction and financing firms in hopes of getting such contracts.
He said private investment in Mexico's deficient water treatment services "could solve this water problem we have in a few short years."
Such ideas have proved controversial in some parts of Latin America, where private water contracts have sometimes met with violent resistance from poor people angry at being charged for the service.
Slim has long been known for proposing public interest projects from which he also can turn a profit, like his sponsorship of the renovation of Mexico City's historic downtown sector, where he has made huge real estate investments.
The 65-year-old Slim jumped to No. 4 in Forbes magazine's 2005 rankings of the world's wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of US$23.8 billion.
Slim and his family have bought Brazil's largest long-distance carrier, Embratel Participacoes SA, and snapped up AT&T Corp.'s Latin America division, as well as leading mobile phone carriers elsewhere in South America.
The son of Lebanese immigrants and an engineer by training, he first made his money in retail and then branched into telecommunications.
AP-ES-09-07-05 1904EDT
Let's hope he can push for some real improvement in Mexico.
The wealthiest people in Latin America are generally the children or recent descendents of immigrants. This is why you see names like Slim, Edwards, or Biondi among the elites of their respective nations.
Even funnier is the fact that he's Lebanese. Ain't a drop of Mexican blood in "Slim".
Be funnier if his folks were illegals.
heh, Slim should try quietly spreading it around a little bit...he could take example from a fellow Mexican...following the 1972 Mexico City earthquake, a late friend of mine, Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno quietly rebuilt the ENTIRE city hospital without one centavo from the government...Mario NEVER applauded himself but behind the scenes was way more influential on Mexican lives than any agency or persona then or since in Mexico. That's why he is probably the most beloved Mexican of all time with the ordinary people....
SLIM should shut up and get to work..
I know. Somehow, when I think "Slim" and "Billionaire" a Texan with a huge hat and shiny buckle comes to mind.
Slim is actually quite portly.
Hey, maybe we try thees. Maybe mañana.
The first step is to move payday to Tuesday.
Gee, I'll remember that when I pay my water bill! If you have a potable private well and are willing to hand pump it, or have a wind operated pump, water is free. Otherwise it costs money. Surface water has to be treated to lessen the risk of disease or poisoning. Your well may be using electric power to pump it and a filtration and purifying system to keep it safe. Things cost money!
Somewhat off topic, but I still remember, on a visit to the Woolley's farm (over fifty years ago) priming the farmyard pump and pumping cold, clear delicious water from the ground on a hot summer day. Always leave some to prime the pump!
Or Fox
You were a friend of the great Cantinflas ?
You must have stories.
I remember those pumps too. Nothing more frustrating than to be working in the field, take a water break only to find the pump has lost its prime and nobody left any water to prime it with, or the prime water has evaporated.
They make hand pumps now with such a good seal that they hold their prime seemingly indefinitely.
That there is tagline material.
How come if obesity is so bad for you, Slim Whitman is dead but Fats Domino is still alive?
only last ten years of his life
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.