Anti-poverty deal may start new approach to foreign aid

Miami Herald ^ | March 24, 2002 | Andres Oppenheimer: The Oppenheimer Report

[Cincinatus' Wife]

MONTERREY, MEXICO - I have a hard time believing I'm writing this, but the United Nations -- a monument to bureaucracy, inefficiency and pompous talk -- may have actually achieved something at the anti-poverty summit of more than 50 heads of state that ended here Friday. By reaching an agreement of ''shared responsibilities'' whereby rich countries commit themselves to increase their foreign aid to poor countries that pursue free-market policies and respect human rights, the summit managed to extract a $5 billion increase in U.S. foreign aid over the next three years, and a $4 billion annual hike from the European Union.

That's a lot of money, which in the U.S. case represents a 50 percent increase in foreign assistance by 2005. More important, it may mark the end of decades of sterile finger-pointing between rich and poor nations on who is to blame for world poverty, and could move the United States -- the least-generous donor country relative to its economy among the world's richest nations -- to become a big player in world antipoverty efforts.

Bush administration officials say the money pledged by Bush will increase further in 2006 if recipient countries meet their part of the bargain, and prove that U.S. donations are not going into a bottomless pit.

Granted, the United Nations may have clinched the deal by sheer luck. Much of the success of the ''Monterrey Consensus,'' as the summit's final agreement is known, was due to the fact that Mexican President Vicente Fox hosted the meeting and persuaded Bush to come.

There was a consensus among visiting leaders that if Mexico hadn't hosted the summit, the U.S. president -- who is always mindful of Mexican-American votes in the upcoming U.S. congressional elections -- wouldn't have come. And if Bush hadn't come, the summit would have largely been empty talk, with no big money on the table.

Still, the fact that a conservative U.S. president and developing countries that include many populist regimes could agree on a deal in which both sides tacitly admitted that they have to change their own behavior was described by most leaders as a major achievement in itself.

''The very fact of coming to this summit forced many world leaders to bring something to to the table,'' Bolivian President Jorge ''Tuto'' Quiroga told me in the corridors. ``They didn't want to come here empty-handed.''

The Monterrey agreement has several shortcomings, however. It will only benefit the world's poorest countries, which means that it may be great for Togo, Lesotho and Burundi, but will do very little for middle-income countries such as Brazil, Argentina or Venezuela. This is a major hole in the deal because if you add up the number of poor living in backward regions of Brazil or Argentina, you will probably come up with a larger figure than the population of most of the world's poorest countries.

But, more important, increasing foreign aid is a relatively easy fix for the United States and Europe, compared with what would be a much more effective -- but politically difficult -- way of helping fight world poverty: lifting their scandalous trade barriers to developing countries' exports.

In a late-night interview at his hotel room, Argentina's beleaguered President Eduardo Duhalde, whose country is going through its worst crisis in recent memory, told me that, ``If we were allowed to sell our agricultural goods in the U.S. and European markets, we wouldn't have any economic problems.''

Virtually every Latin American president at the summit said the same. Most cited a U.N. study showing that if the world's richest countries eliminated all of their trade barriers, developing nations' exports would increase by $130 billion a year. This is more than twice what rich countries are spending annually in foreign aid.

At any rate, the Monterrey summit, with big help from Fox, may be the starting point of a less confrontational, more effective approach to foreign aid. As skeptical as I am about U.N. agreements, there is a chance that this one may actually do some good.

Postscript: If you are wondering why Cuban President Fidel Castro left the summit early and then accused the United States and Mexico of having excluded him from key sessions, the consensus among diplomats here was that he did it mainly for domestic consumption on his island.

Castro needs confrontation to justify his dictatorship, and periodically picks a new fight to keep his people in a wartime mode. This week's villain is Mexico. It's the same old movie, with a rotating cast of villains.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Earlier: Mar. 23, 2002 Mexico-Cuba spat tarnishes summit BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER aoppenheimer@herald.com

[Full Text] MONTERREY, Mexico - A summit of more than 52 world leaders that was hailed by most participants as a major breakthrough in the war on poverty ended Friday with a public dispute between Mexico and Cuba that stole some of the limelight away from the meeting's final agreement.

The two-day summit attended by President Bush and European, Latin American and African heads of state ended with a commitment from rich countries to substantially increase their aid to the world's poorest countries in exchange for their adherence to free-market policies, political liberties and respect for human rights.

The ''Monterrey Consensus,'' as the final document was called, prompted a commitment by the Bush administration to increase U.S. foreign assistance by $5 billion over the next three years, and a vow by the 15-country European Union to step up its foreign aid by $4 billion a year immediately.

`REVERSAL'

''This summit not only marked a reversal in recent foreign aid trends, which had been stagnant or falling,'' Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castañeda said. ``It is also the first conference of its kind where there hasn't been one single arrest, detention or injured among protesters.''

But by the time the final agreement drafted weeks in advance was officially approved, many of the 1,750 journalists covering the summit were writing about Cuban president Fidel Castro's sudden departure at mid-day Thursday, and about his regime's contention that the Bush administration had pressured Mexico -- the summit's host -- to exclude Castro from the meetings to be attended by Bush.

At a joint press conference with Mexican President Vicente Fox on Friday evening, Bush accused Castro of turning Cuba into ''a place of repression, a place where people have no hope.'' But he denied playing a role in Castro's early exit.

In a statement that irked Mexican officials, Cuba's National Assembly president, Ricardo Alarcón, who was leading the Cuban delegation after Castro left, charged that ``high-ranking officials of the Mexican government told us before the summit about the pressures they were being subjected to by the United States to exclude Cuba from the meeting, and specifically to keep President Castro from heading our delegation.''

In an interview, Castañeda repeated his assertion Friday that there had been no pressure from the U.S. government. Other Mexican officials said that Bush administration officials had only asked that Castro and Bush be placed on opposite sides of the room if they were in the same meeting. Late Friday, the Mexican government issued a statement reaffirming the absence of U.S. pressures and challenging Cuba to name the ''high-ranking Mexican officials'' to whom Alarcón referred.

AGHAST

Mexican officials were aghast by Cuba's reaction Friday, which was bound to result in a chorus of criticism from leftist newspapers in Mexico City that the Fox government is selling out to U.S. foreign policy interests.

One Mexican official, noting that the summit's ground-breaking consensus to fight poverty and the presence here of 52 heads of state and more than 150 top cabinet ministers is a major diplomatic victory for the Fox administration, said that Castro ``was the party pooper, and we're definitely not happy with that.'' [End]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Cuba's Castro Says Venezuelan Chavez Speaks for Him -[Excerpt] Hailing the Venezuelan leader's "spirit and enthusiasm", the veteran Cuban president said Chavez would address the U.N. conference in Mexico as president of the Group of 77, which represents more than 130 developing countries.

"No other voice could be better than yours to defend the interests of the (Group of) 77. ... You will have the possibility of putting forward the point of view of the progressive people of the world," Castro added.

Chavez, hosting a special 100th edition of his "Hello President" show lasting nearly seven hours, also received calls of congratulation from Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo and the Dominican Republic's president, Hipolito Mejia.

The Cuban leader's public praise for Chavez was certain to infuriate political opponents of the Venezuelan leader and his self-proclaimed "Bolivarian Revolution". [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Castro, Chávez Decry Inequalities, Condemn IMF [Excerpt] MONTERREY, Mexico-- Presidents Hugo Chávez, of Venezuela, and Fidel Castro, of Cuba, urged the international community Thursday to straighten out the path of the global economy and harshly criticized multilateral financial organizations in speeches addressing more than 50 heads of state and government gathered in this northern Mexican city.

"The current world order constitutes a system of plunder and exploitation like never before in history. The people believe less and less in declarations and promises. The prestige of the international financial institutions has fallen below zero," said Castro.

The heads of state and government are meeting Thursday and Friday, the last two days of the five-day International Conference on Financing for Development, convened by the United Nations.

Also in attendance are executives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank World Trade Organisation, and leaders of pro-development non-governmental organizations (NGOs), with many of the latter supporting the arguments of Castro and Chávez.

The world is living "a true genocide" and one cannot blame "this strategy on the poor countries. They are not the ones who conquered and pillaged entire continents over the centuries, nor did they establish colonialism, implant slavery, or create modern- day imperialism," said the Cuban leader in a speech that won enthusiastic applause from NGO delegates at the conference. [End Excerpt]

[American in Israel]

Send third world dictators to school and what do you get? Zimbabwe and highly educated pickpockets. The bigger disaster they can make of their economy, the more cash flow to tap from Unkle Sucker.

I have a great idea, the UN disbands and sends the Billions spent on their Limos and caviar lunches to the poor. It's for the children right?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

"For the children." That's what all the Leftists leaders have been "saying." I think maybe they are afraid of this "weed out corruption" stipulation.

Cuba Blasts Mexico Over U.N. Aid Summit****The five-day U.N. development conference, attended by more than 50 heads of state in the final two days, ended late Friday with rich and poor nations saying they had struck a bargain to fight world poverty. Castro ridiculed the efforts of the world's wealthy nations to fight poverty during his speech Thursday, saying "the existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and exploitation like no other in history."****

Fidel Castro & Hugo Chavez
admiring their good luck necklaces.

[B4Ranch]

"if recipient countries meet their part of the bargain, and prove that U.S. donations are not going into a bottomless pit. "

Boy, talk about an insult to those who have been sucking on our tit for decades!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It's time to get them up and walking and wean them in the process.
If their governments don't want to clean up their acts, maybe the people will get them to go.
Bush's anti-corruption hook will appeal to many people living in these countries.
His support, by speaking out against it, could be all it takes to begin a push for real freedoms.

[B4Ranch]

I wish it was.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Lion's Cub]

It's so nice of Bush to be so free with my money. SINCE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS SO MUCH TO GIVE AWAY, I WANT MINE BACK!

And since the multinationals are the only ones benefiting from this "free trade", take it out of THEIR pocketbook. I'm tired of subsidizing the CEOs and the Board of Directors, along with at least half of the rest of the world.

[Lion's Cub]

By reaching an agreement of ''shared responsibilities'' whereby rich countries commit themselves to increase their foreign aid to poor countries that pursue free-market policies and respect human rights, the summit managed to extract a $5 billion increase in U.S. foreign aid over the next three years, and a $4 billion annual hike from the European Union.

That's a lot of money, which in the U.S. case represents a 50 percent increase in foreign assistance by 2005. More important, it may mark the end of decades of sterile finger-pointing between rich and poor nations on who is to blame for world poverty, and could move the United States -- the least-generous donor country relative to its economy among the world's richest nations -- to become a big player in world antipoverty efforts. Bush administration officials say the money pledged by Bush will increase further in 2006 if recipient countries meet their part of the bargain, and prove that U.S. donations are not going into a bottomless pit.

But, more important, increasing foreign aid is a relatively easy fix for the United States and Europe, compared with what would be a much more effective -- but politically difficult -- way of helping fight world poverty: lifting their scandalous trade barriers to developing countries' exports.

Virtually every Latin American president at the summit said the same. Most cited a U.N. study showing that if the world's richest countries eliminated all of their trade barriers, developing nations' exports would increase by $130 billion a year. This is more than twice what rich countries are spending annually in foreign aid.

Just wanted you all to see what despicable skinflints you are. The whole world is starving because YOU won't live in a world-wide communal.

Get out your beads, your clogs, and your bell bottoms. Flower power is back.

[boris]

"More important, it may mark the end of decades of sterile finger-pointing between rich and poor nations on who is to blame for world poverty, and could move the United States -- the least-generous donor country relative to its economy among the world's richest nations -- to become a big player in world antipoverty efforts."

Yeah, we're skinflints. Of course, in terms of actual dollars, we overwhelm any other nation. And that's not counting private charities.

Actual dollars are what would seem to matter to an impoverished recipient, not what fraction of our national GDP it represents. If he ever saw it, which is to say, if it were not being diverted into swiss bank accounts by his government.

What "foreign aid" has become is a pathetic attempt to buy friends. It always backfires, because the recipient--in order to keep his self-respect--winds up hating the sugar daddy.

We should END all "foreign aid" and allow citizens to voluntarily donate--or not--to charities that help the poor.

--Boris

[rdavis84]

"Get out your beads, your clogs, and your bell bottoms. Flower power is back."

There are already plenty of that sort posting on FR now. They live in Cubicles at their "WorkPlace".

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Yeah, we're skinflints. Of course, in terms of actual dollars, we overwhelm any other nation. And that's not counting private charities.

Yeah, that's a real crock. What we spend defending and rebuilding so many countries never gets mentioned. I wonder if this approach will be better. With the despots and crooked governments of the world inciting their people to hate us in order to cover their crimes, I'd like to think in the long run this could save us money. The people of these countries just might decide to try it our way and rise up against these dictators and corrupts governments.

[Free the USA]

Check the Bump List folders for articles related to and descriptions of the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.

[Yardstick]

Why do I get the feeling that the American middle-class will end up playing the role of Boxer, the horse, in the upcoming global production of Animal Farm?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Maybe President Bush is writing a new ending.

[rdavis84]

"Castro needs confrontation to justify his dictatorship, and periodically picks a new fight to keep his people in a wartime mode. This week's villain is Mexico. It's the same old movie, with a rotating cast of villains."

Sounds familiar -- "Perpetual War". I wonder if Clinton and Bush learned that at Oxford and Yale?

[rdavis84]

"And since the multinationals are the only ones benefiting from this "free trade", take it out of THEIR pocketbook. I'm tired of subsidizing the CEOs and the Board of Directors, along with at least half of the rest of the world."

Jorge has opined on THAT little matter recently ----

"We've got pockets of persistent poverty in our society, which I refuse to declare defeat — I mean, I refuse to allow them to continue on. And so one of the things that we're trying to do is to encourage a faith-based initiative to spread its wings all across America, to be able to capture this great compassionate spirit." —George W. Bush, O'Fallon, Mo., Mar. 18, 2002

There, see? We take care of our poor thru our churches, the FedGov will take care of the rest of the World with THEIR money !!! .............. it IS their money, right?

[sinkspur]

Sounds familiar -- "Perpetual War". I wonder if Clinton and Bush learned that at Oxford and Yale?

You peaceniks forget that we were ATTACKED on 9/11.

Sheesh!