Posted on 03/16/2002 12:47:45 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) - After years of squabbling and finger-pointing, leaders from both rich and poor nations have agreed to sit down Monday for a serious talk about how to end poverty.
The meeting of business and government leaders - including President Bush - is aimed at improving the lives of more than 1 billion people living on less than $1 a day. Cuban President Fidel Castro is expected to be among the attendees.
The International Conference on Financing for Development has been a longtime goal of poor nations, and its themes - how to prevent crippling financial crashes and manage debt in the developing world - have been pushed by anti-globalization protesters worldwide.
Still, two days before the summit officially kicks off, there were already signs of the difficulties ahead.
After both the European Union and the United States promised billions more in aid earlier this week, European anti-globalization activists in Monterrey called the move "cosmetic and inadequate."
On Saturday, wrapping up a three-day side forum on sustainable development, activists called for a complete overhaul of the international finance system. They said developing countries should have more control over their own economies and that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank should stop dictating conditions for aid.
"At the Monterrey summit they should come up with concrete promises," activist Alejandro Villamar said at a news conference.
Government leaders, however, were expected to talk about how to make the current system of economic development better, not how to redesign it completely. And unlike past summits that have often pitted poor nations against rich leaders, they already have agreed on a basic platform.
The document urges developed countries to spend 0.7 percent of their gross national product to help poor nations - something the European Union has agreed to work toward. The gross national product is the value of all goods and services produced by a country.
Officials also will be talking about how to avoid corruption, prevent financial collapses and deal with debt problems in the developing world, as well as find ways to encourage business leaders to invest in poor nations.
The meeting is unprecedented in that it will bring together top world leaders from both rich and poor nations as well as business leaders and international lenders like the World Bank and the IMF.
"This is the most attention that has been given to economic development issues since the Cold War," U.N. spokesman Tim Wall said.
The World Bank has proposed that wealthy nations double their spending on foreign aid to $100 billion a year in order to cut extreme poverty in half by the internationally agreed target date of 2015.
Bush says he believes developing nations that "walk the hard road" should receive grants, rather than loans they have to pay back. The United States also argues that increasing foreign aid isn't the only answer to reducing poverty.
"You can't buy successful development," said Lex Rieffel, a development finance expert at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
Anti-globalization activists are already criticizing leaders for being too focused on numbers, not the day-to-day needs of the poor.
"They are excellent economists who can increase GNP and talk about economic policies. But the figures don't reflect the reality," said Susana Cruickshank, a Mexico City activist taking part in a side meeting of non-governmental organizations. "In the competitive business model, someone always loses."
Protests and marches are scheduled to begin this weekend, and soldiers are being moved into this industrial city of 4 million people.
For many poor, it remained unclear what tangible effects the summit would have.
On the quiet outskirts of Monterrey, where Pablo Vega's cinderblock home looks across the scrubby desert to the sparkling lights of the city, the basket seller said he had heard of the impending meeting.
"Can I talk to Bush?" he asked. "There's no way I can talk to him directly? I'd ask him for a little bit of help."
"They are excellent economists who can increase GNP and talk about economic policies. But the figures don't reflect the reality," said Susana Cruickshank, a Mexico City activist taking part in a side meeting of non-governmental organizations. "In the competitive business model, someone always loses."
Don't you just love this? The answer to them must be communism. Don't they know yet, that doesn't work?
President Bush made it clear ahead of this Conference, aid will be tied to just and responsible government.
U.S. planning to keep corrupt Latin American officials out-- ''People will understand that we are serious about going after government corruption,'' he added. ``There is a very selfish reason for this: We end up paying for the bill when these people steal the money, because we have to provide aid, or accept the citizens as refugees or as migrants.''
They seem to have forgotten the golden rule: the one with the gold makes the rules! Nobody is forcing them to accept aid.
Great idea. Just give them money in return for nothing whatever. It's not as if they plan on paying it back or anything.
Can this policy be applied to my local bank? I would like some "aid" but no "conditions". My needs are modest; a few million dollars with no strings attached would do nicely.
--Boris
P.S. Better to abolish both the IMF and the World Bank.
That reminds me of Fidel Castro telling us he will "buy" from us if we drop the restrictions on financing sales.
The business community and their mouthpieces in D.C. are all hot to trot on this.
President Bush said he will not trade with a tyrant. Don't be misled, President Bush is not soft on Cuba.
President Bush also said Haiti needs to clean up it's act or no aid. Haiti must end it's crisis to get aid.
That is exactly the sentiment President Bush has been setting out ahead of this meeting.
Water finds its own level. The perfect example of this is South Africa. I rest my case.
This is photo-op tail-chasing. More and expensive ( because you and I are paying for it ) political BS with republicans and the democrats in a fight to the finish, trying to see who can spend our money the fastest. For what? You tell me.
It can't be ended. Some people always do have to have more than others.
Want to minimize poverty?....try capitalism. Even the poor in a capitalist nation have food, shelter, and clothing...not to mention color tv, cable, and cell phones.
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