[News] Latin America Winning 7-0

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Latin America Winning 7-0
http://www.plenglish.com/print.asp?ID={1B0F2CC9-7F88-45E2-A5D3-86EAC3961D1B}&language=EN&user=guest

Havana._ The United States, the European Union 
and the international financial institutions are 
watching their economic order being bashed in 
Latin America, where popular sectors are having 
their demands heard for the first time.

Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and now 
Chile, with the victory of Michelle Bachelet, the 
first woman president in that southern country´s 
history, lead the silent (for the mainstream 
media) revolution taking place in the continent.

Already Brazil and Argentina have cut their ties 
with the International Monetary Fund by paying 
their outstanding debts with the institution, 
while announcing their intention of doing so with 
official creditors represented in the Paris Club.

President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela has made great 
strides in uniting the continent by offering the 
region a free trade alternative that really 
works, which takes into account the differences 
in development levels of each nation.

Part of the Bolivarian Alternative of the 
Americas (ALBA in Spanish) is initiatives in the 
energy sector that are already alive and working.

PetroCaribe, PetroSur and PetroAndina will lead 
later on to the creation of PetroAmerica, 
designed to achieve independence and 
sustainability in the region´s energy sector.

Also in public health and education, continental 
programs are underway to address urgent problems 
in the region, among them illiteracy and eye surgery.

Analysts in the United States are acknowledging 
the change. For one, John Perkins, author of 
“Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” says most 
Americans know that a transit strike crippled New 
York City, but few are aware that seven South 
American countries, representing 80 per cent of 
the continent´s population, have recently elected 
presidents with anti-American sentiments.

In Ecuador, the president was thrown out of 
office by a popular grass-roots uprising when he 
capitulated to economic threats and bribes, and 
went against his campaign promises to force US 
oil companies to pay more for the Ecuadorian oil they extracted.

During the past year, points Perkins, a rising 
tide of people throughout the world has been 
rebelling against policies they see as unjust. 
This has occurred not only in Africa, Asia, 
Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, but 
also in the United States, where workers resent 
corporations and their executives for receiving high tax breaks.

According to this man, once employed by the US 
Treasury Department to submit developing 
economies to bribes and political pressure, 
transnational corporations have taken control of 
much of the production and trade in developing countries.

For example, 40 percent of the world´s coffee is 
traded by just four companies, while the top 30 
supermarket chains control almost one-third of worldwide grocery sales.

A trade surplus of one billion dollars for 
developing countries in the 1970s turned into an 11 billion deficit by 2001.

The income ratio difference between wealthy and 
poor countries widened from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 
to 1 in 1995. Another astonishing fact is that of 
the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are 
corporations, of which 47 are US-based.

The gap also gets wider inside industrialized 
nations. Slaves before the US Civil War received 
room and board, while wages paid currently by the 
sweatshops that serve many US industries do not cover the most basic needs.

The number of poor in the US has increased by 5 million in the last four years.

Unrest throughout the planet is the harbinger of 
the difficulties that will haunt future 
generations, unless reason prevails. All people, 
and not just those at the top, have the right to justice and dignity.

Voters throughout South America have warned that 
people and nature´s interests must be taken into 
account if the human race is to survive.

ef/mf



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