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<h1><font size=4><b>An Insider's Report from the ALBA
Delegation</b></font></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5042" eudora="autourl">
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5042<br><br>
</a>December 29th 2009, by Ron Ridenour - Tlaxcala <br><br>
December 23, 2009 -- “Nobel War Prize winner walked in and out of a
secret door, and that is the way capitalism and the United States Empire
will end up leaving the planet, through a secret back door.” So spoke
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez from the plenary podium on the last
afternoon, December 18, of the 12-day long Copenhagen climate conference
(COP15).<br><br>
“While the conference was a failure, it, at least, led to more
consciousness of what the problem is for all of us. Now starts a new
stage of the struggle for the salvation of humanity, and this is through
socialism. Our problem is not just about climate, but about poverty,
misery, unnecessary child deaths, discrimination and racismall related
to capitalism”, Chavez said at the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of
Latin America (ALBA) press conference held at the Bella Centre
immediately following Chavez’ last remarks at the plenary.<br><br>
Bolivia's President Evo Morales followed Chavez’ remarks by
saying:<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>Barack Obama said a while ago -- the only delegate to walk in and out
of the stage from a concealed door -- that he came here not for more
words but for action. Well, then you should act by using the money you
are spending for wars against the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq, for
militarising Colombia with seven military bases to save lives, to save
the planet our Mother Earth.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>Both presidents, the only heads of state representing eight of the
nine ALBA countries present at COP15,[1] denounced the failure of the
Copenhagen conference in both form and content.<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>Chavez: “There are no documents presented for consultation by all.
The responsibility is a lack of political will by a few rich countries,
including the host Denmark, headed by the US Empire.”<br><br>
</i>
<dd>Morales: “There is profound difference between their document [26
rich countries drew up a so-called `Copenhagen Accord'][2] and the
peoples fighting for humanity and the planet. This group of friends led
by Obama accept that temperatures can increase by 2 degrees Celsius by
2020. This will end the existence of many island states; it will end our
snow-capped mountains. And Obama only seeks to reduce gas emissions by
50% in 2050. But we want and need 90 to 100% reduction, in order to save
the planet. Then they speak of spending crumbs for mitigation and
adaptation. The third theme, which they are only just now debating, is
how to set up a system of controls for monitoring agreements and what
sanctions there will be if this is not done. That is why we want an
International Climate Justice Tribunal that can sanction failure to
comply with agreements, so that we can govern based on balance and
achieve real solutions.”<br><br>
</i>
</dl>President Morales was referring to one of the five questions -- to
be answered yes or no-- that he proposes for a global referendum on
climate change. The other four are:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>1. Do you agree with re-establishing harmony with nature, recognising
the rights of Mother Earth?<br><br>
<dd>2. Do you agree with changing this model of over-consumption and
waste that the capitalist system represents?<br><br>
<dd>3. Do you agree that developed countries reduce and re-absorb their
domestic greenhouse gas emissions so that the temperature does not rise
more than 1 degree Celsius?<br><br>
<dd>4.Do you agree with transferring all that is spent on wars to
protecting the planet and allocate a budget for climate change that is
bigger than what is used for defence?<br><br>
</dl>At the press conference, and on various other occasions during the
three days of his attendance, Morales posed the problem and the solution
to it thus: "The rich countries seek to divide the rest of us ... by
offering crumbs of money. Mother Earth can’t be preserved with money
alone. Europe’s food almost entirely depends upon petrol. What happens
when there is no petrol? This dependency on fossil fuel is a threat to
humanity, so we have to change the structures of food. It is a structural
problem of two forms of life: one way of living is the way of
over-consumption and waste, the way of luxury, of egoism and
individualism-capitalism. The other way is vivir bien living well
food enough for all and living in harmony with others and our Mother
Earth, in solidarity and complementarily."<br><br>
At the final press conference -- for which I was one of two media
consultants during this two weeks, along with Nick Buxton -- for the ALBA
countries, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela attended.
Cuba's vice-president Esteben Lazo said that socialism offers greater
protection for the Earth than does capitalism:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>Before our revolution, capitalism had nearly depleted all our
forests. We have focused on replanting and now 20% of the land is covered
by forests. We also educate our school children about ecology, and about
the ALBA network. We are founded on principles of solidarity, of human
rights and nature’s rights.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>Democracy anecdotes<br><br>
</b>Nick and I had rushed to put out a media advisory announcing the
above press conference, about which we were informed only 90 minutes
before that Morales would be attending rather than leaving Copenhagen
earlier that day as he had planned. We wrote it in a blink and passed out
200 fliers. At the appointed time, the press room began to fill with
media and delegates from several countries. Bolivia was the only state,
of which I know, that insisted on allowing anyone to attend our press
conferences, in accordance with Morales' practice of inclusiveness and
transparency. The time allotted was 30 minutes. Morales did not arrive on
time, which he usually does. We heard from a top Bolivian delegate inside
the plenary that Evo had just gotten an opportunity to respond from the
floor to the rich countries' secret document, now leaked. Fifteen minutes
ticked by and he did not arrive. Another phone call informed us that
Chavez would be following Evo and then they were both coming to the media
hall. Oh, no! Chavez never talks briefly. We would lose the conference
time and 100 people present would be disappointed.<br><br>
Use the “dead” time, my experience told me. I asked two Indigenous social
movement delegates if they would take the podium and speak, perhaps about
their movements and the five-point referendum. They agreed. I translated
for them. They spoke of how this very act of taking the podium before
their president’s arrival illustrated how democratic the new
Plurinational State of Bolivia actually is. Social movements work hand in
glove with the government and their president -- reelected less than two
weeks before with a 64% majority.<br><br>
As the activists were speaking, about their movement and the referendum,
in walked presidents Morales and Chavez followed by the Cuban, Ecuadorian
and Nicaraguan leaders. The activists and I calmly walked off the stage
and the leaders took our seats as we nodded to one another.<br><br>
Morales’ entourage of ministers and ambassadors took their seats. They
are known to us as Eugenio, Pablo, Roberto, Ivan, Angélica, David, Rene
and not Your Honorable, Excellency, Minister, Ambassador. When speaking
with or about their presidents, most common people call them Evo and
Chavez.<br><br>
On other occasions -- such as before 3000 persons at the ALBA People's
Meeting held in a sports stadium on December 17, where Morales and Chavez
spoke alongside top leaders from Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua -- the
leaders of the Bolivian and Venezuelan governments thoughtfully thanked
their teams of paid workers and volunteers, and the organisers of
political events. They also praised the activists inside and outside the
Bella Centre conference.<br><br>
They applauded the 100,000 plus demonstrators who mobilised on December
12 -- twice the size of the hitherto largest demonstration ever held in
the Banana Republic of Denmark -- and the 1500 activists arrested
preventatively, nearly none of whom had performed an illegal act. Only
two handfuls were eventually charged with any violation. Several hundreds
had their hands handcuffed behind their backs and were forced to sit on
the cold ground and asphalt for up to five hours before being bussed to
makeshift cage cells. No water, no toilet. This is the treatment a
“democratic” police state can render potential “terrorists” under their
new terror laws, which they deem to be necessary to accompany their
imperialist wars.<br><br>
In addition to these demonstrations, there were smaller ones attended by
hundreds or thousand in several parts of the city everyday. Some were
decidedly opposed to capitalism and its wars. I participated in one in
front of the Yankee Embassy of Murder the day before its president was to
receive the so-called Nobel Peace Prize.<br><br>
Evo Morales <br><br>
</b>Evo Morales, 50, comes from the people’s struggles. He was an amateur
soccer player, a musician, a coco farmer and a union organiser and leader
before entering politics. He is a man of dialogue with his people. I note
one illustration. When he came out of a news conference, the Indian Youth
Climate Network, a group of youth from India, wanted him to hear a song
one of them had written about Bolivia. He stopped to listen to “I wish I
was Bolivian”, sung to the tune of “Homeward Bound” by Simon and
Garfunkel. <br><br>
<dl>
<dd>“Every day they are stalling and they are saying the same old things
again,<br><br>
<dd>But one bright country stands apart,<br><br>
<dd>They’re saying things close to my heart,<br><br>
<dd>They’ve got a plan with hope in hand,<br><br>
<dd>They’re saying c’mon, let’s just start...<br><br>
<dd>Bolivia, I wish I was Bolivian...<br><br>
<dd>Just one degree temperature rise,<br><br>
<dd>300 ppm in the skies,<br><br>
<dd>100 per cent emissions down by two thousand forty,<br><br>
<dd>Does anyone know the price of waiting?<br><br>
<dd>Fighting, hating, procrastinating,<br><br>
<dd>My future stands in front of me,<br><br>
<dd>While people here make history,<br><br>
<dd>I hope and pray that it will be,<br><br>
<dd>What the world’s children wish to see,<br><br>
<dd>Bolivia,<br><br>
<dd>We’ve got to take the boldest steps,<br><br>
<dd>There’s work to do; clean up the mess,<br><br>
<dd>Bolivia”<br><br>
</i>
</dl>The evening before, Morales attended one of the hundreds of side
events organised by people’s movements and NGOs. This one was about the
Indigenous peoples of the Americas. He spoke briefly giving plenty of
time for questions and comments from the floor. Anyone could speak and
there was no formality or nervousness before the president.<br><br>
At one point, Evo Morales said that he couldn't always set in motion all
that we wanted but it would be easier now, given that the Movement
Towards Socialism, the president’s party, had won so overwhelming in the
presidential electoral campaign and also now controls both parliament
houses.<br><br>
“Politics is a science of serving the people. I live to serve the people.
Participating in politics is part of assuring our dignity, our
traditional way of life. It is my duty to take your message to the heads
of state here. If I make a mistake, let me know so that I can rectify
it.<br><br>
“I don't think we'll make progress here. We must organise and mobilise
all the more. Not just climate justice activists, but all of us: workers,
farmers, media people, academics, everybody. That is the
answer.”<br><br>
Following this meeting, several Indigenous people told me that those are
not empty words. “We always speak out in meetings with the president and
we offer criticisms and make demands. He listens.”<br><br>
Niels Boel, a writer for the daily Danish newspaper Information</i> had
one of two dozen bilateral interviews with Evo Morales. He
wrote:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>As the police fought against demonstrators ... the world’s greatest
activist, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, got off with being chased by
the press.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>While he did not go to jail this time, the world's first Indigenous
president knows what prison and torture are all about. He was so treated
under previous Bolivian presidents doing capitalism’s bidding. As Boel
wrote:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>Solutions for Morales come only from people's organizations, which
can overcome capitalism.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>And that is why I say this conference was a smashing success.
Especially because of Morales and Chavez’ anti-capitalist dialogue in
those few days, and the many thousands carrying picket signs displayed
during the massive march that damned the greedy economic system
("Change the system, not the climate"), capitalism is now on
the agenda of many more people than in a long time. Even some of the mass
media could not avoid headlining this message from the two “bad
boys”.<br><br>
“I have heard many debates in the UN where presidents condemn climate
change but they never say --cowardly enough -- what causes it. We say
clearly that it is caused by capitalism”, Morales said in
closing.<br><br>
[Ron Ridenour worked with the ALBA countries' delegation at the
Copenhagen climate talks. He has written widely on Latin America and
other political developments. His website is at
<a href="http://www.ronridenour.com/">http://www.ronridenour.com</a>
[1].]<br><br>
Notes<br><br>
</b>1. ALBA is comprised of: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba,
Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras (which was not present given the illegal coup
d´état against the legitimate President Manuel Zelaya), Nicaragua, St.
Vincent and Grenadines, and Venezuela.<br><br>
2. This exclusive accord, rejected by the other nations, is a non-binding
political agreement setting an objective for them to keep a maximum rise
in temperature by 2 degrees Celsius; a voluntary commitment to publicise
the amount of each developed country's greenhouse gas emissions and
mitigation action for developing states; short-term funding for
development countries up to 2012 of $30 billion annually, to increase to
$100 billion annually between 2013 and 2020. (The US alone is spending
$1.5 trillion dollars to rescue the banks responsible for the financial
and economic global crisis.) These 26 countries suggest that there be
another climate conference in Mexico in a year's time.<br><br>
Post-note:</b> Some institute calculated that the amount of carbon
emissions from this two-week ordeal was greater than some of the island
nations exude in a year. One of the wastes during this failed non-summit,
non-climate conference was the amount of paper used by 30,000 delegates
and 3000 journalists and technicians. The official figures published by
the UN even on the first day stated that 8 million sheets of paper were
provided. I guess that Nick and I used 2000 sheets of paper, which we
distributed to let media people know of our news conferences.<br><br>
Links:<br>
</b>[1]
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http://www.ronridenour.com/<br>
</a><hr>
Source URL (retrieved on Dec 30 2009 - 12:20</i>):</b>
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http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5042</a> <br>
License:</b> Published under a Creative Commons license (by-nc-nd). See
creativecommons.org</i> for more information. <br><br>
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