A Cry in the Heart of the Empire

2000-10-20 00:00:00

"We, the excluded of the Americas, cry out from the bottom of our hearts in
protest against the inequality and injustice of the world in which we live.
We are all passengers on the same ship, the planet Earth. Nonetheless,
just as on the sailing ships of the colonizers and our transatlantic
airplanes today, we journey in unequal conditions. A minority traveling
first-class enjoys all the privileges of superfluous consumption, with
antisocial attitudes, and environmental depredation. This minority has
access to sophisticated medicine, education, culture, and to the benefits
of the latest technology. Down in the unwholesome hold, the majority of
the world's population is crowded together, sunken in hunger, disease,
violence, and exploitation." (Manifesto of the Cry of the Excluded)

Around the theme of "For Work, Justice, and Life," the Hemispheric Cry of
the Excluded is active in the countries of Latin America, the North, and
the Caribbean. In one of its strongest moments, various demonstrations
were held in New York, a fruit of the association among the Cry, the
World Women's March, Jubilee 2000, and the Coalition of Undocumented
Immigrants.

On October 12th, with the participation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo
Pérez Esquivel, Methodist bishop Federico Pagura (both from Argentina),
Frei Betto (from Brazil), leaders of the Brazilian Landless Workers
Movement, indigenous people from Ecuador and Mexico, human rights
activists from the Dominican Republic, Undocumented Immigrants from the
US, and representatives from Haiti and Chile, various activities were
carried out as part of the Cry.

The Cry's delegation had an audience with the United Nations Development
Program, UNDP, a press conference, an audience with the secretary of
Koffi Annan, Secretary General of the UN, and an International Forum at
the end of the day. The Cry's activities joined with those of the March
of Undocumented Immigrants which took place on the 14th, and with the
World Women's March on October 17th.

The reality which the Cry demonstrated

It was a cry against globalization which favors a few rich countries to
the detriment of the poor countries. Proof of this is that the seven G-7
member countries retain 18 billion dollars of the world's GDP, while the
other 180 countries have barely 7 billion.

The Cry also condemned the fact that the three richest American citizens,
Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Warren Buffett, have a combined fortune
superior to the GDP of the 42 poorest nations, in which 600 million
people live. The consequence of all of this concentration of wealth is
an increase in poverty. In Latin America and the Caribbean there are 224
million poor people, and 90 million living in extreme poverty. For this
reason, the Cry spoke out against the policies of the International
Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and the World Bank,
organizations which determine the economic policy of our countries.

The Cry also condemned the dependence created by the problem of the
External Debt. After the Second World War, Latin America did not have
debts, but now owes more than a trillion dollars. It has the highest per
capita debt in the world. The Cry denounced the money spent on the arms
race, which annually consumes a sum of $800 billion. And of course, it
condemned the US interference in Latin America by means of Plan Colombia,
which in the name of combatting the drug trade seeks strategic control of
the Amazon's natural resources, violating the sovereignty of the
Colombian people and putting at risk the social and political security of
the countries involved.

Declarations

In his presentations, Pérez Esquivel pointed out: we didn't come here to
weep, but to resist and to reclaim our rights. We are moving from State
terrorism (dictatorship) toward an economic terrorism, which brings
hunger and wretchedness. The external debt is the principal agent of
this terrorism. The cry says enough! to all this and should be heard.
According to it, there are no third world countries; rather, we are a
single but poorly distributed world, and the transfer of capital to
wealthy countries means poverty and wretchedness for the people of Latin
America and the Caribbean.

The representative of the Cry of the Excluded of Brazil, Gilmar Mauro of
the Landless Workers Movement, stated that no matter how many walls are
constructed, migrants will continue to arrive here; we call on everyone
to join in the Cry so that together we can construct a world of justice
and peace. It is time to put an end to the external debt.

In his presentation, Frei Betto said that in Latin America, democracy is
that in which the people do not participate. In the virtual era, there
is nothing more virtual than democracy in our countries. According to
him, the war against poverty is over, and the poor were the ones who
lost.

For the Methodist Bishop Emeritus Federico Pagura, the churches have a
task, the task of contributing together to ending misery.

The Cry's Proposals

In general terms, the Cry called for agricultural reform; changes in
economic policies with the goal of eliminating unemployment and
exclusion; demarcation and protection of indigenous lands; respect for
the environment; an end to the economic and cultural dependence of our
peoples and the cancellation of our external debts, in the spirit of the
Jubilee year announced by Pope John Paul II.

As far as concrete proposals are concerned, the following stood out:

a) We demand that political decisions rest in the hands of national
governments, and not be determined by the WTO, the IMF, and the World
Bank;
b) We urge the developed countries to fulfill their promise of directing
0.7% of their GDP toward development aid;
c) We demand the cancellation of the Southern countries' international
debt, because it has already been paid several times over. The
resources should be directed toward sustainable development, under the
sovereign, democratic supervision of the countries themselves.
d) We support the initiative to establish taxes on international
financial transactions, with the proceeds going towards fighting
poverty;
e) We urge governments to ratify the International Convention on
Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families.

The denunciations and proposals which the delegation presented to the
United Nations can be seen in their entirety at: Open Letter
From the Cry to the United Nations".

Father Luiz Bassegio,
Secretary of the Continental Cry of the Excluded