THE G-20 IN PITTSBURGH
by Tom Over 9-23-09
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On Tuesday, Sept 22, activists from Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh and other cities held a mock funeral procession to demand better policies for addressing the AIDS pandemic, a day ahead of the arrival of delegates for the G-20.
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The approximately 50 participants in the New Orleans-style funeral march drew a mix of interest, irritation, and amusement from onlookers in the business district of downtown Pittsburgh.
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At the head of the funeral march where pallbearers carried a cardboard coffin, a man shouted into a microphone while someone else carried a portable amplifier, “when people with AIDS are under attack, what do we do ?” and marchers shouted in unison, “fight back!”
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Amidst the early afternoon bustle of an weekday, the demonstrators repeated this call-and-answer and similar chants as the funeral march made its way around the perimeter of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the site of the G-20 Summit later this week.
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Erica Goldberg works with ACT UP Philadelphia. She said global health is not on the agenda of the G-20 Summit.
“One of the things that some of the G-20 nations have promised us is funding for the global fund to fight, TB, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. This is all really important, especially if we want to meet the United Nations’ Millennium goal of eradicating these diseases by 2015. As of right now, this won’t be met. We have to hold our leaders accountable. They are the ones making decisions for the poorer countries,” Goldberg said.
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She commented on the timing of the demonstration. “We wanted this to be the first thing they (the G-20 delegates) see. They’re coming here tomorrow. We’re holding them accountable. This needs to be on the agenda.”
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She said AIDS activists chose Sept 22, two days before the official start of the G-20 Summit, and one day before the arrival of the delegates, so as to not have to compete with other protests. Also, she said the AIDS activists figured there would be less of a chance of conflict with police if they staged their protest earlier in the week.
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“We hope that this will hit the papers tomorrow, that it’s the first thing they see when they walk in, that they have this on their conscience and know we’re not going away,” Goldberg said. She urges people to contact legislators about supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
“President Obama, as much as I love him, went back on his promise to fulfill the funding,” Goldberg said.
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She commented on how drug companies factor into all of this. “ Medication does not need to be this expensive. They can definitely lower their prices. We have big drug interests lobbying to prevent AIDS medication from getting” to developing nations.
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Goldberg said debt cancellation for developing nations is a factor that comes into play.
“When you don’t cancel debts of nations and they have to pay back loans to the IMF and the World Bank, they won’t have the funds necessary for getting AIDS medication, or they might get the medication but can’t pay the health professional because of their debt.
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She said vested interested motivated by huge profits stand in the way of doing a better job of addressing tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. “We have the power, the ability, and the medication.”
World News
Tortilla producers announced an increase in the price of tortillas of
between 12.5% and 37.5%. Tortillas provide about 40% of the calories in a
typical campesino diet. Tortilla producers blamed the price increases on
middlemen who "change the price when they like." The price of tortillas is
expected to rise to between 4 and 5.5 pesos per kilo. Since the NAFTA
accords took affect in 1994, Mexico has gone from a net exporter of corn, the
raw material for tortillas, to a net importer of highly subsidized corn from
the US. Last year, Mexico imported 3 million tons of corn at a cost of
US$2.85 million. As part of NAFTA, Mexico agreed to remove consumer
subsidies, including subsidies for tortillas, and the price of this Mexican
staple more than tripled before the recent announcement of increases.
The world economy is close to recession and developing nations will suffer
the most severe impact, according to yearly prognostications published by
the World Bank. The GNP of developing nations will grow by 2.9% this year,
but only 1.1% in 2002, according to the report. If China, with annual
growth approaching 10%, is removed from the mix, the developing world may be
in recession in 2002. The report noted that "what makes this situation
particularly risky is that, for the first time since 1982, the US, Europe
and Japan are registering deceleration at the same time." The World Bank
prescribed the same old medicine - increased "free" trade. The world
economy grew by 4.5% in the 1970s, before free trade policies took hold,
then grew by 3.5% in the 1980s and 2.5% in the 1990s, after the free trade
model was in full bloom.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Mexico predicted that steep declines in the
industrial and service sectors would result in increased unemployment next
year. Bancomer predicted a 3.5% decrease in industrial exports to the US
this year. Manufacturing and services account for 90% of the Gross National
Product of Mexico.
On 28 June 1991, the Yugoslavian Federation fell off the wall. The
Humpty-Dumpty of nations shattered into pieces, and years of civil war and
domestic conflict blighted the now-independent countries of Slovenia,
Croatia and Bosnia. As the decade of the 1990?s waned, the Americans and
their NATO allies helped in the continued destruction of Yugoslavia by
assisting an ethnic Albanian minority to claim land and independence from
what remained of Tito?s Cold War creation.
The Gulf War was still being celebrated during the final days of June 1991. Few people, especially Americans, paid any attention to Yugoslavia. Your correspondent was among the ignorant, reporting on the events in the Middle East and ignoring the crisis brewing in the Balkans until a fateful train ride on 28 June 1991.
The International Train
The Gulf War was still being celebrated during the final days of June 1991. Few people, especially Americans, paid any attention to Yugoslavia. Your correspondent was among the ignorant, reporting on the events in the Middle East and ignoring the crisis brewing in the Balkans until a fateful train ride on 28 June 1991.
The International Train
Written by Stephen Zunes, Middle East EditorForeign Policy In Focus
Editors: Tom Barry (IRC) and Martha Honey (IPS)
Key Points The U.S. effectively coddled Husseins dictatorial regime during the 1980s with economic and military aid, likely emboldening the invasion of Kuwait. The 1991 Gulf War forced the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and led to an ongoing U.S. military presence in the region. Certain provisions of the cease-fire agreement, severe economic sanctions and ongoing military operations, have limited Iraqi sovereignty and have created a severe humanitarian crisis.
Key Points The U.S. effectively coddled Husseins dictatorial regime during the 1980s with economic and military aid, likely emboldening the invasion of Kuwait. The 1991 Gulf War forced the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and led to an ongoing U.S. military presence in the region. Certain provisions of the cease-fire agreement, severe economic sanctions and ongoing military operations, have limited Iraqi sovereignty and have created a severe humanitarian crisis.
I had been told that flying to Tel Aviv was like flying to no other place in the world. This turned out to be correct; before even allowed to my gate I was extensively questioned, (including a few inexplicable questions, like “What is alchemy?”) and searched. Fortunately, my answers were satisfactory enough to get me on the plane.
I was going to Israel as a member of a small delegation to visit Christian Peacemaker Teams, a small group of committed Christians who are, somewhat quixotically perhaps, trying to help improve the situation in the Middle East through their simple non-violent presence. They are based in Hebron, a large city located south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. Hebron is one of the tensest locations in the ongoing conflict, with plenty of extremists on both sides, and I had been warned that I would be going into something very much like a war zone. Of course, all the literature I had read was insufficient preparation for what I was going to see.
You might not see things yet on the surface, but underground, it’s already on fire.
- Indonesian writer Y.B. Mangunwijaya
The surface reports of the recent Quebec City trade talks belie their real import. The mainstream media reported on the heads of state, the official pronouncements, free trade as if it were. The U.S. president declared the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is about “liberty and democracy.” We saw images of the police fighting protesters, the tear gas, and the fence “protecting” those gathered to negotiate an agreement.
Nowhere in the mainstream media did we read substantive stuff of the drama. No one mentioned the power being wrested from sovereign states, giving corporations the right to sue governments when health or safety or environmental policies limit their capacity to make profits. Nowhere was there debate about the proposed expansion of corporate power to challenge governments’ “monopoly” on public services. Nowhere was there a call to accountability for the fact that under NAFTA the U.S. has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, while Mexican workers’ wages have fallen even lower than pre-NAFTA earnings.
Trade ministers from 34 Western Hemisphere countries will meet in Quebec City April 18-22 for essential negotiations on a new international trade agreement, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA. This particular meeting marks the first formal gathering of the ministers, who have been meeting since 1998 with executive branch trade representatives and corporation representatives in nine working groups. Originally the target date for ratification was 2005, but according to a story aired on Marketplace, a public radio program, on 3/30/01, the intent of negotiators now is to have the basic outline of the agreement in place by the Quebec summit and to implement the agreement by 2003. Congress will have authority to ratify or deny ratification, and that will be citizens’ “formal” chance to impact the outcome.
WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES REGARDING THIS NEGOTIATION?