The UN COP15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen has dramatically revealed a growing divide between the poor and rich countries, whose development has depended on exploitation of the Third World and the environment.
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It is has become clear that First World leaders are unwilling to commit to what current science indicates we need to do to avoid extremely damaging climate change. Representatives of the poor countries have become increasingly angry and vocal at their marginalisation by the rich governments.
"Can a finite Earth support an infinite project? The thesis of capitalism, infinite development, is a destructive pattern, let’s face it. How long are we going to tolerate the current international economic order and prevailing market mechanisms? How long are we going to allow huge epidemics like HIV/AIDS to ravage entire populations? How long are we going to allow the hungry to not eat or to be able to feed their own children? How long are we going to allow millions of children to die from curable diseases? How long will we allow armed conflicts to massacre millions of innocent human beings in order for the powerful to seize the resources of other peoples?" — Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, speaking at COP15, December 16, 2009
The article below is a December 17 column by former Cuban president Fidel Castro
The press conference by Ecuador’s delgation to the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen can be viewed here. Also, the join press conference of representatives nations from the Latin American anti-impieralist bloc, the Boliviarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) can be veiwed here. Representatives from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua took part.
As I write, there are two Copenhagens. One is the Copenhagen swamped with 100,000 protesters demanding climate justice, social justice, solidarity and community before corporate profit.
A 28-year-old Tasmanian who’s never been to El Salvador or experienced civil war, I interviewed veteran Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) activist David Rodriguez.
“The Copenhagen climate summit was pretty much summed up in the high-level segment yesterday when [Australian climate minister] Penny Wong's speech was interrupted by whistles and chanting and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez got a standing ovation”, Lenore Taylor wrote in the December 17 Australian.
Below is the transcript from US radio show Democracy Now! of Bolivian President Evo Morales’s December 16 speech to the United Nations climate change summit at Copenhagen.
The Australian-Venezuela Solidarity Brigade organised its ninth solidarity brigade to Venezuela from December 1-9. Brigade coordinator Federico Fuentes, who works in the Green Left Weekly Caracas bureau, explains the inspiring experience of brigade participants. The AVSN is organising two brigades in 2010,further brigades, the first being from April 24-May 2, (registrations close February 1). For more information, or to register, visit www.venezuelasolidarity.org.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Australia in support of serious action against climate change.
A large number of demonstrations against corruption have been sweeping Indonesia protesting allegations that a US$600 million government bailout was given to Century Bank on condition that some of the money be used to fund President Yudhoyono’s re-election campaign.
Just over a week into the December 7-18 United Nations climate change conference at Copenhagen (COP15) talks, thousands of people from around the world have already participated in what is being billed as the “people’s climate summit”, Klimaforum09, taking place in the Danish capital.
This article is reprinted from the Klimaforum website.
One hundred thousand protesters braved near freezing temperatures and took over the Danish capital, Copenhagen, on December 12 to crank up the heat on world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit (COP15) and demand climate justice.
The article below was the December 9 “reflections” column by former Cuban president Fidel Castro.
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