The 15th Conference of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP15) in December was marked by a farcical, undemocratic process whereby a handful of rich countries sought to impose a deal worked out in secret. That deal not only failed to meet the needs of humanity as dictated by science, but was actually a step backwards from already existing UN agreements.
However, it was also marked by powerful resistance, from inside and outside the summit. African delegates chanted "We will not die quietly", while representatives from small island states said the policies being pushed by the rich countries would condemn their nations to disappear.
Some of the most significant interventions came from representatives of the anti-imperialist bloc in Latin America, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).
Representatives from five ALBA nations, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua, acted as a bloc. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales captured the world's attention — repeatedly insisting that capitalism was incompatible with serious action to tackle climate change.
The article below was written by Chavez on December 22. It has been translated by Kiraz Janicke and is abridged from Links, international journal of socialist renewal. More speeches, interviews and articles on the intervention by ALBA nations can be found at Links
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Copenhagen was the scene of a historic battle. Better said, in the beautiful, snowy capital of Denmark, a battle began that did not end on December 18. I reiterate: Copenhagen was only the beginning of a decisive battle for the salvation of the planet.
Brazilian Leonardo Boff, a great liberation theologian and one of the most authoritative voices on environmental issues, in a key article, entitled "What is at stake in Copenhagen?", wrote these words full of insight and courage: What can we expect from Copenhagen? At least this simple confession: We cannot continue like this.
And a simple proposition: Let's change course.
And for that reason we went to Copenhagen to battle for a change of course on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of ALBA, in defence of the cause of humanity and to speak, in the worlds of Bolivian President Evo Morales, in defence of the rights of Pachamama, Mother Earth.
Evo, who together with yours truly had the responsibility to be a spokesperson for ALBA, wisely said: This debate is about whether we are going to live or die.
Copenhagen allowed us to gauge the fibre we are made of, where hope lies and what we can do to establish the equilibrium that can never be achieved within the capitalist world system.
Before our arrival in Copenhagen, the African bloc, backed by the Group of 77 (grouping of Third World nations), denounced the fact that rich countries were ignoring the Kyoto Protocol.
This is the only existing international instrument to fight global warming, that penalises industrialised states and protects developing countries.
It is necessary to recognise that the battle had already begun in the streets of Copenhagen, with the youth at the forefront protesting and proposing.
I could see and feel the historic power of another world that for the youth is not only possible but absolutely necessary.
In Copenhagen, from the beginning, the cards were on the table for all to see. On the one hand, the cards of brutal meanness and stupidity of capitalism, which did not budge in defence of its logic.
The logic of capital leaves only death and destruction in its wake at an increasingly rapid pace.
On the other hand, the cards of the peoples demanding human dignity, the salvation of the planet and for a radical change of a world system that has brought us to the brink of unprecedented ecological and social catastrophe.
On one side, the "civilised ones" — who have forgotten about human beings, and opted blindly for increasingly insatiable desires.
On the other, the "barbarians" who remain committed to fighting for radically changing the logic, who believe you can maximise human welfare and minimise environmental and ecological impacts.
Who insist it is impossible to defend human rights if we don't also defend the rights of Mother Earth, as Comrade Evo said. Who act with determination to leave a planet and future for our descendants.
I will not tire of repeating to the four winds: the only possible and viable alternative is socialism.
I said it in each of my speeches to all the world representatives gathered in Copenhagen, the world's most important event in the last 200 years. There is no other way if we want to stop this heartless and debased competition that promises total annihilation.
Why are the "civilised ones" so afraid of a project that aspires to build shared happiness? They are afraid, let's be honest, because shared happiness does not generate profit.
Hence the crystal clarity of that great slogan of the Copenhagen street protests that spoke for millions: "If the climate was a bank, they would have saved it already."
The "civilised ones" do not take the necessary measures because it would oblige them to reverse their voracious pattern of life, marked by selfish comfort and that does not touch their cold hearts, which beat only to the rhythm of money.
That's why the [US] Empire arrived late on December 18, to offer crumbs via blackmail, and through this, wash away the guilt marked on its face.
In front of this strategy of buying support, you could hear throughout Denmark the clear and courageous voice of Vandana Shiva, the Indian thinker, saying a great truth: "I think it is time for the US to stop seeing itself as a donor and begin to recognise itself as polluter: a polluter must pay compensation for damages and must it pay its ecological debt.
"It is not charity. This is justice."
I must say: in Copenhagen the "Obama illusion" was definitively destroyed. The US president was confirmed as head of the empire.
The summit ended without a democratically agreed accord.
An accord was not possible in Copenhagen due to the lack of political will of the rich countries: the powerful of this world, the hyper-developed, they do not want to change their patterns of production and consumption, which are as senseless as suicide.
They appear to be saying with their conduct: "The world can go to hell if it dares to threaten my privilege and my lifestyle." That is the hard truth that they do not want to hear from those who act under the historical imperative to change course.
Copenhagen is not the end, but a beginning. The doors have been opened for a universal debate on how to save the planet.
The battle continues.