Klaus Hart Brasilientexte

THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN ME or THE FAILURE OF THE G-20


My name is misery. I affect the lives of almost 1.5 billion people today, particularly malnourished children who are liable to have an early death.

„Die Bloggerin Yoani und ihre Widersprüche“: http://www.hart-brasilientexte.de/2009/12/05/3802/

 
I had hoped that at the G-20 meeting in London early in April 2009 the 20 major economies on the planet would remember me. Today due to the indifference of those who govern the world, I threaten the majority of the population in Africa whose situation is worsened due to almost 25 million people being contaminated by HIV. To a lesser degree I am also present in Asia and Latin America.

Clearly I am to be found in Brazil in the Vale do Jequitinhonha in Minas Gerais on the border between Alagoas and Pernambuco, in the interior of Maranháo and in Pará, in indigenous tribes, amongst the black population of the quilombos (Afro Brazilian communities) and perversely, in the shantytowns which surround large cities.

I had hoped that the G-20, when faced with the world financial crisis, would set aside resources to reduce my incidence in the world. According to the UN™s Millennium Goals, a mere US$500 billion would suffice to eradicate the chronic hunger which today afflicts 950 million people.

The leaders of the G-20 suffer from hyperopia which is the opposite of myopia: they can hardly see from close up. Instead of arguing about how to free the world of my presence, they decided to set aside US$1.1 trillion to ”save the market i.e. the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the IDB (Interamerican Development Bank), the World Bank and large businesses and banks – responsible for the crisis.

Neo liberal capitalism shot itself in the foot. Now it appeals to public coffers to save the ”poor millionaires who usually transform the injection of resources into astronomical bonuses for the executives of companies who are in danger of bankruptcy.

What a disappointment the G-20 was! I thought they would put an end to offshore accounts. Instead of closing down the brothel they decided to publish the names of its clients. Long live the empire of the figurehead! There must be people already opening companies capable of dividing the money from the narcotics trade and from corruption into more palatable portions.

Why did the G-20 not forbid governments, businesses and individuals from holding offshore assets or from associating themselves with offshore institutions?  The answer is obvious: it left the fox holding the key to the door of the chicken coop¦

Several European countries are real Edens for devious financing: Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, City of London etc. Who can guarantee that these fiefdoms of illicit wealth (avoiding paying taxes in their countries of origin), will break the bank confidentiality of its clients, as required by the G-20?

Why hand over a fortune like the US$1.1 trillion to the IMF of unhappy memory? We all know that it is an institution tied to the White House and to US foreign policy, which pokes its nose into the finances of countries who borrowed money from it, imposes economic measures which favour privatizations, increases social inequality and encourages businesses and banks to become oligopolies, etc.      

In short: the tax payers, i.e. the people, are forcibly called to channel fortunes in order to try and calm the financial crisis of the world™s bosses who fear that, with no credit, the emerging countries will stop buying products manufactured in the rich nations thereby increasing unemployment, following the example of Ecuador which decreed a moratorium while the crisis lasts.

Before thinking of contributing US$10 billion towards a collection in favour of the IMF, Brazil should cure itself of hyperopia and look at me a little more closely: with that amount of money I could be progressively eradicated in our country and there would be more education, less urban violence and therefore more professional training with less unemployment.

*Frei Betto is a writer, author of ”Calendário do Poder (Calendar of Power) (Rocco).

About the autor

He is a Brazilian Dominican with an international reputation as a liberation theologian.
Within Brazil he is equally famous as a writer, with over 52 books to his name. In 1985 he won Brazil™s most important literary prize, the Jabuti, and was elected Intellectual of the Year by the members of the Brazilian Writers™ Union.

Frei Betto has always been active in Brazilian social movements, and has been an adviser to the Church™s ministry to workers in Sáo Paulo™s industrial belt, to the Church base communities, and to the Landless Rural Workers™ Movement (MST).

In 2003-2004, he was Special Adviser to President Lula and Coordinator of Social Mobilisation for the Brazilian Government™s Zero Hunger programme.