[Scpg] World People's Conference on Climate Change underway, Morales: Save the Planet from Capitalism

[John Calvert]

  "For capitalism, we are merely consumers and a source of labour, and
  we have the right to say capitalism is the enemy of the planet," - Evo
  Morales, President of Bolivia


  World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

Cochabamba, Bolivia, April 19 to 22, 2010

http://pwccc.wordpress.com


  Save the Planet from Capitalism, Morales Says

April 21, 2010 <http://pwccc.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/>

By Franz Chávez

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia, Apr 21, 2010 (IPS) -- Activists meeting at the 
people's conference on climate change in this Bolivian city booed a 
message from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon but cheered at 
host President Evo Morales's chant of "planet or death!"

A football stadium in Tiquipaya, in the suburbs of Cochabamba, was 
inflamed Tuesday with temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius and the 
fervor of around 20,000 environmental activists and delegates from 125 
nations.

But although they were invited, presidents from the region failed to 
show up for the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the 
Rights of Mother Earth, which ends Thursday.

The stadium, ablaze with the multi-coloured traditional garments of 
different Andean and Amazonian native communities and the flags of 
people from different countries around the world that contrasted with 
the cold formality of presidential summits, served as the stage for 
Morales, of Aymara descent, to call for an "inter-continental movement" 
in defence of Mother Earth.

The U.N. secretary-general's message, read out by the head of the 
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia 
Bárcena, on Tuesday, the first day of the people's conference, was 
interrupted by catcalls and whistles from activists in protest against 
the exclusion of grassroots groups from policy-making on climate change.

"We came with all respect to listen to the people, you invited us here. 
If you don't want us to be here we can leave," Bárcena said.

"For capitalism, we are merely consumers and a source of labour, and we 
have the right to say capitalism is the enemy of the planet," Morales 
said, buoyed up by the cheers of the thousands of participants who have 
flocked to the dusty streets of this outlying Cochabamba district that 
is home to around 3,000 people.

"Justice is only possible with solidarity, equality and respect for the 
rights of Mother Earth and for the atmosphere, water and the new model 
of development," he said.

"Capitalism is the chief enemy of humanity, synonymous with inequality 
and destruction of the planet," he said, calling on people to organise 
at the grassroots level to save the planet.

He suggested starting with simple steps like the use of biodegradable 
kitchen utensils like clay plates instead of disposable plastic. He also 
lashed out at transgenic crops and junk food.

Ecuadorean indigenous leader Franklin Columba concurred with Morales, 
saying that reaching a balance with nature was essential to saving 
Pachamama or Mother Earth.

"The Council of Wise Elders says that care and love are needed to keep 
nature clean. That is the true awareness that human beings must 
achieve," he told IPS as the delegates to the conference were enjoying 
Afro-Bolivian and traditional Andean music.

Nicolás Charca, a Quechua Indian from the Canchis province of Peru, 
talked about unifying the movements, and expressed deep concern over 
pollution caused by the oil and mining industries.

But "not only the developed countries are to blame," Mitsu Miura, a 
Japanese researcher into Andean cultures, told IPS in a friendly tone. 
"We would be closing our eyes if we only held the industrialised 
countries responsible."

Linda Velarde from New Mexico in the southwestern United States, who has 
been an indigenous rights activist for 40 years, challenged participants 
to take action now and stop consuming products that pollute.

She said she does not agree with the idea of eliminating capitalism, and 
pointed out that not everyone in the U.S. is a consumerist and that many 
are in favour, for example, of reforestation policies.

Another activist from the U.S., Kety Esquivel with Latinos in Social 
Media, said capitalism has committed "abuses" because money, which was 
created for use as an exchange mechanism, ended up using people instead.

"I'm gringa, Mexican and Guatemalan," Esquivel told IPS, describing her 
multi-ethnic origin and her stance in favour of humanity as a whole. (END)

http://pwccc.wordpress.com



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