ADDRESS
BY ESTEBAN LAZO HERNANDEZ, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE OF THE
REPUBLIC OF CUBA, FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT "SOVEREIGNTY AND FOOD
SECURITY: FOOD FOR LIFE", HELD ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 7TH,
Esteemed Comandante
Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua,
Distinguished presidents and
high representatives,
The facts speak clearly for
themselves. In 2005, we used to pay 250 dollars for every ton of rice we
imported; now we pay 1,050 dollars, four times as much. For a ton of wheat, we
used to pay 132 dollars; now we pay 330 dollars, two and a half times as much.
For a ton of corn, we used to pay 82 dollars; now we pay 230 dollars, nearly
three times as much. For a ton of powdered milk, we used to pay 2,200 dollars;
now it's 4,800 dollars. This is a perverse and unsustainable trend.
This phenomenon undermines
the internal markets of most countries in our region and around the world,
affecting the population directly, particularly the poorest sectors, bringing
poverty to millions of people. A few decades ago, there were countries that
grew their own rice and corn. But, following the neo-liberal recipes of the
IMF, they liberalized the market and began to import subsidized US and European
cereals, eradicating domestic production. With the rise in prices at the pace
we've mentioned, a growing number of people can no longer afford to eat these
basic food products. It comes as no surprise, thus, that they should resort to
protests, that they should take to the streets to find whatever means they can
to feed their children.
As Fidel underscored in 1996
during the World Food Summit, "hunger, the inseparable companion of the
poor, is born of the unequal distribution of riches and of the world's
injustices. The rich do not know hunger". "Millions of people around
the world have perished in their struggle against hunger and injustice".
The food crisis we face today
is exacerbated by high oil prices and by the impact that the military adventure
in Iraq has upon these; by the effect these prices have on the production and
transportation of food; by climate change; by the fact that significant volumes
of US and EU-grown grains and cereals are destined, more and more, to the
production of biofuels and by the speculative practices surrounding
transnational big capital, which gambles with food inventories at the cost of
hunger for the poor.
But the essence of the crisis
is not to be found in these recent phenomena; it lies, rather, in the unequal
and unfair distribution of riches at the global level and in the unsustainable
neo-liberal economic model that has been imposed upon us in an irresponsible
and fanatical fashion over the course of the last twenty years.
Poor countries, dependent on
food imports, are in no condition to take the blow. Their populations have no
protection whatsoever and the market, needless to say, has neither the capacity
nor the sense of responsibility to offer such protection. This is not a
strictly economic problem. It is a humanitarian drama of incalculable consequences
which even places our countries' very national security at risk.
To attribute the crisis to
increased consumption by important sectors in certain developing countries that
report accelerated economic growth, such as China and India, is not only an
unfounded argument, it also conveys a racist and discriminatory message, which
portrays as a problem the fact that millions of human beings should have
access, for the first time, to decent and healthy food.
The problem, as it manifests
itself in our region, is, in essence, linked to the precarious situation of
small farmers and rural populations living in underdeveloped countries, and to
the oligopolistic nature of the large transnational companies that control the
agricultural food industry.
These companies control
prices, technologies, norms, certifications, distribution channels and sources
of funding for world food production. They also control transportation,
scientific research, genetic pools and the fertilizer and pesticide industries.
Their governments, in Europe, North America and other parts of the world, set
down the international norms that govern trade in food, technologies and the
supplies needed to produce these.
Agricultural subsidies in the
United States and the European Union not only make the food these countries
sell more expensive, they also constitute a fundamental obstacle for developing
countries seeking to access their markets with their products, something which
has a direct impact on the situation of agriculture and producers in the South.
This is a structural problem
generated by today's international economic order, not a passing crisis that
can be alleviated with palliative or emergency measures. The World Bank's
recent promises to destine 500 million devalued dollars as an emergency measure
to alleviate the crisis are ridiculous and an insult to our intelligence.
To strike at the very heart
and at the causes of the dilemma, we must examine and change the written and
unwritten rules, both agreed to and imposed upon us, that today govern the
international economic order and the creation and distribution of wealth,
particularly in the food production and distribution sector.
Today, the truly decisive
move is to undertake a profound, structural change of the current international
economic and political order, an order which is anti-democratic, unjust,
exclusive and unsustainable. An order which is predatory, as a result of which,
as Fidel said twelve years ago, "waters are contaminated, the atmosphere
is poisoned and nature is destroyed. It is not only the fact that investments,
education and technologies are lacking or the population is growing at an
accelerated pace; the environment is being degraded and the future is menaced
more and more every day".
Having said this, we agree
that international cooperation, as a means of confronting this time of crisis,
can no longer be postponed. We need emergency measures to quickly alleviate the
situation of those countries which already face social turmoil. In the middle
term, we must also give impetus to cooperation and exchange plans that entail
joint investments and accelerate agricultural production and food distribution
in our region, through the firm commitment and resolute participation of the
State. Cuba is willing to modestly contribute to efforts of this nature.
The program brought to us
today by comrade Daniel, a call to join forces and wills and to combine the
resources of ALBA members and countries in Central America and the Caribbean,
is worthy of our support. It presupposes the clear understanding that the
current food crises the world faces is not an opportunity, as some believe, but
a very dangerous crisis. It entails the express recognition that our efforts
must be aimed at defending everyone's right to food and at securing a decent
life for the millions of peasant families that have been plundered to this day,
not at availing ourselves of the occasion to pursue corporate interests or
petty commercial opportunities.
We have debated on the matter
extensively. Now, it is time to act with unity, audacity, solidarity and a
practical spirit. If this is our common goal, you can rely on Cuba.
Allow me to conclude with the
farsighted words Fidel pronounced in 1996, which reverberate today with
undiminished pertinence and profundity: "The bells that toll today for
those who starve to death each day shall toll tomorrow for the whole of
humanity if it refuses to or is unable to be sufficiently wise to save
itself".
Thank you very much.