Kaibiles, Zetas, and Narcos

Last week in Chiapas, Mexican authorities captured seven Guatemalans who were carrying 1 million pesos ($92,113.32 US) and assorted weapons.

The interesting twist is that at least four of the Guatemalans are former soldiers, members of the "Kaibiles", an elite counterinsurgency unit notorious for its brutality and human rights abuses.

The Kaibiles have a dark and bloody past. They were created in the 1970's to destroy the popular guerrilla movement in Guatemala. They received special training on jungle survival and warfare, and proudly considered themselves "death machines". Among other crimes against humanity, the Kaibiles are accused of the Dos Erres Massacre. According to Amnesty International:

On 5 December 1982, an army squad of kaibiles, the Guatemalan special forces analogous to the US Green Berets, and some paratroopers, entered Dos Erres, La Libertad, Petén Department. When they left three days later, more than 350 men, women and children had been massacred, the women after mass rapes. Many of the corpses were thrown into the village well and others left in nearby woods. The village was then razed to the ground.

The Mexican Defense Secretary stated that the Guatemala Kaibiles were working with the "Zetas" a heavily-armed group of former Mexican army commandos who act as hired guns and hit men for the Gulf drug cartel. It is estimated that in the last two years alone, the Zetas have assassinated more than 100 people, including rival drug dealers, public prosecutors, police, and journalists.

Authorities on both sides of the borders are worried about the incorporation of the highly-trained Guatemalan Kaibiles into the already bloody Zeta organization. Guatemala's ambassador in Mexico, Manuel Arturo Soto Aguirre, said that he wasn't able to confirm that members of the elite Kaibil military group were actively participating with drug dealers, but he couldn't deny that possibility, either.

How difficult could the situation get? Well, according the Guatemalan Minister of Defense, there are an estimated 4.000 trained Kaibil soldiers who have been discharged from the Army since the end of the civil war in 1996. Between 1.000 y 1.500 Kaibiles are currently in active service.

There have also been reports, from the US Department of Homeland Security no less, that some 30 Kaibiles have been training Zeta forces in northern Mexico near the U.S border at McAllen, Texas.

And finally... because it's important to know... these Kaibiles didn't appear out of thin air. Beside receiving training in two Centers in Guatemala, certain notorious Kaibil officers were graduates of the infamous School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia.

In fact, Col. Lex J. Parker, in his "Farewell Remarks to the Commando Course" speech even compared the training at the School of the Americas to that of the Guatemalan Kaibiles:

You now will become the last group of proud "Commandos" of the School of the Americas, a course rich in tradition and acceptability in the western hemisphere, and which is on a par with such courses as the "Lanceros," the "Kaibiles," the "Tezones," the "Cazadores," and the Jungle Expert Course.

Sources:

Ex soldados de Guatemala entrenan a narcos mexicanos

Signo de terror en Centroamérica

Más de 4.000 militares elites salieron del ejército guatemalteco

Guatemala investigará de oficio a militares capturados en México

Tags: Guatemala, Kaibiles, Kaibil, Zetas

Starvation wages

Last week I ate at a roadside Pupusa stand with three of my coworkers.

(Pupusas are a handmade dish, originating from El Salvador. They're basically thick tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans, or pork which are fried and then covered with tomato sauce and a spicy coleslaw topping. They're delicious, but fairly irrelevant to this story.)

Anyway... as we sat there, the Pepsi distributors arrived to restock the soda fridge. Then they started hanging price tags on the display bottles... Q4 each (about 53 U.S. cents). "Hey" I said, choking on a bit of cheese, "didn't the sodas cost Q3.50 yesterday?" My coworkers nodded in grave agreement.

Sadly, this one instance of inflation-in-action is by no means the exception. On the contrary, prices everywhere are skyrocketing. Even the pupusas shot from Q5 to Q5.50 each!

It's painfully obvious that the insane price of gasoline (roughly $3.50 per gallon here) is responsible for the cost of damn-near-everything taking a permanent hike upwards.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE) the cost of the "canasta básica de alimentos" (the absolute minimum food items required for a typical family in Guatemala) has risen to Q1,440.40 or $190 per month. The "canasta básica vital" which includes food, goods, and services (such as health and education costs) that a family of five requires for subsistence costs Q2,628.40 or $345 per month.

Here's the kicker... minimum wage for city workers is Q1,190.00 ($156) per month, and for agricultural workers it's Q1,158.00 ($152).

You don't have to have a calculator handy to figure out that those numbers just don't add up. This is the mathematics of poverty... where the equations aren't hypothetical, but rather reflect the needs and struggles of men, women, and children.

The danger doesn't end at the family level. As the gap between income and the cost of survival grows, Guatemala tumbles ever nearer to the abyss of political instability and social explosion.

Even CACIF (an ultra-conservative business alliance that includes commercial, industrial, agricultural, and financial interests) recognizes this not-so-latent threat. For the first time in 15 years they are actually recommending that the government raise the minimum wage!

Their proposal of a 7-10% hike is clearly insufficient to bridge the gap, and is admittedly designed to head off a congressionally-mandated raise... but it is also a recognition that this is a crisis that urgently needs to be addressed.

A conclusion, sadly, that the Berger administration has yet to reach...

Tags: Guatemala, Minimum Wage, CACIF

Work is a beach

Feliz fin de Semana!

Hey everyone, I will be "disconnected" for the next few days. The office (well, the people in the office) are all heading out to the black sand beaches of Monterrico for a working weekend.

No, really. Although we'll be sitting by the tumbling waters of the warm Pacific ocean, the idea is to evaluate our work at Incidencia Democrática.

No, really. Although there will be amazing meals of freshly caught seafood, this is an important opportunity for intense reflection and long-range planning.

No, really. Even though we'll be swinging from hammocks under shady palm trees, this is a serious activity designed to promote institutional development, sustainability, and growth.

No, really.

(Now where did I put that sunscreen?)

Tags: Guatemala, Monterrico, Incidencia

Survivor: Guatemala 3

Tonight CBS airs the second episode of Survivor: Guatemala. To "celebrate" the event, I'd like to share with you an editorial published two days ago in El Periódico, one of Guatemala's major newspapers.

As I read it, my thoughts went from "yep" to "right" to "WHAT THE HELL"?!?

Let's see if you can figure out where this editorial went very, very wrong:

Survivor Guatemala

Last Thursday, the 11th season of Survivor premiered on CBS with episodes filmed entirely in Yaxhá, a Mayan archeological site located in the Peten region.

According to preliminary figures, the program was viewed by 18 million people in the United States, a result which could be interpreted as a public relations success for our country in the U.S. tourism market and which, logically, should result in more visitors to Guatemala's Mayan archeological sites.

There is no doubt that capitalizing on tourism is one of the keys to our country's economic development. This "Land of the Quetzal" is blessed with true natural and cultural wonders which distinguish it and make it unique...

Of course it is not enough to simply promote our distinctive tourist attractions. Our visitors must also be assured that they, and their possessions, are safe during their stay here.

Undoubtedly, news about our growing crime problem counteracts any efforts to promote the country, as does the poverty which afflicts us. No one wants to go to a country and have to suffer looking at miserable, starving, or destitute people.

It is urgent, therefore, that Guatemala focuses on of the themes of public safety, justice, and economic renewal, all of which remain the unfinished tasks of the current administration.

I'm guessing that all but the most Republican among you were quick to spot the offensive conclusion: it is not Guatemala's miserable, starving, or destitute that really suffer, but rather the tourists that have to look at them. And that is why the government needs to tackle the tough issues of crime, justice, and economic development.

I'd usually make some really sarcastic comment at this point, but there's nothing more that I could possibly say.

Tags: Guatemala, Survivor, Tourism

Moving Out, Moving In

What a week it has been. I apologize to all of you who are still waiting for emails, phone calls, or anything else I might have promised back in my quieter days.

I've been busy pulling up my roots, and trying to replant them in "foreign soil". In less botanical terms: I've finally finished my move from zone 1 to zone 7 of Guatemala City.

After nearly a decade entrenched in the Edificio El Centro... a massive orange apartment building overlooking the hustling and bustling Parque Central... I'm now chillin' in the 'burbs. (Living in a more residential part of the city, anyway.)

My coworkers Quique and Marc generously helped me with the move. I must admit that it was a bit humbling to see all of my worldly possessions fit into two elevator trips, especially when that elevator is only 4 feet by 5 feet wide... elevator operator included.

But now I'm settling in, and looking forward to seeing the city from a different vantage point. Every day is new adventure!

There has been one unanticipated benefit to life in my new digs. My roommate, Marc, is an outgoing and very amiable guy from Quebéc. As such, in the few day that I've been fortunate enough to share the apartment with him, I have had the pleasure of meeting two of his friends... both beautiful Canadian, French-speaking, and dedicated activist women.

I think I'm going to like it here.

Tags: Guatemala, Guatemala City, Quebec

Guatemalmart?

Wal-Mart moves into Guatemala

Guatemala City (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, is expanding in Central America through a partnership with a Guatemalan supermarket operator, sources close to the local company said on Monday.

Wal-Mart is buying 33 percent of Central America Retail Holding Corp., which runs two supermarket chains with a total of 250 stores, for an undisclosed amount, the sources said.

Its executives are expected to hold a press conference on Tuesday to announce the deal.

This month Wal-Mart reached a deal to purchase the assets from the Dutch firm Royal Ahold, which has divested Latin American businesses to focus on Europe and the United States, the sources said.

The Guatemalan Paiz family, which owns a major supermarket chain of the same name, had signed a joint venture agreement in 1999 with Royal Ahold , and two years later the United Supermarkets Corporation of Costa Rica joined to form the Central America Retail Holding Corp.

Wal-Mart's Mexico unit, Walmex has grown to become the nation's No. 1 retailer in the past decade, with more than 700 stores and restaurants.

Survivor: Guatemala (part 2)

I just finished watching Survivor: Guatemala and it was everything I expected it to be... or rather, not to be.

It's "reality" tv and that's fine enough, I guess. Personally, I consider the animated series Family Guy to be far more interesting and informative, but that's just me.

In fact I wouldn't even be talking about the Survivor: Guatemala if it weren't for the "Guatemala" part.

Anyway, here are some random thoughts:

* I hope that the national park and the protected archeological sites didn't suffer any permanent damage during the filming. As with many sites in Guatemala, the Yaxhá-Nakúm-Naranjo area is still undergoing archeological investigation, excavation and restoration. Remember, it's not just the 18 "survivors" that descended upon this fragile ecosystem, but also a small army of crew members and other CBS personnel. Here's a semi-scary quote from the host Jeff Probst:

In Guatemala we built a city in the middle of a field. Our offices have air conditioning. Our trailers, we were supposed to be in tents and nobody wanted to do it. ... It was glorious. At night it cools down a little, I personally don't prefer AC. It's hard on your body to go from really hot to really cold.

* The show continuously refers to the Mayans in the past tense. Here's a news flash: the Mayans of Guatemala are alive and well. While it's true that the inhabitant of those ancient cities are long gone, Mayan indigenous people today compose over half of Guatemala's population! In fact there are 23 different Mayan languages spoken in the country. You might also have heard of Guatemala's most famous Mayan woman: Rigoberta Menchú, recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize.

* Finally, I have to guess that I'm tired of the way that certain projects, such as strip mining operations and reality shows, are "sold" to the Guatemalan people. All sorts of money amounts were mentioned as possible profits from this series. But I couldn't help hearing in my mind that sad refrain from Les Miz when Fantine was coerced into prostituting herself:

Come on dearie, why all the fuss? You're no grander than the rest of us. Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap. Join your sisters, make money in your sleep!

It dismays me that the first episode, portraying these scheming, whining, puking foreigners running roughshod through Guatemala's tropical rainforests and ancient archeological sites, should air on September 15th... Guatemala's Independence Day.

Just a little bit too ironic, isn't it?

Tags: Guatemala, Survivor, Mayans

George W. Bush #1!

The President, evidently, has to go pee-pee.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. (OK, I could. But I didn't want to.)

George Bush writes a note to Condi: "I think I may need a bathroom break?"

(At least now he has a sense of the threat of flood waters.)

Courtesy of Reuters

Tags: Bush, Bathroom, Note

Survivor: Guatemala

A hired hand cutting sugar cane under the brutal sun of the southern coast for a few dollars a day... that's surviving.

A young woman sewing clothes for hours upon hours in an unsafe and unsanitary sweatshop... that's surviving.

A family escaping the army massacres of the early 80s by fleeing as refugees to Mexico... that's surviving.

A human rights activist struggling for justice in the face of death threats... that's surviving.

An indigenous woman standing over an unmarked grave as forensic scientists unearth a "disappeared" family... that's surviving.

A young man risking life and limb to make his way to the United States and live on the margins of society in order to provide a better life for his family back home... that's surviving.

Heck, anyone walking down sixth Avenue in Guatemala City after 9pm without being attacked by muggers or gang members... that's surviving.

But 16 gringos romping around the breathtaking Mayan ruins of Guatemala's lush northern rain forest... well, that's what I like to call "camping."

Most of you realize the point I'm trying to make here. But for those of you who have somehow managed, miraculously, to escape the massive media blitz: tomorrow night, on CBS, is the debut of... Survivor: Guatemala.

No, really.

Here's the official site: Survivor Guatemala. (I couldn't make this stuff up.)

Now I realize that this is just another reality tv show, and that I probably need to lighten up a bit. (Stop nodding, please.) And I'm happy to think that after this series I'll be 68.3% less likely to receive the blank stare that I usually get when I tell someone in the U.S. that I live in Guatemala.

But there is something not-quite-right about a "reality" show that professes to present "survivors" being filmed in a country where the great majority of people are involved in a real day-to-day struggle for survival. And here's the kicker: none of the Guatemalan survivors will appear on tv, none will win $1,000,000 for "surviving" 39 days in Guatemala. In fact the only prize that a Guatemalan survivor wins is the opportunity to survive another day.

OK, but what about the much touted boost to the Guatemalan tourism industry that the show will provide? Well, here's an interview I found online:

"Palau and Vanuatu will seem like a cakewalk" compared to Survivor's 11th season, says host Jeff Probst, who heads to Guatemala September 15th. Sheltered by 2,500 year-old ruins, the CBS show's contestants were in for clouds of mosquitoes, blazing heat and howler monkeys that, Jeff tells Inside TV, sound like grizzly bears. "I can't emphasize how hard it is," he says. "There's more vomiting in the first few days than we probably had in the last 3 seasons combined."

Hmmm, yes. Book early to avoid the crowds, folks.

Tomorrow I'll finish up my thoughts about Survivor: Guatemala ... and then, of course, I'll watch the damned thing.

So stay tuned!

Tags: Guatemala, Survivor, Survivor: Guatemala

Article: Voices of the Poor

U.N. Summit Cacophony Drowns Out Voices of the Poor

Abid Aslam
OneWorld

United Nations summits are any indication, Manhattan this week will teem with heads of state and government, experts and academics, bureaucrats and activists--in short, all manner of spokesperson and lobbyist for the development industry but none of the poor people for whom they claim to toil and speak.

Enter the charity ActionAid International, which said it spent the past three months interviewing 340,000 villagers in 18 poor countries and compiling a report designed to bring their voices to New York in time for the Sep. 14-16 U.N. summit on poverty and the world body's future.

Most villagers feel they are as badly or even worse off today than they were five years ago, when U.N. member states committed themselves to the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the group said. These include halving extreme poverty, preventing disease, and eradicating illiteracy by 2015.

''For our world's very poorest people, life is getting worse, not better,'' said Ramesh Singh, ActionAid International's chief executive officer.

Whether the villagers' experiences have any impact on world leaders, agency chiefs, and their retinues remains to be seen. Negotiators charged with hammering out an action plan to snatch the millennium goals from the talons of failure worked through Monday night stripping the document of its most ambitious goals in an effort to end bickering among U.N. member states in time for Wednesday's summit opening.

Developing countries remained stymied in demanding that Western powers stop dumping cheap agricultural products on world markets and open their own markets to greater competition from Third World exporters so these countries could reduce their dependence on foreign aid.

Wealthy nations spend $1 billion per day on export subsidies that shield their farmers from competition by enabling them to dump cheap produce on world markets, the U.N. said last week in its latest annual 'Human Development Report'. That sum eclipses the $1 billion per year allocated to helping develop agriculture in poor countries.

ActionAid joined fellow advocates Oxfam International, Eurodad, and Eurostep Tuesday in calling on the European Union to stop a handful of countries from ''sabotaging the summit'' starting Wednesday, according to a joint statement.

The groups voiced concern that Pakistan, Egypt, Russia, India, and the United States appeared determined to block or water down a draft measure on governments' ''responsibility to protect civilians'' that proponents said could prevent future genocides such as the one in Rwanda.

''More worrying is the position of the United States, which is leading initiatives to weaken commitments to poverty reduction by undermining efforts for more aid, deeper debt relief, and trade justice,'' the groups said.

The administration of President George W. Bush dropped its initial stiff opposition to any mention of the millennium goals, the Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming, and previous World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements to ensure fair treatment for exporters in rich and poor countries alike.

Instead, U.S. negotiators said they would allow other countries to reaffirm these commitments and a decades-old pledge to donate 0.7 percent of their national economic output to non-military aid--so long as this in no way obliged Washington to join in.

Agreement also eluded negotiators on terrorism, disarmament, and changes needed to make the U.N. more efficient.

All of which will provide no comfort to the afflicted, said ActionAid.

Hunger is a daily fact of life in 64 percent of villages and social services cover only half of all villages, it said.

Four out of five school-age girls have never been inside a classroom and women often get less than half the wages paid to men, according to ActionAid.

Schooling remains too expensive for most families and few communities have school meal programs, meaning that families must shoulder the cost not only of school fees but also of feeding their children while they are at school.

In consequence, most children--including some as young as five years--drop out and are put to work for wages in 71 percent of villages. Even so, seasonal unemployment compounds poverty in 83 percent of the developing world's settlements.

While some countries have pushed the international community to improve political and civil rights, most have neglected the economic and social rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ActionAid said.

''The rights to food, employment, shelter, water, health, education, and enabling the poor to claim them should be the basic requirements for governments,'' said the report, ''Whose Freedom: MDGs As If People Matter.''

Yet, ''in none of the countries were rights to food, water, shelter, employment/work, health outlined as rights guaranteed by the government and which citizens could claim.''

ActionAid said it based its report on the views of villagers in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Senegal, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Brazil and Guatemala.

ActionAid International website

Tags: Guatemala, ActionAid, United Nations

Tough Numbers

In yesterday's journal entry I pointed out that in the 2005 Human Development Report, prepared by the United Nations Development Program, Guatemala ranked 117th out of 177 countries. In all of Latin America, only Haiti ranked lower.

Today I want to take a look at some of the numbers behind that ranking. For comparison purposes I've also included the United States and the country with the best ranking in each area.

Keep in mind that although they expressed in numbers, what we are talking about here are the lives, struggles and dreams of human beings...

Life expectancy at birth
The number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of age-specific mortality rates at the time of birth were to stay the same throughout the child's life.

Guatemala - 67.3 years

United States - 77.4 years

Japan - 82.0 years

Adult literacy rate
The percentage of people ages 15 and above who can, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement related to their everyday life.

Guatemala - 69.1%

United States and many other countries - 99%

Enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools
The number of students enrolled in primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education, regardless of age, as a percentage of the population of official school age for the three levels.

Guatemala - 61%

United States - 93 %

8 countries - 100%

Female to male earned income
The ratio of estimated female earned income to estimated male earned income.

Guatemala - 0.33

United States - 0.62

Kenya - 0.93

Note:

The Report also ranks the empowerment of women in its GDI (gender-related development index). In "building the capabilities of women" Guatemala ranks as the "worst performer in Latin America and the Caribbean".

Country Fact Sheets - Guatemala

Infant mortality rate
The probability of dying between birth and exactly one year of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.

Guatemala - 35

United States - 7

6 countries - 3

Gross Domestic Product per capita (U.S. dollars)

Guatemala - $4,148

United States - $37,562

Luxembourg - $62,298

Population living below the poverty line

Guatemala - 56.2%

Population living below $2 a day

Guatemala - 37.4%

Population living below $1 a day

Guatemala - 16.0%

Population undernourished

Guatemala - 24.0%

Resources:

Human Development Report 2005

HDR Country Sheet - Guatemala

HDR Country Fact Sheets - Guatemala

OK: If you've actually read all the way to the bottom of this difficult document, I'll give treat you to an interesting fact from the Report that you can share with your friends and loved ones:

According to the latest statistics, Luxembourg has 1,194 cell phone subscribers for every 1,000 people.

(Yeah, that made my head hurt, too.)

Tags: Guatemala, Development, Poverty

Nowhere to go but up

You're never really ready for headlines like this...

Yesterday "La Hora", Guatemala's afternoon newspaper, splashed the following damning phrase across its front page:

"Haiti and Guatemala: The Most Backward Countries"

with the subtitle:

"UNDP presents Human Development report; in the Americas, only the Caribbean country is worse off."

OK, ouch. Why did Guatemala receive such a scathing condemnation? The lowest ranking of all the countries in Latin America, save for an impoverished island in the throes of political and social upheaval? Hardly an enviable position.

Let's take a closer glance at the report...

The Human Development Report, published each year by the United Nations Development Project, looks "beyond income to assess the level of people’s long-term well-being".

Human development is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value.

"UNDP: What is Human Development?"

Countries are rated in a Human Development Index (HDI) which focuses on three measurable dimensions of human development:

* living a long and healthy life

* being educated

* having a decent standard of living

"Thus it combines measures of life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income to allow a broader view of a country’s development than does income alone."

So here then, the moment you've all been waiting for... a select list of how the countries ranked:

1. Norway
2. Iceland
3. Australia
4. Luxembourg
5. Canada
6. Sweden
7. Switzerland
8. Ireland
9. Belgium
10. United States
11. Japan
12. Netherlands
13. Finland
14. Denmark
15. United Kingdom
.....

34. Argentina
37. Chile
46. Uruguay
47. Costa Rica
52. Cuba
53. Mexico
56. Panama
63. Brazil
69. Colombia
75. Venezuela
79. Peru
82. Ecuador
88. Paraguay
91. Belize
95. Dominican Republic
.....

104. El Salvador
112. Nicaragua
113. Bolivia
116. Honduras
117. Guatemala
153. Haiti
.....

177. Niger

Tomorrow I'll show you some of the scary numbers that earned Guatemala its place near the bottom of the heap!

Resources:

Human Development Report 2005

HDR Country Tables

Interactive Index Ranking Map (very cool)

Tags: Guatemala, Development, UNDP

"Only when" quote

Only when we take human existence upon ourselves in its starkest and most humiliating misery --a misery in which nothing has meaning-- can we win through to the only possible way to live.

Only when we taste the lot of all, when we become involved deeply in world suffering, one in heart with the need of humanity, can we win through to our true vocation.

Only when the conscience becomes active, only when love is born out of suffering, only when hardship leads to liberating action, is victory near.

Eberhard Arnold
Lecture, April 1919

Tags: Quote, Humanity, Love

Every three seconds...

By the time you have finished reading this sentence a child, somewhere in the world, will have died as a direct result of poverty.

That frightening fact is just one of many contained in the 2005 Human Development Report , presented to world leaders today by the United Nations Development Program.

The timing of the report is crucial as next week the heads of state of 175 countries will gather at the United Nations in NY to discuss the urgent and ambitious Millennium Development Goals.

World leaders have a last chance to fulfill promises to reduce poverty and boost health by 2015 or risk being damned by history for condemning millions of children to death, a U.N. report said on Wednesday.

The warning was issued a week before heads of state and government from 175 countries gather in New York to gauge progress on meeting the Millennium Development Goals in the face of attempts by the United States to declare them null and void.

World leaders agreed in 2000 on a series of goals to be reached by 2015, including halving the number of people living in extreme poverty, cutting deaths of children under five by two-thirds and achieving universal primary education.

"Leaders have last chance to save poor"

According to the Report:

* 1.2 billion people were living on less than $1 a day.

* 47 million children would not be in school by 2015.

* Eighteen countries, with a combined population of 460 million people, have moved backwards in the last 15 years.

* The cumulative effect of failing to reach the target for cutting child deaths would mean 41 million extra and avoidable deaths over the next decade.

"Leaders have last chance to save poor"

The Report goes on to add that:

"The U.N. summit provides a critical opportunity to adopt the bold action plans needed not just to get back on track for 2015 but to overcome the deep inequalities that divide humanity."

So... where does the U.S. stand on the issue of the Millennium Development Goals?

President Bush was one of many heads of state to sign the Millennium Declaration which pledged foreign-aid increases as part of a comprehensive approach to eradicate global poverty. Now, however, the Bush Administration has withdrawn its support for the Millennium Development Goals.

For the upcoming World Summit, UN representatives spent nine months negotiating, creating, and editing a draft proposal designed to reform and strengthen the United Nations. The draft also addresses the issues of aid and development, with a particular emphasis on implementing the Millennium Development Goals.

The final 39 page document reflected the hopes for eradicating poverty world-wide and building a global community.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration decided to sabotage that effort.

John Bolton (Bush's controversial appointee as America's ambassador to the U.N) waited until the last minute to present the administration's objections to the document. 750 objections, to be exact.

The U.S. proposal package is designed to force the world to accept as its own the U.S. strategy of abandoning impoverished nations and peoples, rejecting international law, privileging ruthless market forces over any attempted regulation, sidelining the role of international institutions except for the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO, and weakening, perhaps fatally, the United Nations itself.

It begins by systematically deleting every one of the 35 specific references to the Millennium Development Goals. Every reference to concrete obligations for implementation of commitments is deleted.

Setting a target figure of just 0.7 percent of GNP (Gross National Product) for wealthy countries to spend on aid?

Deleted.

Increasing aid for agriculture and trade opportunities in poor countries?

Deleted.

Helping the poorest countries, especially those in Africa, to deal with the impact of climate change?

Deleted.

On migration, the original language focused on enhancing international cooperation, linking migrant worker issues and development, and the human rights of migrants. The U.S. wants to scrap it all, replacing it with "the sovereign right of states to formulate and enforce national migration policies". Human rights were deleted altogether.

"A Declaration Of War"

Here's what Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, had to say in an interview about the US attempt to derail the process:

Q. John Bolton is now saying that, if there isn't agreement, you'll have to settle for a statement of principles - or different sections agreed by different countries.

A: You cannot negotiate on that basis. I went to New York last week and I met the member states and I told them that no country is going to get everything that it wants.

Q: But John Bolton says that, if he doesn't get what he wants, he's not going to sign. There is a risk of failure.

A: I think this is one of the things that frustrates me about the United Nations. We have tended to define consensus as unanimity. Where you have a large majority of members who want something, one should not allow a small minority to withhold their consent unreasonably.

Q: But you can't have a global commitment to fighting poverty if the United States isn't on board on all the key issues, can you?

A: To some extent - let's say it will be more difficult. I will not say it will be impossible - I will say it will be slower. I would also say that I will be surprised if the US would want to place themselves in that box, in that situation, of being the ones who are seen to be against the interests of the poor - as being the ones who want to ignore the needs and the human dignity of others.

"Kofi Annan's BBC interview"

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, renowned economist, professor, and "father" of the Millennium Development Goals was even harsher in his criticism of the Bush administration:

First of all, the United Status government doesn't want to take responsibility for -- nor spend money on -- assisting the poor. And Bolton was very clear when he said that his country had a particular problem with goal #8 (calling for a global partnership for development).

Additionally, the Bush administration is seeking to sabotage this moment, a moment in which these goals have become a means for social and political mobilization.

What's difficult for me to understand is why the United States has spent 500 billion dollars on military expenditures this year, and less than 20 billion dollars on development aid. This country spends 5% of the GNP on the military and 0.16% on helping the poor.

I want to people to understand that the United States, the world's greatest superpower, only donates 3.2 billion dollars, 0.03% of its economy, to Africa. The same amount that the Pentagon spends in two days.

"EU no quiere cumplir su promesa a los pobres"

Well, I don't want to leave you with such a bleak outlook for the future of this consensus document, the World Summit, the United Nations, and indeed, for the poor of the world.

International pressure has finally forced Bolton & Bush to back off of some of their original, outrageous demands.

Three "compromises" have recently been reached:

* Bolton said the United States was ready to accept the use of the phase "Millennium development Goals" throughout the text "provided it can be properly defined."

* Bolton also claimed that while the U.S. does not accept targeting 0.7% of the GNP for development aid, it recognizes that other countries do and now accepts the importance of including a reference in the final document.

* Finally, Bolton said the United States is now willing to allow language on climate change that emphasizes the need for all countries to meet the commitments they have undertaken, "including, for many of us, the Kyoto Protocol", a treaty the Bush administration adamantly opposes.

"U.S. offers compromise on summit document"

As I've been writing this journal entry I've been hanging by my fingertips on the very sharp edge of the chasm of sarcasm. With the breaking news of these "compromises" I feel that I can finally let go.

And as I drop into the darkness below I'd like to shout out: "Thank-you Johnny Bolton... you've made me proud to be an American!"

Tomorrow: I'll take a closer look at the fascinating 2005 Human Development Report. Check back here to see where your country ranks on the Development Index. (Hint: for those of you in the U.S., you're not in the #1 slot... or even in the top 5!)

Web Resources:

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

The Human Development Report 2005

The UN Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Project

The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs (.pdf)

The Bolton backfire: Weaken UN, imperil Americans

UN-Reformed

Tags: United Nations, Bolton, Millennium, Development, Poverty

Personal stuff

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long silence, but lately life has been very busy... and, at times, far too still.

I've been playing a lot of "catch up", both at work and at home. Amazing how much dust can accumulate in just two months. (Forget the broom... hand me the shovel!)

I've also been trying to ready myself, physically and mentally, for my big move this upcoming weekend. You never really realize just how much junk you own until you try to move it.

At the same time I've been settling into our new office in Zone 7 of Guatemala City, and getting back into the swing of communicating with my coworkers through the spoken word instead of email. I have to admit that I'm still tempted to hit the "send" button at the end of every one of my sentences... which gets kinda weird when I'm actually nowhere my computer.

Busy, right? Well, except for this past weekend when I "became one" with my couch. I was so wickedly ill that I only ventured outside once for some much needed groceries. And many boxes of kleenex tissues. I watched so many hours of cable t.v. that I could actually feel my willpower ebbing and my IQ dropping. I finally had to pull the plug when I found myself listening to George Bush speak about New Orleans and couldn't muster the strength to throw anything at the t.v. set.

Unfortunately this nasty bug is just beginning to circulate. Silvia, one of my coworkers, had to go home early today because of her nonstop sneezing, runny nose, and dizziness. And, in case you're wondering, yes... she blames me. (So I wisely decided not to tell her about the next stage: the body-wracking and soul-shaking, please-god-make-it-stop constant coughing.)

One of the final reasons that I haven't been filling this journal full of Guatemala news is that I, like the rest of the world, have been watching in horror as the devastating events have unfolded in New Orleans. When my friend Karla and I visited my Dad and Barbara there in July... I simply fell in love with the people and the place. The images of death and destruction were so overwhelming that I felt my best response would be a respectful silence filled with prayers for all the victims of this tragedy.

My Dad and Barbara were lucky enough to escape the city on the evening before Hurricane Katrina hit. They are safely living as "refugees" at the home of Barbara's son in Alabama. (I'll be calling them tonight, so I should have more info tomorrow.)

So, that's what's happening in my corner of the world. I'd love to hear from you!

Rob

Tags: Guatemala, New Orleans, Katrina