Federico Mayor Zaragoza (ENG)

“Reiterating Support for Judge Garzón”

2012-01-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

On several occasions ("Garzón, World Judge", "The Criminal Court Awaits Garzón"...) I have already expressed my wholehearted support for Judge Garzón and for all of those who seek to clarify what happened, so that together we can serenely write that different future of which we all dream.

Only with the most complete knowledge possible of our history can we make the great changes and transitions that our present system urgently demands.

It is regrettable that there are still those who cling to their long-standing privileges and insist that many events should remain unknown and unpunished.

Knowledge is an essential right so that the outrages that they are now seeking to hide cannot be repeated.

Moreover, Judge Garzón has increased the reach of justice worldwide. And for that, support for him should be both local and international.

¿Growth without science?

2012-01-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

-Production has been excessively delocalized. Moreover, afterwards and in certain very relevant cases, goods are sold through tax havens with a total lack of solidarity.

-The Eurozone hasn’t obtained funds for public works or for use as incentives to businesses, particularly SMEs, while the United Kingdom has issued 75,000 million pounds and the United States 300,000 million dollars, where, moreover, there are clear signs of recovery with respect to growth and job creation. The euro seeks to maintain itself based solely on budget cuts and rapid deficit reduction, politely seeking to please those who to a great extent are responsible for the systemic crisis that pervades the West.

-• And Spain is the country that most urgently needs to grow and create employment, because it was here that the foolish real estate bubble was the largest and had the greatest impact and, nevertheless, the unfortunate decision to cut spending for research, development and innovation has been made. In the last few years, and until 2008, substantial advances were made in both Spain and Europe, where significant additional funds (1.5 billion euros annually) were obtained for basic research through the European Research Council (ERC), which in January, 2007 with the initiation of the seventh Framework Program, gave considerable impulse to our still-lagging European science. I had the honor of presiding the group (ERCEG) which represented the European scientific community and submitted the project to the European Parliament, while obtaining the Commission’s unanimous approval.

For that reason I especially regret the unexpected budget cuts adopted, and the fact that scientific research is being treated as an economic commodity, having assigned to the Ministry of Economy, in unrelated areas and functions, university research centers and the High Council for Scientific Research, mixed centers and scientific and technological parks…, some of which are excellent at both the European and global levels. These are breeding grounds for entrepreneurs, essential for growth and progress, but it must be underscored as indicated above that “there is no applied science if there is no science to apply”. What is essential is the generation of new knowledge. And of all imaginable migrations, the loss of a country’s most talented has the most negative impact.

I think it would be advisable and urgent for a group of parliamentarians related to this essential matter to visit some of our leading institutions devoted to research, development and innovation. For example, are they familiar with the campus of the Autonomous University of Madrid or the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, or the University of Granada’s Health Sciences and Technology Park, or the Andalusian Technology Park in Malaga? Have they visited the National Center for Cancer Research (CNIO) or the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona? I only wish to point out some of the many examples with which one should be acquainted before offering opinions and taking decisions affecting science in Spain, which are often undue and unjust.

In summary, the announcement of budget cuts for research, development and innovation in Spain must rapidly be rectified. Do it. Otherwise our horizons will be even more dismal.

2012, A New Dawning?

2012-01-23T03:54:00.000-08:00

2011 hasn’t been such a tragic year after all, because for the first time in history the “We, the Peoples …” of the Preamble to the United Nations Charter has become a reality at the local and global level.

Next December will mark the end of a 400-year “Mayan cycle,” a date known as Baktun. We could take advantage of this event to prompt a new beginning, an inflection in history that mankind yearns for and deserves. After centuries of the absolute predominance of males and of submissive, obedient and fearful citizens, distance participation and the free expression of opinions, criteria, criticism and proposals are now possible.

What is clear is that soon the voice of “the peoples” will not only make itself heard, but it will be heeded and a process of civic emancipation will commence. What until recently was not allowed in the plazas and streets of our cities will soon ensue without limits within the infinite bounds of cyberspace. The time for silence is over. The 21st century will be the “century of the people,” of all people, and not just a privileged few, and democracies will no longer be fragile and limited, but rather solid, agile and efficient. Citizens will no longer be counted only during elections, but will constantly count and be taken into account… because they will likewise constantly make their preferences and points of view known.

The percentage of “effective inhabitants” on the earth will rapidly grow from the mere current 20%. The rest survive in extremely precarious conditions that frequently reach humanly unsustainable limits. Nevertheless, the eradication of poverty is not among the objectives of the wealthy countries that continue to be preoccupied with stock market fluctuations, money, and maintaining immense weapons arsenals to guarantee their “security”. And, thus, the solutions to the great problems of humanity, rooted in access to food and education, are constantly being delayed, postponed. In his book “Amapolas en el jardín” (“Poppies in the Garden”), Manuel Navarro quoted B. F. Skinner who noted that “something is wrong when we have to save the system and not the way of life that the system should serve”.

In Spain the Urdangarín scandal is obscuring even worse schemes, and all over Europe people are peering sideways at Ms. Merkel, the risk premium and the markets instead of staring democracy straight in the eye. Instead of creating employment, in Italy alone there will be 300,000 additional jobs lost as a consequence of the radical measures adopted. But even there the salaries paid senior management at the major financial institutions also remain astronomically high.

It appears that the most important thing is paying off our debt and reducing the deficit. But who acquired that debt? Who are responsible for this indebtedness, in proportions much higher than the State? Why is it always the taxpayer who must right the wrongs, particularly those committed in the private sector?

Might 2012 mark a new dawning? I am summarizing below twelve points that I feel are particularly relevant so that the year we are commencing may prove crucial for landing our present shipwreck on the dry land of a “new beginning”.

In the next few weeks I will re-write or write in more detail about some of the points outlined here briefly.

1. A systemic crisis requires changing the system, i.e., bestowing power and initiative on society and reestablishing as the guidelines for political action on the local, regional and global levels the democratic principles so aptly expressed in the Preamble to the UNESCO Constitution, rather than the rules of the marketplace.

Only then could take place an urgent re-founding of a strong United Nations system, with the moral authority that only institutions capable of representing all of the world’s countries without exception can wield. Hegemonic ambitions that led to attempts to govern the world through plutocratic groups of 7, 8 or 20 countries must now give way to multilateral cooperation, which will undoubtedly soon ensue in response to worldwide demands. On various occasions I have suggested different formulas for both a new General Assembly and Security Councils (a Social-economic Security Council and Environmental Security Council would be added to the present one) to facilitate full performance of the UN’s functions which, especially when warranted by global governance, requires adequate international infrastructures.

2. After the intolerable and immoral intervention in Iraq, world civic power must now firmly oppose other “adventures” of this nature, especially those aimed at Iran, both for geo-strategic motives (plundered by Israel) as well as the fabulous Iranian reserves of black gold. For problems arising in Iran, or those already present in Yemen and Syria, the only acceptable solution (as would have been in the shameful case of Libya) would be the intervention of the United Nations as sole mediator, with the support of the whole world.

Have we really considered the horrendous statistics resulting from the intervention in Iraq? Have we thought of the five million displaced persons, the thousands of wounded and dead? Have we checked to see who is now exploiting the Iraqi oil fields? In the future “the peoples” will no longer tolerate atrocities of this nature.

It is true that the republicans in the United States, who still have much influence in the politics of their country, are stepping up their efforts initiated in the 1980s to destroy the United Nations system. They abandoned UNESCO in 1984… and later returned when they invaded Iraq. Now they are once again attempting to paralyze UNESCO by failing to pay their dues because the organization decided to admit Palestine as a member, using the autonomy conferred upon it by the General Conference. They are determined to activate the G20, G8… or G2 (!) while turning their backs on multilateral cooperation. But these are the last throes of a system in total decline.

3. Daily hunger and genocide: “The sight of that hungry child pricks me like a monstrous thorn”, wrote the unforgettable Miguel Hernández. We must ensure that it pricks all of us, everyday, to raise a firm and steady voice to proclaim that we cannot continue to tolerate the death from starvation of thousands of human beings each day, blinded by our preoccupation with economic problems and risk premiums.

4. Environment. After Durban, another failure due to the total abandonment of the world’s most powerful nations, the prospects for the Rio+20 celebrations in 2012 couldn’t be more discouraging. And, nevertheless, Rio+20 can’t fail. This is an essential matter, of conscience and intergenerational solidarity. Millions of women and men all over the world must proclaim that they will not allow us to reach points of no return and cause irreversible damage to the environment that likewise irreversibly affects the habitability of our planet.

Our present leaders are irresponsibly short-sighted. All good leaders must first give their foremost consideration to processes that may result in irreparable damage.

5. Creation of employment? Without the power to “issue” incentivizing funds? Without Eurobonds? Without ensuring a better balance in the face of so much social and economic inequality? Without a European fiscal federation? Only through more and more budget cuts? Why don’t we do what the United States did by minting 300,000 million dollars for incentives, or the United Kingdom that issued 75,000 million pounds to jump-start growth? And why isn’t there at least a partial re-localization of production?

Now, as was to be expected, the new Spanish government claims that the deficit they inherited was greater than expected… when the deficit is largely in the Autonomous Communities, principally in those in which the government’s party has been in power for years.

The solution lies in Europe and the United States. Only then can the West serve as a mediator with China and the emerging nations. Otherwise, the disaster will increase while our politicians continue to promise jobs. Remember the advice attributed to Winston Churchill: “The biggest mistake that leaders can make is to give people false hope that melts like snow”. The fact that the deficit is higher than the forecasted 6% has prompted the government to adopt measures even more drastic than those that they so vigorously rejected in May, 2010. Then and now it is clear that the “rescued” are imposing their will on the impoverished “rescuers”… while Mr. Bush and his cohorts as members of the “great domain” are rubbing their hands in glee.

6. Don’t forget those who have died, those who die each day of starvation in extreme poverty, the victims of so many wars, the murdered, the alienated, those who don’t find the international acceptance they deserve after so many years of waiting in often inhuman conditions… The best example is Palestine: once again, after the permanent failure of peace attempts and of the mediation by the “quartet”… it is urgent to cease to prolong situations that offend the conscience of all mankind, because of those who have suffered so much, the foreseeable delays, the constant indecision, the violence and reprisals. Once again, only the United Nations with the majority support of its members can finally find a solution to this conflict, which in the present circumstances Israel will not allow (being supported from the US by what is undoubtedly the most powerful lobby on earth), and after the ill-fated demise of Isaac Rabin, who was indeed seeking to culminate the peace process.

7. Nuclear disarmament and immediate significant reduction of the sale and forced acquisition of military hardware, much of which was designed for out-dated warfare. It’s clear that it will be impossible to achieve the radical changes needed for the development of all countries and for the transition from an economy of speculation, delocalization and war (4,000 million dollars spent daily) to an economy of sustainable global development without a substantial reduction in military spending, especially in armament which, since the Viet Nam War, has proved useless in present conflicts.

And, above all, no drones! That’s the last thing we need! In addition to mercenaries, “War, Inc.”, there are now unmanned aircraft, piloted remotely from thousands of kilometers away with formidable GPS systems. Wars without soldiers, with “anonymous” collateral damage… That’s the last straw.

People must demonstrate their absolute repudiation of this practice.

8. Europe, don’t lose sight of the Pacific: while we continue to be bound by the North Atlantic Treaty instead of exercising autonomy in security matters, the United States is rapidly turning its priority attention to the Pacific. According to Ms. Clinton, in the next decade “the United States will make its largest diplomatic, economic and strategic investment in the Asia-Pacific region”. In addition to increased military presence, there is an ambitious free-trade agreement among various countries in the region (the TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership). It is clear that while we are preoccupied with the euro, those in the dollar-zone are not ignoring the yuan!

9. Emancipation of Latin America, a significant event to be taken into account. With practically all Latin American and Caribbean countries in attendance, the process to found a confederation of all states in the region (CELAC) recently commenced in Caracas. After Mercosur and Unasur, CELAC now represents the “adulthood” of a region that is significantly important for world stability, since not only will the influence of the “big brother in the north” decrease (friends, yes; subjects, no), but the increasingly excessive influence of China will recede. With Brazil’s leadership (Lula as leader of anti-globalization and Porto Alegre’s well-pondered alternative to Davos) they represent the “other possible world” that has received so much support.

Gone are the times (but not long ago in the calendar!) of “Operation Condor”… CELAC’s contribution to the “new dawning” may be quite relevant not only with respect to the economy and the wealth of its natural resources, but rather above all for its intellectual strength –in literature, art, etc., and its capacity for insurgence and rebellion.

10. Drugs. I have referred many times to the severe and serious problem of addiction to natural or synthetic drugs and the complex criminal networks involved in drug trafficking to the extent that, given the immense profits generated, in many countries they represent not only one of the principal challenges, but rather the principal challenge for security and peaceful coexistence (Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala…). Anti-drug actions, including military ones, focus on the “offer countries”, when the possible solution lies in the “demand countries”, commencing with the United States. It is clear that the solution doesn’t lie in the use of force or in eliminating the drug crops that provide traffickers with such huge profits. For example, in Afghanistan, whose poppies supply over 90% of the heroin consumed worldwide, it is calculated that one hectare generates 13,000 dollars yearly, when a cereal crop would barely yield 500 euros. Thus the solution lies not only in eliminating drug crops, but rather in finding a reasonably profitable substitute (saffron, for example), together with other development aid.

What is absolutely certain is that price has no deterrent effect. Starting with our country as an example, in Spain drugs are undoubtedly easily accessible and users will pay any price at the expense of intimidating family members, committing robbery and all nature of criminal acts… In “collateral” neighborhoods of the consumer society, products are offered and sold, to later be offered in areas that are so well-known that there are vehicles with “specialized” drivers…

As with Prohibition, the only solution is to drastically reduce prices… and the “Al Capones” will be gone. It’s urgent to treat addict-patients adequately, providing the dose they need and then adding the appropriate therapeutic substances. In other words, we’ve got to ruin the drug business. And conduct a huge, really exceptional information and educational campaign to warn of the risks of drug consumption. But, as with alcohol and tobacco, it should be made clear that this is the sole responsibility of consumers who, aware of the dangers and the social costs of their addiction, should be helped to overcome their habit. It’s urgent to convert this security problem into a health matter.

11. The voice of “the peoples”. The Arab Spring and the 15-M movement. 15-M and the global protester were voted none other than “person of the year” (!) by the well-known international magazine Time. The “Arab spring”… autumn for the West, or winter for those who still believe that a fist-full of wealthy countries should rule the world. On the five continents the “outraged”, following the recommendation of that young ninety-plus-year-old Stephane Hessel, have not only been able to peacefully express their protests and disagreements, but have also offered new proposals for a new world, having commenced an unstoppable process that spans the globe. But don’t be deceived: soon “the peoples” will dominate the “markets”. The “99%” will logically triumph over the 1% that presently wields all of the power and wealth.

It is necessary to listen to those who from the plazas and avenues have taken to cyberspace and, taking advantage of modern information and communications technology, are capable of mobilizing many citizens who are rapidly changing from passive subjects to protagonists. We need to listen to them. We need to take them into account because fortunately they will be the mainstay of the “new dawning”.

Peacefully, always peacefully, they propose… that promises be kept concerning financial regulation; the closing of tax havens, announcing that they will withdraw their payroll deposits from banking institutions that can’t prove within a given term that they have severed all ties with this irresponsible source of tax evasion; electoral law reform; prohibition against advertising prostitution, announcing that they will not buy newspapers or programs that contain these ads, which are an offense to the dignity of women; “depoliticizing” the justice system; eradication of poverty; access to education and healthcare services; immediate disbanding of plutocratic groups and the re-founding of an effective multilateral system; revival of democratic principles; elimination of rating agencies that encourage speculation and provide their services to the “great merchants”…

Since we have allowed the 20% of humanity who live in the world’s most prosperous neighborhoods to ignore those who have no access to drinking water and food… it is the “outraged” who have mobilized people and will continue to mobilize them to put an end once and for all to the 4,000 million dollars invested daily in military spending and weapons (we never tire of repeating this and must continue to do so), while thousands of people die of hunger…

The time has come to express ourselves, to build the genuine democracies needed at the local and global levels. The time has come to speak up and to listen to each other. Miriam Subirana has echoed Martin Luther King’s lucid observation: “We will have to repent in this generation not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people, but for the appalling silence of the good”. “Silent now, to cry later?” asked Rubén Darío. Let us calmly speak and listen. The era of silence, imposition and citizen apathy has come to an end.

12. The Baktun in the Mayan calendar. The long count of the Mayan calendar concludes on December 21, 2012 and marks exactly half of a 26,000-year cycle! Some people are offering negative predictions for the end of this 400-year cycle that coincides with this half-way point. But this isn’t true. To the contrary, it is predicted that the influence of strong solar energy will result in increased individual conscience, affecting behavior and, I should underscore, it is predicted that in 2012-2032 women will be particularly relevant due to their capacity and greater sensitivity in promoting the beginning of a “new era”.

Perhaps this increased energy will promote the pending (r)evolution. Without the initial “r”, this is the title of José Monleón’s latest, timely book “Pending Evolution”. Evolution or revolution: these are the alternatives. If we refuse to evolve, preserving what should be preserved but changing what should be changed, we face a revolution that may ensue much sooner than those who continue to increase the present social inequalities may imagine. Rebelling against their subjection to the values of the markets, the people will react with “axiological disobedience”. We are advancing toward a rebellion of “the Peoples” who observe with bewilderment it is the weakest and most vulnerable who must ultimately bear the greater part of the weight of a system that is in its last throes.

Even the second paragraph of the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that when the exercise of those rights is restricted, people may feel “compelled” to rebellion. We should bear this in mind.

We should likewise take into account the news that appeared in the press on December 30, 2011, highlighting the incompetence of present organizations (and with a United Nations that hasn’t risen to the occasion), being unable to address the serious events in Syria; regulate the massive arms sales of the U.S. to Saudi Arabia and Iraq (!); the collective hysteria in North Korea with the death of Kim Jong-il and the “coronation” of Kim Jong-un; the slaughter of Kurds in Iraq when Turkish pilots confused them with terrorists; the ongoing loss of employment in the European Union, while budget cuts continue…

In an article published in “El País” entitled “Rational Hope for a Better Future”, G. Jackson spoke of the United States’ loss of confidence in capitalism and “new” models and experiments that are being tested: cooperativism, public banking…

In other respects, the West violates the Kyoto Accords and, hounded by the markets, can spare no resources to aid the countries that they have so exploited. In the meantime China, the emerging countries, the Russian Federation, the Arab Spring countries… all need and aspire to achieve a new local, regional and global order.

François Bernard wrote that “Europe doesn’t love itself and doesn’t love, and in consequence, it is not loved”. The number of Euroskeptics far outweighs the Europhiles. Parliamentarians should now surprise us all and in a solemn declaration proclaim the values of Europe, the democratic principles that will guide it in the future.

If I believe the Baktun may coincide with this “new dawning” that we all seek and work for it is because in 2011, together with the awakening of so many people thanks to distance participation, other events have occurred that cannot be ignored: in Spain many aspects for the full recognition of human dignity have been achieved: in the area of religion, sexual tolerance, education, bioethics… and above all, 2011 brought an end to the ETA terrorist group. Let’s hope that those who seek to impose their opinions through violence have learned their lesson. Another victory at the dawning of this new century and millennium is that today the world won’t tolerate imposition, domination, fanaticism, dogmatism or extremisms. From now on discussion will lead to agreement, while we await the great transition from force to words, from a culture of absolute male domination to a culture of equality, conciliation, dialogue and peace.

Likewise, as President of the International Commission against the Death Penalty I would like to underscore the advances made recently in favor of abolishing capital punishment, which is a serious affront to the right to life, and does not diminish criminality or have the least effect on those who commit serious criminal acts. There is still much to be done, but pro-abolition countries are now in the majority (105) and, together with 39 countries that have not carried out executions in many years, they provide room for optimism, especially if we are able to convince the 33 U.S. states that still have the death penalty and, particularly if we are able to influence China, which in that regard is one of our greatest present challenges.

Rays of hope in the New Year that is commencing, in which the negative aspects, particularly in the West, are all too obvious. The greatest hope lies in that the demise of our present democracy may prompt a reaction that (following Amin Maalouf’s wise and timely recommendation that I like to repeat) may provide “unprecedented solutions to unprecedented situations”.

In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights offered the world universal guidelines, ethical references that empowered the formidable wealth of mankind’s cultural diversity. Little by little these guidelines have been conditioned by the rules of the marketplace. Together with the Human Rights declaration, a Universal Declaration of Democracy could now be placed on the horizon of the “new dawning”.

These, I insist, must be radical changes: in the last few days I have been reminded of some graffiti that I saw scrawled on a wall in Prague that so impressed me at that time: “Now that we know the answers, they’ve changed the questions”.

“The only solution to the problems of humanity,” wrote O.M. Aïvanhov, “is universal brotherhood. May all people reach out to one another and unite. One day, from every direction, we will hear people send up a cry for this fraternity to be realized at last, and this will be the most beautiful day in the history of humankind”. Might this be the day predicted in the Mayan calendar?

The peoples are awakening all over the world…

Haiti and Somalia: Thank you, dear Forges

2011-12-28T03:18:00.001-08:00

In times of so much neglect, of looking the other way, of so many passive spectators, I want to reiterate my gratitude to those who, like Forges, remind us each day what we must keep in our minds and hearts, to gradually begin to change our behavior.

Haiti and Somalia, the inhabitants of these two countries: they need solidarity, especially from those who live in the world’s most prosperous areas and who very frequently allow themselves to be manipulated by information that transforms them into simple recipients without the ability to react, without the courage to cease to think only of themselves and to turn their attention to those in need. Doing so has many advantages since it not only makes you more appreciative of what you have, but also helps you understand the needs of others.

With exemplary insistence, Forges shows us the real challenges that we should bear in mind and assume as our own, especially when (although hounded by the markets –what an immense error it was in the 1980s to have replaced ethical values for those of the stock markets) we are about to celebrate our Christmas holidays and (despite it all) are wishing each other the best for 2012.

Haiti and Somalia… and all of those who live in conditions that can hardly be described as human: we will feel much better if we really show that we care. If we take into account all lives and not only our own. Forges’ reminder is the best New Year’s message of them all.

On the threshold of winter

2011-12-27T06:09:00.000-08:00

Six Reflections:

1) Re-founding the European Union... Re-founding on the same pillars and with the same structures that have prompted the present situation? Re-founding based solely on the economy? Re-founding based on money?

It may serve to “save the euro"... But not for saving Europe and the Europeans, which is what really matters. Europe could be saved by reestablishing the democratic principles (social justice, solidarity, equality) that were erroneously replaced with those of the market. Creating a fiscal federation with the capacity (as is the case in the US and UK) to issue currency or eurobonds; and converting NATO into an autonomous security system with immediate cuts in investments in arms and military spending... replacing an economy of speculation, delocalization of production and obedience to rating agencies with an economy of global sustainable development.

In short, replacing the values of the stock exchange with moral values...

2) Creating employment without incentives?

How can employment be created without public works and support for SMEs? I must once again underscore that it is essential to have the autonomy to quickly issue the money needed to reactivate existing enterprises and create new ones. The US has issued 300 billion dollars and the UK has minted 75 billion pounds sterling precisely for this purpose.

In contrast, in the Eurozone there are budget cuts, austerity measures and a reduction in the workforce. This is not the way. The right way is democracy, which has presently been displaced by the markets. It’s now essential to put the people first.

3) Prosecute Judge Garzón!

Prosecute the best-known judge in the whole world because he had the courage and vision to believe that justice is universal! And who believed that there can’t be a good future if we know so little of the past. For the final reconciliation of Spaniards it is essential that those who lost the civil war be able to know exactly what happened and, to the extent possible, to approach and honor the victims. Those who won have already had many years and much help in doing so.

And in view of the source of these accusations, it’s really incredible that they are going to prosecute the person who has most fought to preserve the memory of the past. We have the duty to remember. Our personal and collective memory is a fundamental part of our heritage.

And Judge Garzón will continue to receive the recognition that he deserves, both at home and abroad.

4) New Electoral Law

It is urgent to decide to reform our Electoral Law. Let’s not delay this by saying that it’s not appropriate “because we just had elections", "because the ballot boxes have just spoken"... For a long time political parties and civil society (especially the 15-M movement and internet users) have insistently demanded a change in our electoral law that is inadequate and anti-democratic. This cannot be delayed if we don’t want to have to maintain our present tightrope walker situation and a sense of weakness with respect to representing the will of all Spaniards.

It should be underscored that under the present Law, citizens will simply choose not to vote. And they will adopt this position in support of pluralism and public liberties. It’s that simple.

No more elections under the present unequal system in which there is no correspondence between the number of votes cast and the number of seats won.

In “El País”, citing Primo Levi, Manuel Rivas referred to the "vacanza morale" that is responsible for the present problems in Spain and in Europe. This moral deficit is proving to be very dangerous because, in addition to its “collateral effects” of corruption, fallacies and constantly broken vain promises, it appears to affect citizens who, distracted, preoccupied, patient (in both meanings of the term) and disillusioned with politicians and with everyone else, continue to demonstrate the same routine, submissive and mindless behavior during elections.

5) Press conferences... with no questions allowed?

Journalists should no longer tolerate this lack of respect. Why do they attend press conferences when they know that they will be prevented from exercising their profession? Why don’t they get up and leave when they realize that there won’t be any interaction with the speaker? Why do they stay for sessions in which they are limited to listening to statements from a “talking head”?

I underscore this because one day they will regret having lost their rights and dignity. And the full exercise of the responsibility of journalists is essential for citizens and for genuine democracy.

6) Elections in Russia. It’s good that citizens are protesting. It’s bad that the US is intervening and criticizing.

It’s great to see thousands of citizens in Russia today freely expressing their protests and disagreement!

It’s great!... because I remember the total silence, absolute obedience and complete submission that so impressed me on my first visit to the Soviet Union in 1961. And, later, on several other trips... until Gorbachev. Citizens were for all effects invisible, inexistent. For that reason I am now quite pleased to see citizens who disagree and demonstrate freely.

In contrast, I find it totally inappropriate that Ms. Clinton has not only criticized the elections and their lack of transparency, but has likewise extended her comments to Russia’s position against the deployment of anti-missile shields initiated by President George Bush. In light of the present situation the last thing we need is to increase military spending (already excessive from any perspective) with anti-missile shields!

The United States providing lessons on how to conduct “transparent” and adequate elections? How quickly they forgot the appalling final recount in Florida that gave President George Bush the victory over Al Gore! In the country that pioneered and is the best endowed in computerized technology, votes were actually recounted by looking at the light through a hole in a punch card with one eye shut...

Sooner than many may suspect, good governance will arrive on the voices of the people. Those voices that now, in Russia and in other places, are heard and are being heard. And in support of building, among us all, a strong and efficient United Nations, to finally make the visionary “We, the Peoples” of the UN Charter a reality.

Popular Outcry in Support of the Environment: Rio + 20 Must Mark the Beginning of a New Era

2011-12-13T01:28:00.002-08:00

We cannot continue to be distracted, self-absorbed, spineless spectators of the immense and certainly foreseen failure of a system that while attempting to perpetuate itself despite its state of ruin, uses all imaginable means to keep us quite numb and incapable of reacting and expressing our protests and proposals, our agreement and disagreement.

This has gone too far: everyone monitoring "risk amounts", the fluctuation of investment stakeholders values –the others were abandoned long ago- and biased press releases of the rating agencies…

And the living conditions of a majority of mankind? And the damage to the environment and to the habitability of the planet? The “system” relegates and postpones matters essential for compliance with our duties to future generations, the legacy that we must leave those who are arriving one step behind us.

It will soon be the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. I remember how carefully and meticulously we planned it, especially in the United Nations, to ensure that Agenda 21 would provide an appropriate means for healing Mother Nature’s wounds, and preventing many others.

But the neoliberal globalizers had already taken off and tainted money and markets. And we thus arrived at the year 2000 and there was no money to implement the Millennium Objectives, because the only “objective” that the “great domain” pursued and still pursues is to earn more money: delocalizing production out of pure greed, and promoting a speculative economy, a lack of solidarity in tax havens and world governance by the wealthiest nations…

With these guidelines and roadmaps, it’s no wonder that the few attempts to reduce environmental damage and climate change have come to nothing. Kyoto… Durban…: the countries that emit the most CO2 and gases with greenhouse effects, the ones most responsible for polluting the earth, seas and air will not assume commitments, alleging reasons that are undoubtedly a serious insult to the whole of mankind, given that these processes are potentially irreversible and, thus, subject to the ethics of time.

Today I am writing these paragraphs with much urgency, because the preparatory meeting for Río+20 once more suggests that the superpowers’ attitude will be one of indifference and ambiguity, when their commitment and attention are more urgent and necessary than ever.

The time for mobilizing the people has come. It is time to demand, without further postponements, the attention that Mother Earth deserves. A few (the G-8…, G-20…) cannot and should not impose their will on 196 countries.

Let’s activate a broad and dense web in Cyberspace, let’s sign the petitions that arise from all corners of the earth, so that there will soon be millions who demand that Río+20 should represent the beginning of a new era, a historical change of course in which ethical values and democratic principles will finally prevail.

If we are many, it will be possible.

Governance and the “legacy received"...

2011-12-13T01:28:00.001-08:00

When I hear so many newly-elected leaders complain of the “state in which they’ve found their offices"... I recall the Russian story "The Three Envelopes", that I published years ago (El País, 13 November 1982) and which is certainly applicable today, those who will soon assume office are following the well-established custom of initially exaggerating the situation, despite the fact that in the specific case that I allude to here and in many others they were quite aware of the seriousness of the situation from their own “homegrown” experiences in the Autonomous Communities where they have governed for quite some time.

There are more than a few predictable new comers who are talking of the urgent necessity of making “structural reforms”, in general, just like that... as in the Russian story:
"The new Rector still speaks favorably of you?". I vigorously indicated that he did, making gestures with my lips and head to show my full conviction that it was so, which perhaps did not disguise my surprise at the question. “Well, he will soon cease to do so, you’ll see", observed a well-know Russian scientist visiting the University of Granada. His assertion that my successor would inevitably blame me for many of his problems had left me quite perplexed. Observing that, he continued: "Do you know the story of the three envelopes? It’s an old Russian tale that is applicable to all transfers of power. When leaving office, the out-going official discreetly leaves the newly-elected official three envelopes numbered 1, 2 and 3, telling him to keep them in the middle drawer of his desk and to open them in numerical order when he feels he is really in trouble.

After a few days, perhaps a few weeks, the initial favorable perspectives have faded; everything becomes difficult, there are many urgent problems... and in the loneliness of his office, the new official decides to open his predecessor’s first envelope. The letter it contains simply says “Criticize me. Blame it on me"... And despite it all, the advice worked and, in effect, for several months the new leader was able to manage the situation by referring to his predecessor’s mistakes, the “lamentable state in which he left all of this” or “the former leader’s total lack of foresight", etc.

But of course the time comes when the transfer of power is too distant a memory to blame everything on the predecessor. And things are not going well and, why deny it? It is improbable, very improbable that such complicated situations can really improve substantially. And the time arrives when the lonely, stressed leader opens the center drawer of his desk and takes out the second envelope. The letter inside reads: "Nothing can be done with the present structures. Change them". The structural reforms bring our man much personal satisfaction and prompts great expectations. For a while the reforms implemented (some of them so admittedly irrelevant, such as moving the 6th floor offices to the 2nd floor, and the 2nd floor archives to the 6th) boost the leader’s image and warrant the praise of his superiors.

But although it may be a result of the logical wear and tear of holding a position of power, or more frequently due to the leader’s ineffectiveness and incompetence in office –and here my colleague’s expression was dark and fatalistic- sooner or later a point is reached in which even new structures don’t resolve the serious problems faced by the protagonist of our story.

Circumstances become such that, recognizing that it is his last recourse, he nervously opens the third envelope which reads: "Rapidly prepare three envelopes for your successor. Your dismissal is imminent".

Since then I have frequently reminded this splendid Russian story. And I am reminded of it today with satisfaction that the fundamental changes that have taken place in our country allow it to be told again... And as then, but even moreso now, we can revisit the story in light of the fact that here there have been no resounding dismissals in the governmental change of power, but rather an ordered transfer of functions prompted by elections. Moreover, regardless of whether the first-envelope measures may sometimes be warranted and the second-envelope measures reasonable, alternation in power characteristic of democratic countries precludes their being a third envelope, because those in power in truly free countries know that they are being watched by the real protagonists of democracy: the people.

And the people are well aware of the moral of the Russian story of the three envelopes...

Spain: A New Era

2011-11-29T04:31:00.000-08:00

The tidal wave of the world and, particularly, the European crisis is seriously affecting not only the implementation of political programs but also the very foundations of effective democratic practice.

When in the 1980s President Regan’s ambitions of dominance, aided by Prime Minister Thatcher, were successful in persuading a large part of the developed world of the need to replace ethical principles with the “laws of the market”, a period was initiated in which Nation-States were weakened, the multilateralism of the United Nations was replaced by groups of plutocrats (G6, G7, G8, G20) comprising the wealthiest nations of the world, and there was a process of delocalization of a large part of production, with insatiable greed... Very few warned of the profound consequences that would ensue from these essential changes in world governance.

The telecommunications (1993) and real estate (2007) “bubbles” and their corresponding economic fluctuations gave rise to a multiple (ethical, democratic, political, food, environmental, financial) crisis that has been mishandled, using the same suppositions and means of action that prompted the disaster. The “rescue” of financial institutions promoted by President Bush through the G20 gave new wings to the “rescued” and impoverished the “rescuers”.

Instead of promoting an effective renewal of multilateralism and reestablishing ethical principles and human rights as guidelines for political action, neoliberal policies were pursued, particularly in the “West”, and the “great domain" (military, financial, media, oil) gradually re-gained the reins of the system to reinstate the strength of the dollar zone, and subsequently the yuan, over the euro zone.

After mercilessly hounding the most fragile countries (due to their financial policies and “bubbles”), they have rapidly achieved political changes (even in Ireland, which until very recently was considered a model in economic school curricula), although initially (in Ireland, United Kingdom, Portugal) the changes took place quickly but within democratic procedures. Spain was obliged to effect profound changes in the government’s program... that has so far enabled it to escape a “rescue” and the storms that have devastated Greece and Italy, whose parliaments and governments have been eliminated and revamped to please the markets.

All of this is extremely serious and requires rapid and categorical responses from the European Union.

And, nevertheless, the EU has continued to maintain structures and procedures that instead of strengthening it, have increased its weaknesses, placing the EU at the mercy of rating agencies and the most audacious speculative practices... while the United States is now focusing its attention on Asia and the Pacific, seeking new alliances with the main emerging countries, including those in Latin America.

As Robert Schuman noted in1950, Europe must use its “great creative capacity” instead of submitting to economic norms and guidelines, and policies that are now merely anachronisms. We have to invent the future; we must once and for all abandon strategies that have created a world of 7 billion inhabitants where only 20% of them live in the most prosperous areas, while the rest, who suffer a progressive lack of the basic necessities, reach limits of extreme poverty and death from starvation.

For me it is a truly “obsession of conscience”, as a fact that demostrate the failure of “neoliberal globalization”, that each day 4 billion dollars are invested in weapons and military spending while at the same time over 60,000 people die from hunger. I will never tire of repeating this. No one should tire of repeating this and of bearing it in mind, so that it may guide our actions daily.

Yesterday the Spanish people gave a resounding victory to the Popular Party, whose impassioned and united followers supported change against a Socialist Party that suffered a serious defeat, due to wounds from hounding or to the disappointment of many who abstained from voting or did so for other leftist forces. The Socialist Party will recover, thanks to those same values that now, having had to renounce some of them in the face of attacks from the markets, have brought it down.

I must underscore with satisfaction that election day was admirably calm and, for the first time, did not take place under the disturbing shadow of ETA.

Years ago I wrote that elections are a very important aspect of democracies, but that we shouldn’t only go by the exact results of the ballot box, but should ensure that the political actions of the elected officials permanently reflect the “voice of the people”.

Otherwise, we will have been counted (so many votes for, so many against)... but we won’t count as citizens, and we won’t actually be taken into account afterwards. For that reason we have to underscore the extraordinary role that distance participation can play. We must listen carefully to the proposals and points of view of citizens who, as in the case of the 15-M movement, peacefully offer their perspectives. In the next few months and years cyberspace will be a key factor in strengthening or tempering the “loud and clear voice” of those who were formerly subjects but who are now full-fledged citizens.

Citizens who so rightly call for electoral reforms, the appointment of judges without ideological bias, transparency in banking and the elimination of tax havens, etc, etc.

It is clear, crystal clear, that the urgent problems facing our country will not be resolved locally, but rather largely within the framework of the European Union, which to-date has shown a lack of appropriate leadership. I have already mentioned on many occasions the pressing need to establish an autonomous security system, with a considerable reduction in military spending, commencing by ceasing to acquire out-dated military hardware; fiscal federation and the issuing of Eurobonds, since both the U.S. and the United Kingdom can "issue" large amounts of money, as they have done recently to promote innovation, while in Europe we have to carefully follow austerity measures that, alone, won’t allow for growth or create employment; banking transparency and, particularly important at present, a reinstatement of the democratic principles that have characterized the West, not merely as a democratic model or structure, but as universally-valid values. And just as a working democracy would be reinstated at the local level, a re-founding of the United Nations should be promoted at the global level.

Without this “activation” on the part of Europe, the new widely-supported government will not be able to resolve problems and, above all, it will not be able to keep its key electoral promise: creating employment, being forced to make inadmissible cuts in social programs.

In other respects, I hope that the responsibility that comes with power will moderate some of its positions (Law on Dependence, education for citizenship, etc.) which have been important “acquisitions” for the Spanish people and in which losses would be inadmissible.

With everyone’s collaboration, let’s seek this new leadership that the European Union requires to resolve the majority of this country’s problems. Once again, Robert Schuman proclaimed in 1950 that “Europe will not be made all at once,… It will be built through concrete achievements which first create de facto solidarity". And, as Hugues de Jouvenel indicated in this month’s “Futuribles”, quoting Saint-Exupéry, "What saves a man is to take a step. And another... and another…”.

Only then will we be able to overcome these last throes of the power of the markets, which change governments without elections and enslave their western rescuers... But this will not last long: citizens will shortly show that they will not allow a few rich countries to continue to hold the reins of their destiny. And democracy and politics will recover decision-making power based on the ethical principles that should never have been entrusted to the “markets”.

In this new era there are reasons for all citizens, whatever their ideology, to feel committed and even optimistic at the advent of a new world in which social justice and intergenerational responsibilities, such as those that affect climate change, will form part of daily political action, and we will soon be able to forget the speculation and excesses that all mankind has suffered in the last few years.

The World Now Has 7,000 Million Inhabitants

2011-11-22T04:58:00.001-08:00

All equal in dignity. All equal in dignity, but only 20% living in the “welfare society”, in the most prosperous neighborhood of the global village… The rest, the other 80%, live in progressive stages of desperation, surviving in situations in which they are frequently pushed to the limit.

The human race has doubled since 1969. It is true that birth rates have dropped in the majority of “developed” countries and there has been a general increase in life expectancy. In many countries birth rates have dropped below their death rates (that is, 2.1 children for each woman of child-bearing age). This is the case in Spain. The result is that world population is increasing an average of 1.1% per year, half of the rate in the 1960s.

As indicated in the November 7, 2011 “Weekly Foreign Policy Report”, the drop in birth rates in a large part of the population alleviates pressure on the environment, but generates other economic problems derived from an increase in dependence, that is, in the percent of active vs. inactive population. In 1950 there were 6 children under 15 years of age for every person over 65. In 2070 those over 65 will outnumber children under 15. In the next 20 years, the dependence rate will surpass the present one.

As an example, in 2050 40% of all Japanese will be over 65, and 50 % will be over 52, making Japan the most elderly society ever, with 3 dependents for every 4 adults.

At the beginning of the next century the world’s population may reach 12,000 million. Is that possible? Is it possible for them all to have access to water, food, medical care? Yes: It’s possible if there is radical change. If there is the “new beginning” foreseen in the Earth Charter. A new era in which words replace force, and outstretched hands replace those that hold guns.

Among other negative factors, “globalization” has made us forget the urgent problems of the environment. New world governance is essential.

The present inequalities are ethically inadmissible. A few have a bit of everything. But the majority frequently lives in unbearable conditions.

New energy, monetary, food and education policies are needed to ensure a minimum quality of life for all human beings.

7,000 million citizens subjected to the decisions of a few leaders of the G7, G8 or G20? No. We cannot tolerate a partial leadership, conditioned by economic aspects. A change of course is essential.

If not, as underscored in the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, man may be “compelled to have recourse to rebellion”.

Two-Speed Justice

2011-11-22T04:56:00.001-08:00

I’ve noticed that in several matters of interest to the opposition or initiated by them, judges have acted with great haste (the EREs in Seville, the “Faisán” and “Campeón” cases; …; the trial of Judge Garzón (!)…), in contrast to the postponements, adjournments, measures of all sorts –when they are the suspects and hold political office…- to delay the proceedings until the statute of limitations on the judicial action has run out.

We must do away with this justice system that, in contrast to the majority of respectable judges, has others who give more importance to political affiliation than to legal rules, while citizens observe with surprise –and embarrassment in many cases- that all “conservatives” act one way, and all “progressives” the other!

We should follow one of the recommendations of the 15-M movement: the procedures for appointing judges should be changed immediately so that, after a hearing and approval from Parliament, ideology is never again placed above the law.

An independent judiciary is an essential pillar of genuine democracy.

Careful! –because that’s the way it begins- … War with Iran?

2011-11-22T04:51:00.000-08:00

After “closing the door” on Iraq, another major objective of Israel’s is progressively being revealed: to attack Iran with the excuse that it may possibly produce atomic weapons (and what about Pakistan, China and India… in which it’s not only “possible” but true that they have nuclear bombs?...).

For many years now the great producers of weapons and oil (both a part of the world’s “great domain”) have been looking for an excuse for a confrontation with Iran, as was the case a few years ago when they used false accusations against Iraq. The oil reserves in Iran are as large as those in Saudi Arabia, perhaps even more so.

Since Israel doesn’t need to talk with the Pentagon to convince them, because Israel is in the Pentagon, there’s concern that something similar to the events of 2003 may occur: more and more news will be reported about the sinister intentions of the governments of these countries until it is finally decided to launch a military invasion, without the authorization of the Security Council.

But in 2011 or 2012 things won’t be the same as in 2003 when people were passive, frightened and silent spectators. Now millions of people in cyberspace will show their opposition.

All of us together can shortly put an end to these intolerable abuses for which rarely anyone is held accountable: deaths, disabilities, displaced peoples…

The voice of the peoples will become an invincible force…

A news item published on November 14 read: “The United States says that support is growing for military intervention in Iran”… “Israel has indicated that it may attack Iran on its own accord”… (“El País”, 10 November 2011).

“Iran’s nuclear challenge advances and the international community is powerless to respond… The best possible option would be an Arab air attack, led by the Saudis” (“ABC”, 13 November).

“London is preparing to assist in an attack on Iran… The United Kingdom would contribute planes and Tomahawk missiles on ships and submarines” (“Público”, 4 November).

And Israel has once again warned of the threat of Iran… “an enormous danger for the entire region”…

And, thus, while the magnates of the war business rub their hands with glee, thousands of people continue to struggle in the dirtiest and most merciless of all deadly wars: the war against hunger…

But this is of no concern to those who permanently support war (“If you want peace, prepare for war”)… For them, these are merely “collateral effects”.

No: the people should no longer allow this sinister abuse of power. We can no longer continue as mere spectators. The time to raise our voices has arrived.

The G8… G20 (the world’s wealthiest nations) have proved themselves incapable of world governance, including the economy. It is essential and urgent to re-found the United Nations. Only multilateralism can prevent armed conflict through dialogue and mediation, proceeding immediately to regulate and then ban atomic weapons. Mankind should not have to live even one more day under the threat of nuclear war. It is like dying from hunger, a collective shame. These are our real problems and not the speculative stock market fluctuations… these are the problems that affect humanity as a whole. These are our real challenges.

The Popular Party Candidate Mariano Rajoy has stated, “My first measure will be a message of austerity to the world”

2011-11-22T04:49:00.000-08:00

(“ABC”, 13 November 2011)

Doesn’t Mr. Rajoy know that over 80% of humanity already lives in such austere conditions that if he imposes this first measure, they won’t allow him to impose a second one?

For those he represents, austerity measures may be very relevant. But on a worldwide scale –since he is addressing “the world”- it’s unfair and incongruent.

If he was referring to the European economy, his measure would still be counterproductive because it is now evident than austerity measures alone will not create jobs, which is what he has announced from the rooftops that he intends to do. Who can create jobs in a western world of budget cuts and austerity? No one. And Spain even less so, due to the heavy burden of the corrupt real estate bubble that, added to the de-localization of production and financial speculation, has left a situation that cannot be mended by merely reducing the deficit and debt, but rather (and above all) requires creativity, re-localization of production and incentives for industry, especially small and mid-size businesses.

The solution lies in a democratic Europe capable of sharing, and with solidarity and leadership. Europe requires leadership that will facilitate a fiscal and economic federation, reduce military spending and rapidly create mechanisms for autonomous security to replace NATO and its demands, distancing itself from the “great domain” that is shamelessly harassing its member states. And to the point that the “rescued markets” have replaced democracy and now appoint and dismiss prime ministers.

The message that would make an impact, Mr. Rajoy, would be to announce that “Spain will contribute to the transition from an economy of speculation and war (4,000 million dollars invested daily in military spending while 70,000 people die of hunger) to an economy of sustainable global development, guided by democratic principles" (that are so clearly established in the UNESCO Constitution).

Moreover, you should convince those who are well-off to share more, applying austerity measures in their own lives, which would undoubtedly make them happier, since it is true that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

15-M/15-O… that 99%!

2011-11-22T04:47:00.000-08:00

I love the definition of the “outraged” in the Occupy Wall Street Movement: “We are the 99%!”. There are a few hundred “occupiers”, but a growing number of Americans are showing their overall support for the movement.

Protests or proposals? Like the 15-M movement –the global spark for the “dissenters”- these are citizens who are peacefully demanding radical changes, the reinstatement of democratic principles and, above all, equal dignity for all human beings. Everyone has the right to quality of life.

These are the “outraged” who participate and are committed. Via cyberspace they will achieve very specific successes by gathering numerous supporters for proposals that, for example, require banking institutions to prove that they do not have funds in tax havens, because otherwise they will withdraw their paychecks and savings from these “shady” institutions… Or by boycotting newspapers that commit serious offenses against the dignity of women, advertising the services of “first class” prostitutes… Or by boycotting products of companies that, for greed and irresponsibility, manufacture the majority of their goods in countries where labor is cheap, ignoring the conditions of their workers and a minimum of respect for human rights.

The “outraged” won’t accept leaders who don’t defend citizen participation, transparency, and health and education as public services.

In their demonstrations on Saturday the 13th they proclaimed that "our dreams don’t fit on your ballots", rejecting corruption and demanding a new electoral law. It’s clear that with respect to this topic they have already won and it’s unimaginable that new elections can be called under the current law, because hundreds of thousands of citizens will raise their voices in protest, either personally or in cyberspace.

Young people, the alienated, those who have remained silent for centuries now demand to be heard. Let’s hear them. Let’s listen. Together we can walk the roads of tomorrow.

PIGS

2011-11-22T04:45:00.000-08:00

Despite it all, the only country to-date that has escaped default and not required a rescue is Spain. Portugal, Ireland and Greece, the first objectives of the “great domain” together with Spain –the plural “s” in the term “pigs”- have already fallen into the clutches of the markets and are progressively being caught up in the whirlwind of a “vicious cycle” of budget cuts, deficit reduction, privatization, layoffs and decreases in public spending… without, moreover, being able to print more money (as the United States and United Kingdom are doing, having respectively announced the issue of 300,000 million dollars and 75,000 million pounds sterling).

And now the “I” of Ireland has been joined in the debacle by the "I" of Italy...

And all of this despite the Eurozone’s inability to create a fiscal and economic federation, issue Eurobonds, reduce military spending and establish an autonomous security system…

Despite the irresponsible real estate “bubble” and the hundreds of thousands of immigrants that it prompted, the majority without proper papers…

Despite not having received support at the most critical moment –May, 2010- from our principal opposition party, whose de facto leader, Mr. Aznar, continues to squawk about unemployment and the economic situation. In his multiple appearances in many different countries he has always devoted the most distressing epithets to describing the Spanish economy…

Despite his enormous efforts, this friend of Mr. Bush and co-invader of Iraq, advisor to Mr. Murdoch, media mogul, owner of huge gold mining enterprises and head of a foundation devoted to ensuring that people “adapt”(!) to climate change rather than moderating or preventing it… has not been able to see Spain add the “s” required to make “PIG” plural…

Great!

I am so glad!

Another deplorable interference of the Church hierarchy in conscience of citizens

2011-11-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

“Bishops urge voters to vote for parties that defend life and marriage”… “The Council of Bishops offers Catholics ideas that aid them in voting responsibly”… (headlines from the press published on October 22).

As was the case with education for citizenship (something that we, and they, so desperately need), the Church hierarchy is once again judging matters that are totally beyond their jurisdiction and the scope of religion, such as when they recognize “the moral legitimacy of nationalisms or regionalisms which through peaceful means are seeking a new form of unity within the Spanish State… although it is necessary to protect the common good of the Spanish Nation as a whole, avoiding the risk of manipulation based on any type of separatist or ideological claims”.

And there you are: they avoid manipulation by manipulating with affirmations that, in addition to being inappropriate in a democratic country with no official religion, are scientifically unsustainable. The history of the undue interference of religion in science is especially rich in episodes that stain the image of the Church and which would not have occurred if it had kept within its own intellectual framework.

I remember that in 1981 I had the honor of attending a session of the Pontifical Academy commemorating Albert Einstein, alongside Pope John Paul II. Many Nobel Prize laureates were present, including Severo Ochoa. Suddenly the Pope apologized for the Church’s unjust treatment of Galileo Galilei. When religion passes from metaphysics to physics, it runs the great risk of committing mistakes, he said. The same occurs –he added, because he measures each word- when science meddles in beliefs… He was probably referring to the book “Chance and Necessity”. “The Church doesn’t care whether the world is flat or round, or whether it rotates on its axis”, he told me… Severo Ochoa and the scientific community represented there were quite satisfied with the unexpected explanations that the Pope offered… which the Vatican has progressively been “putting into their context”.

In that regard, when speaking of defending life –which all of us want to defend, and not only birth, but throughout one’s existence- Father Martínez Camino didn’t forget to underscore “the danger of certain legislative options that do not adequately protect each human being’s fundamental right to life from conception until his natural death”. We scientists have given the origin of human life all of the attention it deserves. Pedro Laín Entralgo and Xavier Zubiri published very profound reflections on the subject. In the 1980s I also published a work concerning the implication of infertility treatments carried out with genes but not on genes…

Years later, in 1992, as Director General of UNESCO, I became alarmed at the possibility that genetic engineering could achieve the perverse goals of Hitler and Mengele that they hadn’t achieved with the genetics of Mendel. Thus I commenced a round of consultation with all of the specialists which, with the creation of the World Bioethics Council, culminated 1997 with in the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome, whose Article 11 specifically prohibits cloning human genes for reproductive purposes.

In 2003, Carlos Alonso Bedate, S.J. and I coordinated the publication of “Gen-Ética” (Gene-Ethics), a book that provides the data and knowledge required to address with scientific rigor subjects related to the fantastic progress made in genetics and the regulation of epigenetics.

For all of the above, as a believer and as a member of the Church “of the Gospel and the sandals”, as Bishop Pere Casaldáliga described it, I wish to express my most energetic protest against this new and intolerable interference of the Church hierarchy in the upcoming elections, addressing aspects in which the Council of Bishops has absolutely no jurisdiction.

They also referred to homosexuality (a subject on which they should maintain much discretion) and the Education for Citizenship course as questions to be considered when deciding one’s vote.

Education for Citizenship! To be “free and responsible”, in UNESCO’s definition of educated people, set forth in Article 1 of its Constitution. Let’s be free and responsible: after giving it due consideration, let’s vote for those who we believe will better enable all citizens to live according to their own conscience, without obedience or submission to opinions or ideologies that limit the greatness of each human being: his autonomy.

In the face of any imposition and obstacle, from any source, let’s endeavor to be free and responsible!

ETA: the end, at last!

2011-11-02T03:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday ETA announced the “definitive end to its armed activities”.

I feel very strong emotions, a bittersweet sensation, because the joy of this moment and the perspectives it opens are tempered by the memory of so many years of terror and atrocities. Never again! Will they realize, will we all realize that violence should never be used to defend our points of view? Will we forever retain in our minds and our eyes the images of so many lives destroyed by those who believed that their aspirations could be achieved by killing the innocent?

After 43 years of terror and 897 deaths, the terrorist organization is abandoning violence due to duly exercised pressure from State under the rule of law. Unconditionally. Total defeat. Democracy has triumphed.

A bittersweet feeling, such as the one I experienced in Chapultepec at the end of the conflicts in El Salvador, or upon initiating peace talks in Guatemala, because the bitterness of so many deaths and bloodshed tempers the joy one feels when the violence and threats cease. And all of the victims prompt a colossal question: after so many centuries, why do we always turn to war and to the imposition of force, always regretting it in the end, but always incapable of preventing them?

“Ours will be a democracy without terrorism, but not without memory”, declared President J.L. Rodríguez Zapatero, who has worked so hard to achieve the total demise of ETA.

Not without memory: we must all now turn our attention to those who have suffered directly, those who have suffered the most and are still suffering the consequences of terrorist acts.

Not without memory, because we must all now serenely seek conciliation and peace in our lives, in our streets, in our towns and cities, in our nations…

Our steadfast memory so that the secular culture of imposition, dominance, violence and war may give way, now and forever, to a culture of dialogue, alliance and peace.

To achieve the transition from force to words would not only constitute the greatest turning point in all human history, but also the commencement of a new era, a “new beginning”. From the raised fist to the outstretched hand.

There were not two groups in conflict here: there was a group against the people, against innocent people. Nor was there a “confrontation”, but rather gunshots to the back. Now, the end where before it was touch and go.

Not without memory, so that we will never again have to wait, amid unending tension and anxiety, for the terror to end.

No more fanaticism, dogmatism, or the obstinacy of those who always believe they are right. No more biased news.

We have to endeavor to listen and respect those who maintain positions diametrically opposite to our own.

It’s not easy for memory and redress to walk hand in hand.

“Building peace in the minds of men” is the great mission entrusted to UNESCO. Instead of “if you want peace, prepare for war”, we must all undertake to build peace in our lives daily.

Those of us who, under the skeptical and often hostile gaze of quite a few others, have for years worked to leave the future generations peace for themselves, on earth and with the earth, now express our deepest satisfaction at ETA’s “irreversible” decision.

And we seek to strengthen democracy and understanding with the memory of each and every one of the victims.

We also express our deepest gratitude to all of those who, often at the risk of their lives, have at last made the end of ETA possible.

International Peace Conference in Euskadi

2011-10-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

Who can possibly oppose this conference?

Who can provide any reasons for rejecting it?

After so many years of horror, isolation, desperation and so many victims, the end of the terrorist group may be near, its members and sympathizers being convinced that they will never achieve their objectives by force. The extremely firm and effective work of the police forces, under the decided leadership of the Government, has progressively debilitated ETA’s sinister operational capacity, together with a change in direction on the part of Basque radical nationalist groups.

Everything would appear to indicate that circumstances are now ripe for ETA’s dissolution. The Basque Country, Spain and the whole world would breathe a sigh of satisfaction as another chapter of extreme violence and brutality comes to an end. And everyone could then turn their attention to caring for those who have suffered most directly from the terrorist group’s terrible deeds.

The greatest consolation for the inconsolable victims would be knowing that there will be no more victims, no more irreversible suffering.

An international group of well-known personalities has decided to support the desires of the immense majority of Spaniards.

What ulterior motives lie behind opposition to peace in Euskadi at this time? Electoral fears? The fact that those who consider this event ill-timed are not playing a prominent role?

This can’t be. I can’t believe it. I would rather think that it’s unthinkable.

SHOW ME HOW

2011-10-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

I remember that in the 1940s, the end of each chapter of Father Astete’s Catechism on “the what” said: “And now, show me how”. And this is exactly what citizens –some more alert, others more distracted; some more active, others mere spectators…– should now demand of those who are soliciting their votes in the upcoming elections.

“Show me how!”

Because it is extremely risky to continue to trust those who at this late date have not announced their electoral programs (perhaps because they have nothing to announce) and continue to claim that they are going to create jobs, since this is totally impossible in the present circumstances in Europe (and the world over).

Because, how are they going to create jobs when the markets’ hounding of the Eurozone, with this colossal speculation fueled by biased rating agencies, forces governments to make all sorts of budget cuts in order to reduce their deficits within an excessively short timeframe?

How are they going to create jobs if, contrary to the situation in the United States and the United Kingdom, they can’t print money and “inject” funds to boost domestic production, innovation and corporate participation? How are they going to create jobs if they are forced to cut thousands of them and to halt public construction projects? How are they going to create jobs if the widespread delocalization of production is not reduced? How are they going to create jobs with the tax havens overflowing, and with runaway tax evasion and the underground economy? How are they going to create jobs if they continue to invest hundreds of millions of euros in military spending via NATO?

“Show me how”…

For example, tell me that they are going to resolutely contribute to a European economic and financial federation, and that they are going to issue Eurobonds, basically intended to promote activity and create jobs.

That they are going to regulate financial flows and firmly prosecute tax fraud and corruption; that they will not tolerate the immorality and shame of those who collect multi-million dollar fees and severance pay in the midst of so much job insecurity; that they will rapidly create Europe’s own, efficient rating agency….

“Show me how”…

Tell me how they are going to create jobs when they eventually take over the government at the national level, when they are presently incapable of creating jobs in the autonomous communities in which they are already in power…

“Show me how”…

Let them show how they intend to break the vicious cycle prompted by having replaced ethical and democratic principles by the “market”; world governance by groups of plutocrats and competence by speculation,… and all of this being particularly aggravated in Spain by the real estate “bubble” that irresponsibly brought a huge number largely undocumented immigrants to our country…

“Show me how…

They intend to overcome the immense incoherence of extreme austerity while increasing the number of workers without adequate incentives.

Mr Cameron, allied with the dollar and with the capacity to manufacture pounds sterling -75,000 million were announced on October 7, 2011 in the UK- is criticizing those in the Eurozone…

Merely a reduction of debt without growth? Europe, take note: President Obama proposes cutting the deficit by raising the taxes levied on wealthiest individuals and large corporations, and by reducing military spending and adjusting public outlays. He underscored that “This is not class warfare, it’s math”. The Republicans rapidly rejected the plan because it “tears down the social order” that they intend to preserve.

In June, 2010, Paul Krugman had already warned that “the deficit hawks have taken over the G-20”. The result can be found in some recent newspaper headlines: “The IMF demands that Greece fire 100,000 more (“ABC”, 20 September); “The IMF Assembly and the G-20 meeting: Resounding rhetoric, zero results” (Joaquín Estefanía, “El País”, 26 September); “Cuts in public spending undermine employment”, and “The Troika asks Athens to eliminate the minimum wage” (“Público”, 5 October)…

And, in addition, there are expressions of good will and purely generic proposals, without indicating how: “The Prince urges efforts to fight the deplorable youth unemployment” (“ABC”, 30 September) and “Rajoy suggests a profound institutional reform as a basis for creating jobs” (“ABC”, 26 September).

Moral and political reasons must prevail over economic ones. “Globalization” is coming to an end. Should we delay implementing the required measures until Germany and the emerging countries, including China, begin to realize that demand is decreasing?

How can we grow while trapped by the adoption of excessive anti-growth measures? The only way out of the crisis is up…

“Show me how”…

Because if specific action plans are not proposed soon, there will be many citizens, many more than one may imagine, who will not allow themselves to be deceived, once again, by empty promises.

Dare to do it!

2011-10-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

"They were despised because they could have done so much,
yet dared to do so little "
Albert Camus

-Dare to know

I remember when I went to Oxford in 1966 to work in the Department of Professor Hans A. Krebs, I was impressed that the seal of the County bears the saying from Horace "Sapere aude". Dare to know! Without knowledge, without a true knowledge of reality, we cannot preserve it, protect it or change it when warranted.

Knowledge as an initial requisite... but then it is necessary to use the knowledge acquired appropriately. The essential part of the diagnosis is timely treatment. We have to decide without delay. In our Laboratory for the Detection of Neonatal Neurological Disorders, which cause irreversible brain damage, it was essential to act before the point of no return.

In the book "Tomorrow is Always Too Late" I wrote in 1987: "Risk without knowledge is dangerous, but knowledge without risk is useless".

-In addition to daring to know, it is essential to know how to dare.

In this turbulent and confused era in which we live, which is the consequence of having committed the immense error of replacing democratic principles and ethical values for the laws of the market, it is essential and urgent to change our present course, to cure so many ills, to stop the dramatic worldwide loss of direction and to accelerate the evolution of events in order to prevent the revolution on the horizon.

Dare to do it. Reject the hounding from the great (economic, military, energy, media) powers and make things crystal clear.

Cease to make vain promises and react, especially in Europe, as follows (and merely as an example):

- Immediately restructure NATO, endowing the EU autonomy in security matters, and ceasing to acquire unnecessary and outdated military equipment.

- Fiscal and economic federation, and the emission of Euro Bonds, being careful not to exaggerate attention toward certain “locomotives” that run the risk of losing freight cars and passengers.

- Reasonable postponement of deficit deadlines, regulation of financial flows and the definitive elimination of tax havens.

- Balanced industrial relocalization.

-Incentives for R&D and innovation.

-Immediate return to multilateralism, endowing the United Nations system with the required human, technical and financial resources.

- Restoration of democratic principles and human rights at the center of all levels of government...

Dare to do it. It can be done. Rise up. Let’s not warrant the disdain of the coming generations to whom we owe a less somber future.

The Era of the GNP, intolerable, vulnerable, fleeting

2011-09-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

This isn’t the era of “the Peoples” that we imagined when referring to the United Nations System. Nor the era of educated, cultivated and participative citizens, capable of building genuine and effective democracies. Nor the era of creativity and knowledge as the basis for the economy and progress.

No: now everything depends on the GNP. Only the wealthiest countries come together to govern the world. The US and UK initially convoked only the richest: that was the G-6. They later added Canada to form the G-7. Then with Russia it became the G-8… Subsequently aware that the hegemony of a select few was a failure, the number was increased to 20 (twenty something…). And that’s how it stands today, while they attempt to steer clear of the storm. But a shipwreck is inevitable if they don’t rapidly include the people and build democracies at the local, regional and global levels, with a strong United Nations.

Democracy is the only solution. The GNP labyrinth can only be escaped from above, guided by universal principles that include and respect all human beings. We can’t continue to invest thousands of millions of dollars daily while thousands die of hunger each day, especially in those countries with low GNPs. We can’t continue with infinite greed to irresponsibly favor countries that despite their positive GNP rankings, are constantly and seriously violating even the most basic human rights. At the supranational level we cannot continue to allow mafia consortia to traffic in drugs, arms and people (!) with total impunity. Nor can we continue to permit tax havens to launder money of dubious origin.

The prediction is clear: I believe that maintaining this economy based on speculation, delocalization of production and war is the final gasp of a system that is on its deathbed.

Fortunately, citizens can now express themselves. Fortunately, the mobilization of the peoples will be led by the scientific, academic, intellectual and artistic communities that are aware of this reality and will not be sidetracked by those who, at all cost, seek to postpone the “new beginning” in which social justice and the great ethical principles will once again guide world governance.

The GNP may reflect a country’s wealth, but it does not reflect the welfare of its people. And now the people will finally cease to be silent and obedient spectators. The days are numbered for the era of the GNP.

“Not one more day”

2011-09-16T02:46:00.000-07:00

The West’s drift off course, hounded by the markets, must stop immediately.

The front page of the Sept. 3, 2011 “El País” announced that “the ghost of recession in the U.S. and the EU once again prompts drops in the markets” in those States such as Spain which, in order to safeguard them, have been obliged to introduce urgent changes, even in the Constitution, essential for intra-European unity but at quite a price in authority and prestige for the politicians subjected to the mandates of the global “great domain”.

On the 4th, the European Central Bank warned Berlusconi that he needs to make further adjustments… and former president José María Aznar, always so positive and opportune (!), declared that “Italy and Spain must admit that they have been saved”. It’s bewildering to think that the former president and current advisor to Murdoch may once again be able to influence national politics.

On the 5th the headline was “Fear of recession collapses the markets”. And on the 7th, to really prompt speculative attacks, the president of the World Monetary Fund, such a bearer of good news, warned of an “imminent global recession”.

Antonio Machado declared that “only fools confuse value and price”. Many government leaders were very foolish when they agreed to replace the values of democracy and justice with the laws of the market.

These articles, with their references to the sad public images of government leaders, hounded by biased stock market fluctuations that require adopting measures to reestablish the ethical principles that good governance requires, are accompanied by alarming photographs of the leaders of Europe and their associates dividing up the skin of the Libyan bear even before it has been captured, often with the percentages already calculated and with the sinister horizon of Sharia law, instead of a widely proclaimed democracy.

“The Italian ENI prepares for its return to Libya”… “The multinationals are once again fighting for a piece of the Libyan energy industry pie” (ABC, Aug. 29, 2011). “China is afraid of being excluded when the Libyan loot is divvied up” (“Público”, Aug. 31, 2011). “The struggle for oil sullies the Libya Summit in Paris” (“Público”, Sept. 2, 2011)…

…And “The UN agrees to release frozen Libyan assets”.

The United Nations sought to save the lives of the Libyan rebels. Through NATO this “protection” has grown into to an overt and decisive participation in the struggle. The Sept. 2 “El País” announced that “The world gives its blessings to the new Libya…”. “The world” means the countries convened by President Sarkozy… and among them, the Secretary General of the UN. Contrary to what would be desirable, it isn’t Sarkozy in the UN but rather the UN in Sarkozy!

More democracy and less “marketocracy”, in the clever but also correct reference to the ever-increasing impact of “the markets”. It is clear that the unemployment rates won’t drop in the U.S., Europe and Spain (especially due to the enormous real estate bubble, prompted by “the greed and irresponsibility of a few”, in the words of President Obama) because all of the cuts work against the creation of employment (not to mention the excessive delocalization of production).

How can they “stimulate consumption” with budget cuts, privatization and decreases in public investment?

How can we regain confidence, if the markets only allow us to continually reduce margins and possibilities for citizen initiatives?

How can the WMF demand greater stability when its predictions immediately prompt instability?

But of course, the wealthy take advantage of these fluctuations to buy low and sell high when the markets have logically recovered from their losses…

It is essential – not one more day!- to make an about-face:
1) In the EU:
i) autonomy in security matters and an urgent reduction in military spending; allies of the U.S., yes, but not subjects of the U.S. through NATO.
ii) economic and fiscal federation, creation of a European rating agency, issue of Eurobonds and outright elimination of tax havens;
iii) agreement on major plans for renewable energies and regulation of oil consumption and prices;
iv) joint international cooperation projects to contribute to providing all human beings with access to food, water and sanitation and health services;
v) moderation of the delocalization of production, with strict control of working conditions and respect for human rights in the manufacturing countries;
vi) coordination of human and technical resources to address natural and manmade catastrophes at the regional level;
vii) proclamation of the democratic principles that should guide political action, promoting participation and listening to the people, particularly through virtual communications media (cyberspace), ensuring not only unrestricted freedom of expression, but also access to accurate information for all citizens, regulating the standardizing excesses of the huge media powers…
2) In the U.S.
i) In the bitter decline of hegemonic claims, promote alliances, particularly with regional associations, and share experience and knowledge to guarantee world governance through an urgently-reinforced United Nations.
ii) Urgently lead nuclear disarmament, to facilitate a future free of atomic threats, and rapidly reduce arms sales, especially of those intended for past conflicts, developing new security technology that reflects present needs.
iii) Fully integrated within the new United Nations System, endow the WMF, WB and WTO with the necessary authority to put an end to speculative attacks on the dollar zone, euro zone and the yuan zone, promoting a world economy based on sustainable development, so that those who still cling to the idea of maintaining the “great domain” will be convinced of the inexorable need to contribute, now, to the commencement of a new era…
3) At the global level
i) As I have already often had the occasion to underscore, we can no longer delay an emergency meeting of all countries to re-found the United Nations, to make it capable, with the authority conferred upon it by the support of the great majority of nations, of efficiently addressing the great challenges that arise at any time: Libya, Syria, Yemen… the Israel /Palestine conflict… terrorism, supranational trafficking in arms, drugs, people…
ii) With the United Nations at the helm, “a new beginning” would commence, characterized by agreements and alliances. China, India, Latin America, Africa… must play a role that will brighten the horizons of our future generations.

This is our greatest commitment.

Not one more day.

Disarmament and modernization of Defense strategies

2011-09-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

Bravo! At last the Spanish Ministry of Defense has reacted and has risen to the demands of democratic governance: "We shouldn’t have acquired systems that we are not going to use, with money that we didn’t have", declared the Secretary of State for Defense in August, 2011. To honor commitments and alliances –especially NATO, which should for once and for all be channeled into a European security system, allied with but not dependent on the U.S— particularly under the previous administration, Spain acquired large stocks of weapons that we neither needed nor could pay for. They are weapons “for conflict situations that no longer exist".

Giving the pertinent orders to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, over a year ago President Obama announced the design and implementation of a new security strategy to address more quickly and efficiently new types of conflicts, which since the Viet Nam War have proven to require new modes of combat and materiel.

But the power of the huge war machine industry is not so easily dissuaded.

A year ago (September 13, 2010) the International Herald Tribune warned of the negative effect that global recession would have on the arms trade. In 2009 there was a 8.5% decline and “only” 57,500 million dollars worth were sold. The U.S. represents 40% of the world’s market. The best clients are the countries of the Middle East and Asia. (Where do the Gulf States put so many aircraft?) Because almost simultaneously, the largest contract for airplanes ever signed was announced with Saudi Arabia: 60 billion dollars.

After the U.S., the biggest arms merchants are Germany, Italy, China and the United Kingdom.

Right now the Pentagon is calculating whether it will finally be possible to produce the F-35, the most expensive military aircraft in history, to be manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The Pentagon still intends to purchase 2,443 F-35 within the next 25 years, for a total of 382 billion dollars. The Secretary of Defense has warned that there must still be further cuts in materiel and logistics, and that the U.S. cannot continue to assume 75% of NATO’s costs. The European allies invest a maximum of 2% of their GDP in military spending, while in the U.S. it is 5%.

Weapons arsenals have historically been perceived as an indication of a nation’s security. Security that is indeed important, but which is normally considered as the opposite of peace. “If you want peace, prepare for war...".

The time has come to prepare for peace. To “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war", in the words of the Preamble to the United Nations Charter.

New strategies... ceasing to sell or to oblige others to buy expensive weapons for out-dated wars.

Arms! Arms! Can nothing mitigate the shameful hunger, the collective embarrassment of extreme poverty, neglect and indifference? And on a worldwide scale, as if it were unquestionable, security receives thousands and thousands of millions, while peace and human dignity are tossed a few scraps, and more from charity and the kindness of citizens than from justice, as the duty of the State.

Lately the use of unmanned combat planes, the "drones" is being considered. Drones and hunger! Death by hunger, death by drones. By hunger, every day. By drones, once in a while.

The famine in the Horn of Africa had been foreseen. Warnings from institutions of the United Nations System and NGOs have been falling on deaf ears for quite some time... But nothing. Nothing can stop the immense war machine, one of the fundamental pillars of the “great domain".
The use of unmanned aerial systems has resulted in a situation in present conflicts in which rather than soldiers, the victims are principally civilians. And according to The Economist (July 30, 2011) in the last few years the Pentagon has increased its production of drones by 13 times (a minimum of an additional 5 billion dollars annually). They say that armies will progressively use machines instead of people. Predator and Reaper drones, equipped with the latest technology and controlled from thousands of miles away can undoubtedly be useful in many conflicts, and especially against terrorism... provided that the lives of the civilians in the countries in which they are deployed are considered to have the same value as the lives of soldiers of the countries that use them.

I believe it is appropriate to include here a paragraph from Paul Kennedy’s book “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers”: "…wealth is usually needed to support the military power and the military power to acquire and protect wealth. If, however, too large a portion of the state's resources is diverted from wealth creation and allocated instead to military purposes, then that is likely to lead to a weakening of national power over the longer term. In the same way, if a State overextends itself strategically --by, say, the conquest of extensive territories or the waging of costly wars-- it runs the risk that the potential benefits from external expansion may be outweighed by the great expense of it all, a dilemma which becomes acute if the nation concerned has entered a period of relative economic decline"...

So, bravo for the clarity with which the Spanish Defense Minister has begun making “cuts” that may, in addition to having beneficial internal effects, contribute to putting the “great military domain” in its place... With renewable energies we will soon tame the “great energy domain"... And later the media domain, and the economic domain...

Yes: with the help of virtual mobilization, we may very well be on the verge of the “era of the people".

THE INSATIABLE MARKETS

2011-09-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

Will they also take over “alternative” sources of financing, such as the “Tobin tax,” intended for the fight against hunger and poverty?

We must not allow it.

That would be the last straw. With the present balance of power, particularly in the West, we have been forced to reluctantly accept that our weakened States have yielded to the “great domain”, to prevent serious insolvencies that objectively shouldn’t have been allowed, using funds for social projects to pay the debt, deficit reduction… to, in short, satisfy the demands in quantity and time of a system that has lost its course and is in its final death throes.

But now, in addition to the present ones, what we can’t allow is for new “actors” to take the stage to sacrifice themselves in the mob of speculative trading prices, incited thoughtlessly by rating agencies that obey their master’s voice. No: alternative sources of financing must be used as soon as possible to fulfill the duties of international solidarity that the States have neglected, and to be applied to the Millennium Goals. This is a matter of international justice. As long as we continue to be absorbed with stock market fluctuations… while we continue to spend astronomical amounts of money on out-dated war materiel… while we are still at the mercy of the great oil producers without adopting urgent measures concerning the renewable energy sources that our responsibility to future generations demands… while we continue to blindly follow the biased and partial information offered us by the immense stifling and standardizing powers of the media… we will fail to exercise the influence that democratic citizens should, so that our representatives may counteract the hounding from the markets and make policies based on justice and human rights.

Somalia is dying

This distressing photography was published on the first page of “El País” on August 14:

Safia Adem, a refugee in the Cathedral of Mogadishu, mourns the death of her three-year old son. This is the image that we should all bear constantly in mind. These are the real needs that frenetic stock market fluctuations cannot hide.

If these funds are devoted to helping so many people who currently live below the poverty level all over the world, including in the United States, there would be more potential “clients”, there would be a true mobilization of resources to transcend from an economy of speculation, exploitation and war to an economy of global sustainable development.

Not long ago, Marco Schwartz quoted President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he defended his New Deal social program in October of 1936: “We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace –business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.”

It’s time to make some key decisions

One of the results of the recent French-German Summit was the proposal of a tax on financial transactions to resolve the depletion of the European countries’ treasuries and, thus, to be able to address the enormous deficit and resulting debt that has lead us to this current crisis and, especially, the rescue of the international financial system initiated in 2008 at the irresponsible prompting of the G-20.

Faced with this situation it is extremely urgent to remember that the proposal of this type of taxes has been a central issue of discussion in civil society and in academia over the last few decades and with a very clear goal: the fight against poverty and in favor of sustainable development for the less fortunate, as well as contributing toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

This was originally a proposal that the American professor and Nobel Prize in Economics James Tobin made in 1972 after having developed a series of mechanisms to levy a minimum tax at the international level (between 0.05% and 0.3%) on all transactions involving currencies and financial instruments (shares, bonds, derivatives)… Thus, on the one hand a significant amount of funds would be generated to be devoted to the fight against hunger, poverty and the great pandemics (AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, etc.). On the other hand, that tax would in part help reduce the speculative nature that currently characterizes the majority of these operations.

We have tirelessly defended the adequate implementation of this type of alternative financing for years and from different institutions, but particularly from civil society: the Ubuntu Forum , the ATTAC movement or the recent "Robin Hood Tax"…

It is important to underscore that since 2004 these ideas have been echoed by a considerable number of associate States in the Pilot Group on Innovative Financing for Development. This group is lead by France, but enjoys the direct participation of other countries such as Japan, Brazil or Chile, and is presently presided by Spain. It also works in designing other proposals for innovative financing, and has conducted studies by groups of independent international experts that demonstrate their viability from a technical standpoint.

In addition to the foregoing we might mention the support received this March from the European Parliament and the letter published this April signed by over 1,000 economists from prestigious institutions such as the Universities of Harvard, Columbia, Oxford, Cambridge o MIT, among others.

Thus, this is a matter of political will and, above all, justice.

For the reasons indicated, it is indispensable and urgent to take measures to address the debt crisis, not only on the part of France and Germany, but on the European level as well. But we absolutely cannot allow this initiative to be implemented, once again, at the cost of continually breaking our promises of aid and solidarity.

A tax on currency transactions and other financial products is an imperious and just necessity, as the previously-mentioned terrible images arriving from the Horn of Africa remind us.

Thus, let’s undertake to work to ensure that the decisions and measures taken in Europe in the short and medium term are not guided by the same instincts of greed and short-sighted vision that has led us to the brink. For once and for all, let us act sensibly and firmly.

This must be stopped, resolutely and with the strength that the conviction of the great majority of citizens affords (and to certain political leaders: please ignore for now your partisan and electoral interests), because as Irene Lozano wrote, “the greatest threat to individual autonomy resides in the weakness of democracy vis-à-vis financial power”.

Don’t trust the G-20 or the WTO… whose “rounds,” such as the one recently held in Doha, have proven to be totally ineffective. They are another bitter fruit of globalization. Let’s return urgently to a strong, democratic, non-plutocratic and united United Nations!

It was already in the news in September, 2010 that the European Union was considering the possibility of levying a tax on transactions to improve its tax collecting capabilities. A European Commission document proposed two types of taxes: a financial transaction tax (FTT) and a financial activity tax (FAT) levied on business volume. A more restrictive version (FTT2) would only tax trading in stocks and bonds.

Now, in October, the European Commission will present a legislative proposal prior to the G-20 Summit, applying a 0.05% to transactions, together with a new Community VAT “to finance the EU budget for 2014-2020, with a view to reducing direct contributions from Member States”.

The Netherlands and Ireland have asked that it be applied not only in Europe, but globally, to avoid “the enormous distortion that this would produce”.

Not long ago, Antonio Valdecantos warned that “adjustments made in the crisis are going to constitute a permanent state of siege. The crucial decisions are no longer made by the citizens or their governments, but by those transnational economic agents known as “the markets”.

We can’t attempt to promote growth when the major objective is to reduce the deficit, urgently and at all cost.

The 255 greatest fortunes of the planet are equivalent to 40% of the most disadvantaged of the world’s population (2,500 million people) . It’s clear that we can’t allow this new action on the part of the insatiable markets.

Civil society must raise its voice through institutions such as ATTAC, which have been created precisely to promote this new type of alternative financing mechanisms, and especially the tax on financial transactions…

We won’t allow this. It would be other dream that they’ve taken from us… and since 15-M we all know that “if they won’t let us dream, we won’t let them sleep”.
------

1 Schwartz, Marco, in “Público”, 20/08/2011.
2 Forum created by the Culture of Peace foundation in 2000. I wish to express my appreciation to its director, Manuel Manonelles, for his collaboration in the preparation of this blog.
3 Missé, Andre in “El País”, September 7, 2010
4 News from “El País”, August 19, 2011.
5 Valdecantos, Antonio in “El País”, June 2, 2011
6 Población, Félix in “Público”, August 19, 2011.

WITHOUT DELAY: a “new beginning” worldwide

2011-08-30T02:56:00.000-07:00

“Civilization on the arms of mercenaries”
Georges Moustaki in “Declaration” (1973)

Globalization has thrown the world off course. We have not met the serious challenges involving food, healthcare and the environment on which the quality of life of each human being depends, while at the same time:

• Speculators and rating agencies of dubious quality have provoked a chain reaction of turbulence in the worldwide economy that solely benefits the “great domain(energy, financial, military, media)”, with floods of news that shamefully conceal the genocide of thousands of people who die each day of starvation or who live in extreme poverty.
• This perfectly orchestrated hounding from the markets has progressively hindered political action, making it impossible to implement well-planned social and economic programs and tarnishing the image and careers of good leaders while, as a result of limitless greed and much incongruity, countries that are often dictatorships are hoisted into the limelight, converted into the “world’s factories” in which, as usual, production and huge profits for the “delocalizers” prompt them to look the other way, ignoring the citizens’ poor labor conditions and lack of human rights.
• Military spending and investment in weapons (which are largely inappropriate for the present conflicts) continue as if nothing had changed, and “security requirements” prompt many countries lacking in social services to acquire extremely costly war machinery: it is estimated that each day our confused and disoriented world invests 4 billion dollars in this sector, continuing to unduly promote a culture of imposition, violence and war, without providing for the peaceful conflict resolution. The first transparency that should be demanded is an accounting for these formidable expenditures, which are totally unjustified.
• The democratic principles so lucidly proclaimed in the UNESCO Constitution have been replaced by the laws of the market, prompting profound social inequalities and absolutely inadmissible living conditions for a large part of the world’s population.
• Attempts at world governance by groups of oligarchs from the world’s wealthiest nations have likewise yielded deplorable results: as was to be expected, the G7, G8… G20 haven’t been able to impose their policies on all of the countries of the world. The hegemony sought by President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher implied reducing the United Nations system to a mere humanitarian aid agency. But at the 2010 Seoul Summit it was clear that the G20 was incapable of providing adequate responses to this grave crisis.
• “Your silence is killing us”, screamed citizens willing to give their lives for freedom in Syria only two weeks ago, without so far having forced the dictator to cease crushing their protests with bullets. And Islamists have occupied Tahrir Square in Egypt demanding that Sharia be implemented… With these examples it’s clear that the only thing the groups of plutocrats are doing to resolve these serious problems is to make a fool of themselves, and at the price of so many lives!
• In the last few years, as passive spectators we have contemplated in horror invasions –Kosovo, Iraq…- prompted solely by the interests of the invaders, resulting in countless victims, disabled, displaced… with serious violations of human rights (torture, etc.). At present we are witnessing the incapacity of western governments, and especially the European Union, to address situations such as those that have arisen in Libya, Yemen, Syria… and which must urgently be resolved.
• Tax havens and generalized deregulation have enabled traffickers in drugs, arms, patents, money and persons to act with total immunity worldwide.
• Etc., etc....

In view of the foregoing and being acutely aware of many of our present circumstances that are not always obvious, in order to prompt the beginning of a new era I feel it is my duty to urge the adoption of a series of decisions that may counteract the “great domain”, regaining the progress achieved in so many areas in favor of all mankind.

President Obama could lead this historical turning point, using the G20 to urgently bring together all of the countries of the world into the United Nations to:

1. Immediately:

- With broad support, appoint a single negotiator to resolve the conflicts in Libya, Syria, Yemen and other similar ones that may arise.
- Worldwide aid to relieve hunger and poor living conditions in the most impoverished nations (Haiti, Somalia,…).
- Support for democratic transition and monitoring of judicial processes (reactivating the International Court of Justice and other international courts).
- Global regulation of financial flows (the WMF and WB being duly authorized and endowed with reference rating agencies).
- Total elimination of tax havens.
- Incorporation of the World Trade Organization within the United Nations System.

2. Immediately thereafter, implementing a constitutional process within a United Nations, endowed with the composition, structures and personal, financial and technical resources required to carry out its activities worldwide:
i) General Assembly 50% being representatives from member states and the other 50% being representatives from international institutions and organizations, and persons elected by national and regional associations, in previously agreed percentages.
A system of weighted voting would be used in deliberations of the General Assembly and in all United Nations institutions.
ii) A reinforced Security Council with balanced representation based on the countries’ current “specific weight”, with broad capabilities for mobilizing and coordinating (blue helmet) forces.
Among others, it would perform the following principal functions:
- Nuclear disarmament and the reduction of arms production. Development of new techniques in consonance with present challenges and their corresponding military strategies.
- Surveillance of the military arsenals of all countries.
- Fighting terrorism through global provisions, prohibiting the existence of “sanctuaries”.
- Rapid culmination of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, as one of the top priorities for world stability.
- Worldwide coordination of the means for rapid response to natural or man-made catastrophes, reducing the impact of the former and preventing the latter to the extent possible.

iii) Social and Economic Security Council
- International guidelines for proper monetary balance. World Bank for development, preventing exploitation. The currency wars must be ended and atypical rating instruments eliminated.
- Economies of global sustainable development, with access to water, food, health and education for all human beings.
- Observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Strengthening of genuine democracy: freedom of expression and right to accurate information, with adequate regulation to prevent the undue power of the media.
- Motivation of courts of justice worldwide to ensure full effect and respect for the rules of international law.
- Restructuring of delocalization to ensure that the profits prompted by greed do not conflict with environmental requirements or obscure poor working conditions.
- Promote multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence based on the essential ethic of equal dignity for all human beings.
- Prevention of supranational criminal trafficking, particularly those involving drugs whose consumption (as is the case with other products harmful to health, such as alcohol and tobacco) would become the exclusive responsibility of the consumer, with the corresponding awareness-raising campaigns, so that what is now a serious security problem may be redirected toward its real status as a health issue.
- Taxes on electronic financial transactions.
- Strict national regulation of privatized public services.

iv. Environmental Security Council
- With warranted compensation, worldwide implementation of new behavior and consumption patterns to moderate or prevent present tendencies that damage the environment, with special urgency afforded potentially irreversible situations.
- Support, scientifically oriented, of renewable energies and sources with low or zero emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which will subsequently enable more rational use of oil, an energy resource legacy that we shouldn’t deny to the future generations.
- Climate change must be made an indisputable global priority, so that the planet’s habitability won’t be compromised in the future.
- Special attention should be afforded to the oceans.

For all of the foregoing, in addition to the people involved in implementing these decisions, there could be a group of advisors of recognized worldwide renown.

“When an opportunity passes, it’s useless to run after it”. In this huge whirlwind we are perhaps now being afforded an opportunity to facilitate the transition from a secular culture of dominion and violence to a culture of dialogue, alliance and peace. That great transition to the force of the word that will mark a “new beginning”.

The future must be invented. Let’s not miss our chance to do so.

The stock markets rise, fall,… speculators are hounding us… And those who are starving? And the environment?

2011-08-30T02:54:00.002-07:00

For everyone, especially in the West, there is only one topic at the national State level: the economic chaos prompted by Reagan and Thatcher’s globalization. And, in the meantime, social inequalities and the number of people without minimum sanitation and healthcare are increasing, extreme poverty is growing, and famine has been officially declared in the Horn of Africa. These were deaths foretold, which have been consistently ignored by those who are only interested in financial fluctuations.

And nothing has changed: tax havens continue to overflow, drug trafficking and arms sales are rampant, and the United Nations system is being progressively weakened while groups of the wealthiest nations (G7, G8, G20) pathetically make fools of themselves…

The courageous decisions that the world urgently demands have not been adopted and, as I never tire of repeating, the outcome is more tragic each day: 4 billion dollars invested daily in arms and military spending while in a silent and ignored genocide over 70,000 people die of hunger.

This situation is unbearable and should weigh on the conscience of all citizens of the earth. It’s time to say “enough!”.

In the last gasps of a system off course and faced with the winner-take-all attitude of the “great domain”, decisive action is essential from those who are still capable of recognizing that democratic principles must now firmly prevail over the “markets”.

The policies of the groups of plutocrats have been a resounding failure (witness what is transpiring in Libya, Syria, Yemen); it is also essential to rethink dirt-cheap manufacturing in the “world’s factories”, where labor conditions are totally ignored; disarmament, based strictly on new global security strategies, is a key factor in reestablishing economic balance in the world, as is the price of oil and, for environmental reasons, the rapid deployment of renewable energy sources…

Some of the “emerging” countries that were until very recently subjugated, are winning the battle, while the West’s loss of prestige is pathetic.

Thus, let’s stop the battle between the dollar zone and the euro zone and rapidly reach nationwide agreements between conservatives and liberals, republicans and democrats… because if we don’t, world leadership will soon be assumed by others who are not yet prepared to play a role of that nature and scope.

The day before yesterday President Obama reacted with great resolve against speculative threats from the “great domain” made through rating agencies whose impartiality leaves much to desire. Let’s hope that Europe reacts accordingly, and in a genuine emergency meeting adopts deep-cutting decisions involving economic federation, security autonomy and the re-founding of an efficient United Nations system with global authority…

We must put an end to the speculators’ current embarrassing spectacle that is being played out while we shirk both our social and environmental responsibilities to the future generations.

Outraged against the “Outraged”?

2011-08-30T02:54:00.001-07:00

To the contrary, we are thankful for and inspired by the peaceful and positive “outraged” who offer proposals and freely express their points of view.

But with the violent “outraged”, no. Never.

Peaceful “outraged”, yes. It was about time. Gandhi said, “Peace is the way”. And now, for the first time, this road may be traveled without having to seek permission from the “powers that be”.

The Popular Party’s Deputy-Secretary for Communication Esteban Gonzalez Pons has stated that “Many Spaniards are becoming outraged against the “outraged”. I believe that even more are becoming outraged with those who, moved solely by their ambitions for power, never contribute anything, not even a little cooperation when it’s for the benefit for society as a whole, and at especially critical times.

Iran, China, Tunis, Egypt… Spain… Italy… and now Israel… it is clear that a new era of participative democracy is irreversibly dawning, thanks to the civic emancipation provided by new information and communications technology. In 1994 it was already possible to perceive and announce that the secular era of silence was over.

We are counted in the ballot boxes. But democracy doesn’t consist of being counted once in a while, but rather being constantly taken into account.

From the onset, the reaction to the “outraged” from non-progressives, from those who think more of themselves than of the present and future of the people, has been very much reticent. They continue to cling to the G7, then to the G8 or G20… while global and regional governance worsens and becomes more arbitrary, while the West continues off course for having sought to achieve total hegemony.

It’s clear that most of the promises that they make over and over again will be impossible to achieve without radical changes: How are they going to create jobs if, as was also the case in Portugal and the UK, they continue to believe that neo-liberal policies are the best? How are they going to create jobs if they accept as inevitable cuts in social benefits and public employment, interruption of public works projects, rampant privatization and delocalization of production to countries where labor is dirt cheap?

Thread by thread. Strand by strand, citizens who are now aware of their recently-acquired capacity for action will weave an immense web of solidarity around the world and will accelerate economic and social evolution. Let those who are “outraged against the outraged” know that fortunately the end is nigh for fragile democracies, with their political leaders weakened by the “great domain”.

The “outraged” will no longer tolerate this and -with all of the inconveniences that popular mobilizations may occasionally provoke- now that they can freely express themselves via Internet and mobile phones, they will peacefully but firmly propose in Spain and gradually elsewhere genuine democracies with active and transparent parliamentary representation (can we continue to accept parliamentarians who hold multiple jobs, or Euro-Deputies elected by less than 20% of voters?); and they will demand that political party programs include the appointment of high court judges with verifiable objectivity, professional standing and commitment demonstrated before a full session of parliament after the necessary nomination hearings; and that within a given term banks demonstrate that they no longer hold funds in tax havens, since otherwise many depositors and consumers will no longer trust them or acquire their products…; and that industrial delocalization be reduced, limiting greed and taking into consideration employment conditions in other countries and, above all, the environment…

And so on: rating agencies in the European Union, rejecting speculation and the hounding of the markets, rapidly adopting a system of economic federation; a new, urgent structure for the United Nations, displacing once and for all world governance by groups of the wealthiest countries (G7, G8) that has prompted so many conflicts; and once a strong United Nations system has been achieved, the initiation of a process of disarmament, as well as global ecological policies…

Having broken the silence of fear and submission that has always kept the people on the fringes of power, the “outraged” may make the 21st century the century of the people. I expressed this wish years ago. Today –thanks, Stéphane Hessel- it may become a reality. And that would really take the wind out of the sails of those who are outraged against the outraged (in reality, it already has)…

"The end of a cycle”... The beginning of what?

2011-07-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

Today "El País" published a “special” editorial indicating that we have reached the “end of a cycle”, and affirming that early elections must be held immediately. They believe that even November will be too late. What’s the rush? How can this urgency be justified at home and abroad? With the present economic crises in both the U.S. and Europe, with the markets dictating political policy, with media powers that have fallen into discredit, with G-8 or G-20 plutocrats’ total incapacity for world governance, and with such serious problems in Libya, Syria,...

But above all, what is the forecast for Spain at this “end of cycle”? The same as for Portugal, the United Kingdom, Greece or Italy... that is, additional budget cuts, more privatization, total obedience to the “great domain” (military, economic, energy, media)? What are Spain’s alternatives? Are there really programmes of possible solutions? Because the “evidence” provided by the governments of several Autonomous Communities are hardly promising, given their excessive spending, prevalent corruption, etc.

I sincerely believe that the time has come to sit down and seriously analyze our great challenges together, to decide what can really be done at the local national, European and global levels, free from haste and disinformation from so many biased communications media, and with the responsibility of statesmen representing the citizens of Spain who are likewise citizens of the world, compelled to restore the democratic principles that globalizers replaced with the rules of the marketplace, while for the moment ignoring our differences and ambitions, as with a patient who requires intensive care.

Let us consider with all due objectivity how Spain can contribute to resolving the colossal (social, environmental, food) problems posed at the “end of cycle” of a system that sought to take the reins of humanity common destiny with so much tragic “collateral damage”! And now, as in 1989 with the Soviet regime, it is all coming to a resounding end, without our having seriously agreed on the formulas to apply in building a future to reflect the dignity of all human beings, which the coming generations demand and deserve.

When it’s time to take important, clear and collectively relevant decisions, it is neither wise nor advisable to allow individual grudges to blur our vision of the future.

A global “end of cycle”… And then what?

A local “end of cycle”... And the beginning of what?

To be or not to be. That is the question...

More market and less State, the “vicious cycle”…

2011-07-27T03:59:00.000-07:00

The “globalizers” not only intend to achieve dominance but hegemony: the markets, aided by the masses hypnotized by the colossal power of the media, have progressively weakened the capacity for political decision-making. Governments have not only transferred huge quantities of all types of resources to large supranational consortia, but with the complicity and urgency of the “bubbles” and delocalized production they have also ceded, at the national and global levels, executive responsibilities that should be exercised by democratic institutions.

The G-6, G-7, G-8 or G-20 groups of rich countries have usurped worldwide powers and authority that only the United Nations can and should assume, with the support of all of its member states.

And thus, this total lack of governance, completely deregulated economy, irresponsible financial institutions (hedge funds) and overflowing tax havens prompted a systemic crisis in 2008.

Although President Obama had already been elected, in November of that year Europe turned instead to President Bush, rather that finally taking the reins of its own governance. And the result was more of the same –“free market, free trade, free economy”, said Bush on that occasion- proceeding to “rescue” the financial institutions that were to a great extent responsible for that serious situation.

The impoverished “rescuers”… were soon thereafter subjected to the hounding of the ungrateful “rescued” who imposed upon them national, regional and global “adjustment” mechanisms. A genuine “vicious cycle”, since government spending cuts and privatization –leading to less State- decreases prospects of creating employment and economic recovery, while the rating agencies, working in favor of the “great domain”(military, energy, media…), warn that forecasts are (logically) negative… So the cycle starts again: additional adjustments, increased privatization, more budget cuts…

We must immediately break this vicious cycle. It is essential to once again endow State with the capacity for action and the economic strength to enable them to urgently commence the “new era” that the world so justly demands. If democratic governments don’t soon take this step, the people certainly will, since they now have means for mass mobilization.

The time for manipulation, blackmail and fear has come to an end. The last stubborn representatives of this faltering system should be reminded of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the markets should peacefully give way to State and to the values that should never have been traded for a price.

We’re being classified, rated, standardized… This has gone too far!

2011-07-27T03:31:00.000-07:00

Financial ratings, academic rankings, educational qualifications, scientific quantification… partial reports, biased evaluations that are immediately released and often exaggerated in the communications media, and we can’t contrast them with our own evaluation criteria or with results from truly impartial observatories at the local, national or EU level…

As examples, the following recently appeared in the press:

-“Acropolis Now”, is the title of an article published in The Economist on May 1, 2010: “The Greek debt crisis is spreading. Europe needs a bolder, broader solution—and quickly… Germans need to understand the risks to their banking system and their prosperity… Stemming Greece’s debt crisis is less an act of charity than of self-interest... Thanks to extraordinary incompetence, Europe’s leaders have almost ensured that the Greek rescue failed before it began.”

-“Salgado and Ordóñez defend the banking system vis-à-vis market debt. Moody’s believes the sector may need 100 billion Euros in the event of recession. The Bank of Spain explains that and European politicians ‘contribute’ to the markets’ attack on sovereign debt…” (El País, 14 December 2010)

-“Moody’s thinks Spain is vulnerable and threatens to lower its rating” (ABC, 16 December de 2010)

-“In permanent crisis. Moody’s threat to lower the debt rating punishes the delay in reaching an agreement on financial reform” (editorial from El País, 16 December 2010)

--Last year in December it was already being said that “Europe is reacting: positive messages to protect the Euro with additional capital for the ECB and a rescue fund…” “This time is different: it is irresponsible to leave the future of the European Union in the hands of the markets” (José Ignacio Torreblanca, both articles in El País, 17 December de 2010)

-“S&P torments Portugal by lowering its debt to just one step above junk bonds” (ABC, 30 March 2011).

-“S&P puts the U.S. on notice and extends the sovereign debt crisis to the other side of the Atlantic… The agency lowered the country’s outlook to “negative” and threatens to cut its rating if it does not reach an agreement to reduce budget deficits soon” (ABC, 19 April 2011) In its response the U.S. Treasury underscored that S&P underestimates the ability of America’s leaders to come together to address the difficult fiscal challenges facing the nation.

-“Doubts concerning Greece punish Spanish debt and bring downturns in the stock markets” (El País, 19 April 2011)

--It doesn’t matter whether citizens trust their political leaders if the markets don’t: “The markets still don’t trust the Spanish financial system… They don’t trust the figures... They doubt that financial institutions are sufficiently capitalized in view of the weak real estate market and the poor perspectives in that sector” (IDEAL, 20 April 2011)

-“Upheaval in the markets… The markets punish Greece and Portugal” (El País, 22 April 2011)

-“For Greece there’s no other way than to apply strict austerity measures,” declared Jean Paul Trichet. “Greece must privatize 50 billion Euros and cut over 150,000 public-sector jobs”. (El País, 15 May 2011).

-“The Social Democrats have been forced to implement conservative policies” (Manuel Cruz in El País, 15 May 2011)

-“The insatiable greed of speculative markets and rating agencies” (Mario Soares in Diario de Noticias, 17 May 2011). “The EU must urgently amend its development model: if it doesn’t it could face an irreversible downward spiral and even disintegration”.

-“S&P cuts Catalonia’s rating again, due to its high tax debt" (El País, 20 May 2011)

-On 21 May 2011, El País quantitatively expressed “the risk of ‘countries on the periphery’ as the percentage of 10-year bond yields with regard to PIGS: the worst, Greece (16.2%), then Ireland (until recently cited as a “model” in MBA programs) with 10.1%; Portugal with 8.9%; and Spain with 5.5%.

-“Moody’s deals Greece a further three-notch downgrade, given its risk of default” (El País, 2 June 2011)

-“The EU and the IMF will provide a second rescue to save Greece from bankruptcy” (ABC, June 2011)

-“The European Parliament proposes ending the rating agencies’ oligopoly” (Público, 7 June 2011)

-“Moody’s affirms that Catalonia puts Spain’s deficit target at risk. The agency believes that the central government lacks the ability to enforce discipline on the regions” (El País, 7 June 2011)

-Yesterday, July 7, on the front page of El País: “Europe raps rating agencies after Portugal downgrade. The EU accused them of fueling speculation and anti-European bias; the debt premium has soared to highs in the weaker euro-zone states”.

-Also in yesterday’s El País, there was an article entitled “Confidence Betrayed: Moody’s unfair downgrading of Portugal renders the creation of a European rating agency imperative”.

-Yesterday Público underscored: “Brussels alleges that the rating agencies are fueling speculation. The German Finance Minister calls for limiting the agencies’ oligopoly; UGT accuses these institutions of “revenge” and CCOO affirms that they represent very important interests in the financial sector”.

-And today, 8 July 2011, Público published the following: “Suspicious ratings… To regain institutional confidence, strong measures must be taken against these agencies” (B. Boye) In the same newspaper, “Montoro defends the rating agencies”…

-In El País, “The ECB supports Portugal against the rating agencies. The markets appear to be the greatest enemy of popular sovereignty, which is the foundation of democracy”…

Who is the “rater” behind these agencies, who issues these ratings as he pleases?

--The foundation of democracy! We’ve even included the “markets” in our constitutions (Article 38 of the Spanish Constitution)… and now we’re complaining. And not even the EU dares to reject the rating agencies because the “markets” won’t tolerate such insubordination…

This has gone too far! As I like to repeat, the European Union must urgently apply the “creative efforts” extolled by Robert Schumann in 1950 when establishing the foundations for the Treaty of Rome. Creative efforts in economics, in labor, in autonomy, defense and security, in the creation of our own rating and monitoring institutions, as warranted, in order to strengthen democracy… which is founded on the voice of the people. And the voice of the people is now being heard…

“Adrift, like the Titanic….”

2011-07-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

We are living in turbulent times, because there appears to be no alternative to our present course, no other way, no way out. “We don’t have a contingency plan”… And we are progressively approaching the worst stage, of inflexibility, of fatalism. We have to reduce deficits; we have to obey the dictates of the “markets” (and, in that regard, who is actually “the market”?). And we must do so within fixed deadlines (why can’t these deadlines be postponed until the economy recovers, since the present government leaders aren’t usually those responsible for this situation?).

Everything has to be privatized, weakening countries even further and it’s already been demonstrated (and with so much social upheaval!) that this isn’t always the best solution. And the number of government employees must be cut back (but hadn’t we agreed that more jobs should be created?).

It doesn’t matter that some countries have come close to revolution, including a country that until just recently was cited as an “example to follow” in university MBA programs. It doesn’t matter at all. Government leaders can’t see anything other than rating agencies, nor do they listen to initiatives other than those proposed by the markets.

I’ll never tire of repeating that Amin Maalouf has warned us that “unprecedented situations require unprecedented solutions”. But never mind, we are still bent on punctually offering yesterday’s answer to today’s problems, because if we don’t we’ll be punished by the markets.

The “globalizers” –market economy, plutocratic oligarchy, delocalization of production, arms, supranational trafficking, oil…- continue to rale, dominating the scenarios of power. And plans for a knowledge-based economy of sustainable global development; the re-founding of a strong United Nations with Economic and Environmental Security Councils… and renewable energies, now!… are being postponed indefinitely.

We need to “make an about face”. Some world leaders must certainly do so in view of the resounding failure and total ineffectiveness of the G8 and G20, with conflicts –Libya, Syria, Yemen…- that are completely out of control….

Yes, especially in Europe, we have collided with the remains of huge iceberg (the “great domain”) and the Titanic is beginning to sink while, just as in real life, the orchestra continues to play “Fascination” with its persistent and determined dancers… while the ship capsizes.

But we’re still in time. As long as democratic principles prevail, serenely, firmly, over the markets.

Stop the war in Libya and procure a truce in Yemen and Syria, while unanimously endorsing the United Nations as sole negotiator

2011-07-15T04:26:00.000-07:00

Syria, Yemen… are now beyond the reach of the groups of plutocrats that decided to attack Libya for reasons that no longer seem to matter.

Neither is the present United Nations efficient, being used sporadically to their convenience by the same States that for years have alienated and weakened the UN.

On many occasions I have written that it is urgent to “re-found” a united United Nations, with weighted representation in the General Assembly (50% States; 25% institutions; 25% civil society), as well as in the Security Council (for Conflicts and Catastrophes); a Health and Environmental Security Council; and a Socio-Economic Security Council...

But until an Extraordinary General Constituent Assembly is decisively convened, it is now extremely urgent to convene all countries to grant the United Nations the role of sole negotiator, to duly resolve the present conflicts that will not be resolved by force.

Thus we must proceed to:

-Stop the war.

-Reach the urgent agreement of all countries to endow the United Nations with the authority to act as sole negotiator in Libya, as well as in Syria and Yemen.

-Facilitate with the utmost urgency the call for the abovementioned meeting of the General Assembly.

Before coups d’état were a threat. Now the threat is from “coups de marché”

2011-07-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

(Leonel Fernández, President of the Dominican Republic)

Although frequently enjoying foreign support, those traditionally participating in coups d’état were local people, well-known or at least identifiable. It was thus possible to adopt preventive and corrective measures against them, no matter how well they were entrenched.

In contrast, the “market” is a faceless power. It is the fruit of a great relinquishment of attributes –not only economic- in processes of privatization so highly considered by the spokesmen and beneficiaries of globalization as a remedy for all ills, and which when excessive in magnitude and competences have, to the contrary, produced almost irremediable diseases. Faceless and rootless power with its far-reaching tentacles, represented in the "great domain" (financial, military, energy and media) alliance that hounds democracy and obstructs social policies, using inadmissible speculative maneuvers, without any of the intended regulation or closing of tax havens, alienating the United Nations (in favor of groups of plutocrats, G8, … G20, placing the World Trade Organization outside of the scope of the UN) and acting with complete impunity at the supranational level (tolerating all types of trafficking, mafias, flags of convenience on merchant ships, uncontrolled destruction of the environment…).

In summary, weak states and strong “markets”.

If a re-founding of the United Nations System is not decisively undertaken to endow it with the representation and authority that is now more essential than ever; if rapid action toward emancipation in the European Union is not taken and the “creative efforts” to which Robert Schumann alluded in 1950 remain unleashed; if strong states and compact and committed regional associations are not quickly and efficiently achieved… the world’s drift off course will be unstoppable.

The values of social justice cannot be replaced with impunity by the interests of the marketplace; there can be no good governance from a position of submission to the insatiable voracity of the “markets”.

Let no one be deceived: if these worldwide trends are not radically reversed, the promises to create employment and promote welfare for today’s beleaguered citizens will be pure demagoguery, used to keep the present forces in powers… and the next day to continue to subject citizens to the “whims of the markets”.

To "create employment", but how? By making even further budget cuts, as the European Union is once again demanding of Greece, which is on the verge of bankruptcy and revolution? By also further cutting public employment and the construction of major infrastructures? By further privatizing the last state-owned enterprises that are still economically viable? By selling off territories in Africa or in the Aegean?

Either the states react once and for all, establishing an order and deadlines for what must be changed; eliminating money laundering; setting up their own rating agencies and regional observatories; and endowing the United Nations System with moral authority and real power… or the states will all succumb to the “coups de marché” as President Leonel Fernandez has so lucidly predicted.

From “adjusters” to “adjusted”

2011-07-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

For decades the world’s most prosperous countries replaced aid with loans granted in draconian conditions, known as “structural adjustments”.

In effect, to receive those loans the recipient countries had to fulfill three requisites: privatization, reduction of staff, and the building of infrastructures (which in these “developing” nations were built by the lending countries).

On several occasions I expressed to UNESCO members States my total disagreement with such demands that benefited the donors more than the borrowers.

The “reduction” in public employees was applied above all to teachers and professors!

In 1969 when I was rector of the University of Granada and Spain was still an “underdeveloped” country, I was requested to receive a significant World Bank loan for vocational training in eastern Andalusia.

Knowing all of the demands that the loan recipients had to meet at the onset of negotiations, and without entering into details, I must say that after two years I decided to expel from my office a numerous delegation from the World Bank that had come for a third time to Granada from Washington to continue to “work on” the different stages in the process. The humiliation to which we were constantly subjected by the Bank’s bureaucracy was totally inadmissible. Given the reasons I expressed, the minister at that time –Mr. José Luis Villar Palasí- supported my decision.

But now the tables have turned and the countries that just a few years ago imposed “adjustments” upon developing countries are now being “adjusted” and must make multiple budget cuts, privatize, and reduce the number and salaries of their public staff…

And if we look closely we can see that the powers behind the structural adjustments are the same ones that are now imposing adjustments on formerly rich countries and are manipulating the rating agencies to their liking.

From “adjusters” to “adjusted”. We have to better learn our lesson quickly. And take action.

Peaceful action for the triumph of citizen participation

2011-07-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the first democratic elections in Spain after a long period in which ballot boxes were few and far between. It is a day to remember and to render a special tribute to those who to achieve that transition gave great bits of themselves voluntarily, lucidly and with much solidarity. For the first time in many years we experienced the joy of seeing that the will of citizens could be freely expressed. And yesterday, in Barcelona 34 years later, thousands of people demonstrated in front of the gates of the Catalan Parliament.

The strength of the peoples is in their numbers, in the calm but firm proclamation of their desires, of their protests and their proposals. The peaceful demonstrations that have extended since May 15 from the Puerta del Sol to the plazas and streets of so many Spanish and foreign cities is a source of satisfaction, because it was time to cease being passive spectators, manipulated witnesses and distracted recipients to become actors, protagonists and participants. From subjects to citizens.

In the early 1990s when modern communications technology and especially internet and mobile phones first provided citizens with distance participation capabilities, it became clear that these are fascinating times and that the 21st century could finally be the peoples’ century, the century of genuine democracy, which constantly hears and acts upon the voices of the peoples.

Real democracy isn’t necessarily the one that exists, but rather the one that accurately reflects the will of the people. I have frequently repeated that in elections (and I always vote because this is one of the pillars of popular representation) our votes are counted but often we don’t really count, we’re not taken into account. Especially when, as is presently the case, both the written and audiovisual communications media transmit severely deformed versions of reality and of what actually transpires.

There is undoubtedly much room for improvement of democracy at the local, national and global levels. But it was previously very difficult to participate. Now it no longer is. Thus it is quite logical that, very soon, hundreds of thousands, even millions of citizens from all countries will express their agreement and disagreement, their projects and proposals through internet, using its huge capacity to convene and mobilize. This will benefit democracy because the will of the people will limit the markets’ and the rating agencies’ current hounding of government leaders; it will reform electoral laws where needed and will close down tax havens; it will transform our present economy of speculation and war (4,000 million dollars a day in military spending) to an economy of global sustainable development; and it will promote the education that will enable us to give a sense of direction to our lives and to act based on personal reflection.

But all of this will come with peaceful action, never with violence or conflict. In Madrid and in many other parts of Spain the behavior of both participants and observers has in general been exemplary. I truly hope that from now on the same can be said of Barcelona. Let’s hope that after 34 years democracy in Spain can be renewed. Let’s hope that the initial image of the 15-M movement prevails to guarantee the triumph of citizen participation, a contribution that will be made without the use of force.

The 15-M movement may mark the turning point in an evolution away from the inertia of applying yesterday’s formulas to resolving the problems of today. Evolution enables us to change what should be changed and to preserve what should be preserved. The alternative is revolution and (as I enjoy repeating) the difference between the two is the “r” of “responsibility”.

The future has yet to be written. Let’s be capable of inventing it.

"An ounce of prevention..."

2011-06-15T01:31:00.000-07:00

Immediately after the defeat of President Jose Socrates in our neighbor to the west, the press announced that “the rightists in Portugal will increase austerity measures”... Privatizations, deeper cuts, more unemployment, bowing to the rating agencies... because with the Eurozone, and especially PIGS, the markets won’t rest until everything falls into the hands of the huge international financial consortia, including China and the petroleum-producing countries.

Much has been said about “creating employment”... but, how? No one knows. For the moment what everyone is announcing –in Portugal, and on the horizon in Spain- is further obedience to speculators, the survivors of the globalizers’ “shipwreck” that were rescued by the G-20 and are now incessantly hounding their innocent “rescuers”.

Greece has been obliged to privatize to unthinkable limits, including proposals to sell some of its islands in the Aegean! And to what avail? The markets continue to show a lack of confidence in the European Union and mercilessly attack its socialist governments.

While the corporations in some countries, which have delocalized a large part of their production, reap considerable benefits, governments are continually being forced to make additional cuts. Some countries can make their own money, while we in the Eurozone are making a fool of ourselves. Brussels is giving PIGS even more homework. President Obama and Chancellor Merkel believe it is essential to take measures to stabilize European economy. But without discussing disarmament, the autonomy of European security, or the re-founding of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to ensure that they faithfully fulfill the missions for which they were created in 1944.

And the environment? And the fight against hunger and poverty? And the urgent reorganization of the United Nations, united and strong, to once and for all replace the groups of plutocrats whose incapacity has already been sufficiently demonstrated?

Of this nothing has been said. Absolutely nothing.

What the boss says, goes. And today the markets and the shameless rating agencies are the boss...

Of PIGS, only Spain is left standing. But if we don’t shape up soon, the market will win here too. The unfounded alarm sounded in Castilla La Mancha (by those where the situation is catastrophic in regions where they govern) and the irresponsible declarations concerning Spain’s solvency, immediately orchestrated by Moody's, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, clearly show what will happen in Spain if social justice is also finally replaced here by the market.

We must react. Now, before it’s too late for an ounce of prevention, and we are forced to provide a pound of cure...

"The Pending Evolution"

2011-06-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

I am extracting below some of the comments I made in my prologue to Jose Monleon’s book to be published shortly under the abovementioned title, which is extremely timely.

- Whether they choose to recognize this or not, in the last few months we have experienced true “leaps” forward in history that may catapult us toward “new principles”: post-neoliberalism (that will restore us to an economy once again guided by social justice and based on global sustainable development, with strict international financial regulation and the elimination of tax havens, while at the same time “relocalizing” much of our production and curbing military spending); post-religious fanaticism, with respect both to Islam and other faiths; and post-plutocratic hegemony, bestowing on the United Nations system the authority that it requires for its executive and preventive activities.

- For that reason I like to repeat that we are experiencing a formidable transition toward genuine democracy, thanks to distance participation and cyberspace. From the Puerta del Sol, words will finally prevail over force, extending to all of the “plazas” in all corners of the world, with millions and millions of world citizens and internet users not only outraged, but also committed, not only protesting but also making proposals. This virtual tidal wave is unstoppable.

- In this book Jose Monleon raises his voice and offers his knowledge and experience to achieving the imperative radical changes that must be peacefully but firmly made. He fulfills the “supreme duty” (Pedro Salinas) to continue steadfastly, in spite of it all.

The greatest enemy of evolution is inertia, which seeks to resolve today’s challenges with yesterday’s solutions. Evolution or “revolution”, with the continually undesirable risk of violence. I like to repeat that the difference between the two is the “R” of responsibility. And that unprecedented situations require unprecedented solutions.

Now, from the Plazas to Cyberspace. Now, Personal Commitment and Proposals

2011-06-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

Now, very soon, there will be multiple periodic mobilizations to maintain the debate and reach accurate conclusions to be reflected in the demands of thousands and thousands of internet users: this will be the greatest force for achieving real and visible changes in the short term.

For example:

-Electoral reform, clearly indicating that candidates accused of criminal offenses cannot run for office. Millions of internet users would support this propusal.

-Independent communications media. The present situation is one of intolerable partisan obedience, which immerses citizens in profound disinformation. It should be clearly indicated that after a reasonable time period the citizens will no longer buy periodicals of this nature or newspapers featuring ads for prostitution, nor will they buy products advertised on “dependent” TV channels or radio stations.

-Total autonomy for the judiciary. Political parties should not have the power to appoint judges, and the appropriate measures should be taken to immediately ensure judges’ absolute impartiality and that their decisions are based solely on professional criteria.

-Elimination of tax havens. Within a sufficient timeframe, citizens would withdraw their funds from financial institutions that behave unethically and that are linked to tax havens.

Other specific proposals –concerning “rating” agencies; the market’s harassment of the Eurozone and its governments; re-founding an efficient United Nations for world governance to rapidly replace the groups of plutocrats (G8, G20); etc.- These could be announced after one or two of the previously mentioned proposals, or others that may be decided, have demonstrated the strength of virtual mobilization.

Now, to maintain the immense interest already shown, 15-M must be continued in cyberspace, to achieve the support of millions for its proposals.

The "Worldwide Democratic Spring "...starts at the Puerta del Sol

2011-06-01T01:31:00.000-07:00

"We did it

because we didn’t know it was impossible"

At last the Peoples are taking the reins of their common destiny into their own hands.

The "virtual tidal wave" continues to roll: Iran, China,... Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Yemen Syria,... Italy, the United Kingdom, Iceland...

From the zero kilometer mark at the Puerta del Sol a clear, firm voice has been heard the world over. That’s the way Maximo saw it in his excellent cartoon published on May 20 in ABC, which contrasts with other opinions concerning M-15 that appeared on the same day in the same newspaper:

"We’re not anti-system. The system is anti-us". This is what needed to be underscored from the beginning: It’s unacceptable to continue to be mere spectators, passive witnesses of what occurs around us. It’s time for action, to agree and disagree, to protest and make proposals. Above all, proposals, because there are many problems to be resolved.

The dreams of the peoples! It was about time that “the Peoples”, mentioned in the first paragraph of the United Nations Charter, could express themselves freely and serenely". If they don’t let us dream... we won’t let them sleep", said thousands of citizens gathered in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, and likewise, quickly, in other cities in Spain and the world.

"It may be that Europe commences in the Puerta del Sol". And this may even spread far beyond Europe, through the unlimited cyberspace, to the rest of the world. It’s time to sleep just enough, to rest only as needed. It’s “time to rise up”, in the words of José Ángel Valente.

If we take stock, the final figures showing the results of “globalization” are catastrophic: an economy of speculation and war (4,000 million dollars daily in military spending while over 60,000 people die of hunger). Social inequality, neglect and all types of discrimination have not been addressed in the broad forum of the United Nations, because since the 1980s they have been careful to alienate the UN, replacing it with groups of the world’s richest countries.

This systemic crisis requires bold responses. With Amin Maalouf I like to repeat that “an unprecedented situation requires unprecedented solutions".

Real Democracy, Now... The "realists" –who’ve never changed anything because they accept reality- insist on saying that what we have is "real" democracy... forgetting that for many people "real" means “true”, “authentic”, “genuine”, the one we should have, the one we will have from now on because, as was predictable, distance participation will enable us to permanently hear the voices of the people.

Evolution or revolution. That is the question. The best solution is an active, permanent evolution in which what should be changed is changed, and what should be preserved is preserved. That’s Mother Nature’s evolution.

I was impressed with the proposals made and the firm conviction to continue to seek ideas from all of those who choose to join this great movement. It’s fundamental to continue 15-M in a radial expansion extending to neighborhoods, cities, regions, countries... to the world as a whole, thanks to information and communications technologies. The “virtual tidal wave” will be the beginning and the road toward that other possible world that we all desire.

In "Los alrededores del tiempo" Rafael Guillen wrote, "Being a man is resisting. / Being a man is consciously committing / the sin of lesa immoderation".

Josep Maria Antentas and Esther Vivas wrote, "to be prompted to fight not only requires unrest and outrage, one must also believe in the usefulness of collective action". With specific proposals concerning the markets, energy, the communications media, re-localization of production, disarmament, alternative sources of financing (electronic transactions, for example)...

And many millions of internet users suggesting, supporting and building a new democracy. Many of today’s “impossibles” will be reality tomorrow in democracies that are really the expression of the constant voices of citizens and not only of the partisan obedience, reactive emotion, disillusion, or written and audiovisual media that only express their “master’s voice”.

The current political representatives were elected based on generalized disinformation, claiming that the ballot box can replace justice and that certain alternatives (never clearly stated) will resolve our serious economic problems and unemployment. But nothing concrete has been proposed to address the deregulation of financial transactions; nor the speculation prompted by rating agencies; nor the elimination of tax havens; nor the lack of solidarity of the underground economy; nor delocalized production; nor the war economy; nor the urgent need to fight poverty and hunger; nor world government by the wealthiest countries that, as the last strongholds of globalization, continue to fail, causing serious “collateral effects”; nor renewable energies and climate change; nor a total rethinking of the fight against drug trafficking; nor...

At this time 15-M didn’t affect the votes that were already decided, but it will greatly influence the general elections, because none of the representatives of the holy marketplace and speculation, and those who fail the tests of transparency and solidarity will not receive the support of the citizens.

Those hands will be the invincible weapons that will peacefully and with all resolve build the future that the human condition deserves.

It will be the new beginning.

The “Virtual Tidal Wave” and the Upcoming Elections. “Free and Responsible” Citizens…

2011-05-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

That’s how the first article of the UNESCO Constitution defines educated people. Free from fear, superstition, ignorance and arrogance, and responsible, aware of their surroundings, willing to commit themselves to the present and future generations, but refusing to be deceived and distracted, preferring to act upon their own reflections. To be –as I have always insisted- full citizens and not subjects; actors rather than spectators.

In that regard, for years we have insisted on the importance of citizen participation for the consolidation of democracy, so that we can be taken into account not only by our votes in elections but also continually by our political leaders, since this is precisely the definition of true democracy: to continually take citizens’ opinions into account and not only when they cast their votes every X number of years. Vote, vote, certainly, to comply with the essential civic duty to ensure that parliaments and governments reflect the true will their citizens, without partisan impositions. But, above all, to gradually create a new type of citizen who can continually and finally express his opinions freely in cyberspace, without restraints.

For years we’ve seen this coming but, as usual, all indications were ignored. The impact of virtual participation should have alerted our political leaders and guided civil society, which was experiencing a new awakening of citizen power. But the former have been so preoccupied with the market crises and the latter overly distracted by the great media conglomerates that they didn’t realize that we now live in a new virtual world until the tidal wave arrived at their doors.

What’s been called an “Arab spring” or “Arabic democratic revolt” is in reality the commencement of a worldwide “spring”, a new beginning that must be peaceful, but that must ensure that the voice of the people is heard at the municipal, regional, national and international levels. Listen to them; understand them; take care of them…

Genuine democratic institutions –all power emanates from the people- should appreciate this new capacity for participation, so that parliamentary practice, the word, can serve as the basis for the other possible world to which we aspire… and that now is becoming a reality.

At the same time, on the planetary level a re-founded United Nations, with broad popular participation (“We, the Peoples”) and a Security Council with extended powers over the environment and economy, so that we may comply with our supreme commitment to all generations, leaving a worthy legacy to all of our descendents.

A virtual tidal wave… “free and responsible citizens”… serene but firm evolution through concrete and urgent action –eliminating the groups of plutocrats (G8, G20…), regulating financial flows and immediately shutting down tax havens; reestablishing solvent political action, preventing prevalence and harassment by the markets; social justice …. All of this will enable us to shortly overcome the present systemic crisis, so that –and it’s worth repeating- this will not only be an era of change but rather a change of era.

“What’s happening?”

2011-05-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

Teachers remain silent at the announcement of “new educational measures”, especially by the Madrid regional government

Everything that concerns education, which is truly the key to the future based on equal human dignity and social justice that we all desire, deserves special treatment on the part of the authorities.

Before changing present guidelines they should consult with:

a) Above all, the teachers of the students in the grades, courses and ages affected by the projected reform, to ascertain their opinions, which is fundamental for any provisions they intend to adopt. The experience of educators should be a determining factor, supporting any possible change with a broad majority.

b) The parents’ associations, gathering the points of view of those who really attend the meetings, since the participation of fathers often leaves much to be desired. And sporadic or prompted reactions don’t count. The responsibility for educating our children cannot be fully transferred to the schools nor be guided by electoral, ideological or religious interests.

c) National and international persons and institutions of recognized and impartial prestige in education methodology.

If it’s not done this way, the educational models will soon suffer new changes… that are especially detrimental to students and in some cases irresponsibly frustrate the careers of many people…

Education must be above any political debate. A national consensus, which I thought was reasonable, was finally rejected… and now, as attractive bait for the upcoming elections, a series of proposals are being offered that for the sake of education I hope will not later be implemented, which is usually the case.

In general terms, it’s scary to think that they can actually eliminate education in democratic citizenship and human rights, the cornerstone of any education that enables us to “sensibly conduct our own lives” and act upon our own convictions.

And they continue to believe that a teacher’s authority is greater based on the height of the platform from which they teach… when in truth it’s exactly the opposite: a teacher’s authority increases when he “descends” to the level of his students, when he knows them well and “personalizes” his teaching to the greatest possible degree.

And, referring more specifically to the Madrid regional government, apparently giving families more freedom to choose the school their children attend is actually a covert means of achieving segregation, favoring those who have the means and conditions for sending their children to semi-private schools (which, don’t forget, are substantially financed from public funds). This matter is presently well regulated and it would be dangerous to add “privatizing variants”.

Or extending the “other” segregation: separating the “intelligent” children from the “less intelligent” ones… ignoring the unambiguous opinion on the matter of the world’s most reputable educators. We must stimulate emulation, encouraging exchanges and friendships between the best students in certain disciplines with the best in others… The decision to “separate” so many students at a given age, right before they experience considerable changes in their behavior, motivation, learning capacity, and interests… is a serious error. And later it turns out that this categorization was erroneous… and the experience can have a long-lasting negative impact.

In the “new era” emerging in cyberspace, there are no social or material limits to encounters. Ideas, attitudes and creative capacity are what really count.

Although I do not condone the idea that “anything goes” and I have very serious and long-established reasons for not doing so, I can understand that an “anything goes” attitude generates aggressive campaign ads during turbulent elections.

What I can’t understand is the silence of all of those who, peacefully but firmly, should express their opposition: especially teachers. What’s happening?

Only a “(Re)United Nations" could still be able to provide a solution

2011-05-23T04:58:00.000-07:00

"Impotence of the West" is the title of an editorial published today (May 9, 2011) in the “Opinion” section of El País.

It underscores that "The Syrian regime is crushing popular protest while ignoring sanctions imposed by the US and EU".

When will they realize that their leadership role has come to an end and that the United Nations (that they have weakened) must now be urgently and categorically supported by all of its member states?

The confusion created in Libya with the intervention of NATO, authorized by the Security Council solely to prevent civilians from falling victim to the outrages of Colonel Gaddafi, armed to the teeth by those who now attack not only his military positions... presently extend to Yemen and Syria, where popular uprisings are being brutally repressed.

And I insist: there can only be one negotiator, the United Nations, with all of the moral authority conferred upon it with the unanimous support of all of the world’s countries.

The EU has enough just trying to free itself from the tyranny of the markets... Let’s hope that its member states realize that the “cuts” they should make should commence with a reorientation of their defense mechanisms and autonomy.

The well-known reactions –which are truly cynical judging from the events of four days ago- of imposing economic sanctions and embargos on arms sales (!) and bank accounts in tax havens located in the heart of Europe (!!) have absolutely no effect and reflect the need for a radical change in world order, after this grave systemic crisis that the “globalizers” have refused to acknowledge.

"The West, an impotent witness to the massacre", for the reasons so well analyzed in this article.

But the present UN isn’t adequate either.

There’s only one emergency exit: a (Re)United Nations!

URGENT: Syria, Yemen... It is essential to support the United Nations as the sole negotiator now... and not later!

2011-05-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

I am insisting on this matter because for some time now the “leading” nations, grouped together as the G-8 or G-20 have registered resounding failures –at the price of so many lost lives and so much suffering- when exercising a role that only the United Nations can successfully play, with the support of all countries, without exception, thus demonstrating the UN’s capacity not only to resolve, but also to prevent conflicts.

Above all, to prevent them... because as I’ve often said and am now repeating, there’s no longer any way to stop this “virtual tidal wave”. After, or simultaneously with the Arab countries will come the countries that are being hounded by the “markets”, that with their economies of speculation, corruption and war continue to hinder the implementation of the social policies for which we have fought so many years.

To take preventive measures and enlighten our present confused horizons –because it’s clear that no one leads “democratically” in the world and that plutocracy is destined to disappear in the immediate future- so that regional alliances (USA, EU, League of Arab Nations, OAS, UNASUR...) can promptly regain their purpose and place in a world that urgently needs to recover its lost ethical values and assume its social, environmental, food… responsibilities, before the oppressed and alienated, who yearn for a transition from force to the word, become desperate and decide that they too must resort to force.

It is not possible to continue in this present state of confusion, reflected in the following news items that have appeared in the last few days:

-"The Gulf States are negotiating immunity for the President of Yemen", (article by Ángeles Espinosa in "El País", April 22). What countries? What guarantees are the insurgents being offered? Who will back these agreements?...

-"NATO’s Strategy in Libya" (article by Enrique Vega in "Público", April 22). Operation Unified Protector intends not only to prevent Gaddafi’s military triumph but also to specifically ensure that additional territory doesn’t fall to his control... especially focusing on Bengasi, headquarters of the oil companies that must continue to export their crude. "To protect civilians", reads the United Nations Resolution. Does this include “rebel” civilians, or only “non-combatants"?

- According to Laura L. Caro, in "IDEAL", April 21, “Gaddafi proposes free elections in six months if NATO agrees to halt its military operations”... To whom is he making such a proposal? What are the diplomatic channels used and the veracity of this proposal?

- "Syria Simulates an Opening to Democracy ", by Enric González in "El País", April 20.

All of these news items reaffirm our conviction that it is absolutely essential to immediately choose a valid negotiator with the support of all countries, especially those who in the last few years have distinguished themselves in their efforts to achieve “globalization”.

It’s clear that we can’t accept additional rating agents at the service of the “great domain”, nor continue to buy products from countries who, forsaking the solidarity of their past, now claim to be “ethnical purists”, as is the case in Finland.

Only if we stand united in all our diversity will we be able to change the course of present events. Only with the United Nations. Only with renewed, particularly moral, authority will we be able to regulate cash flows, eliminate tax havens and put some semblance of order in supranational transactions, which are presently dominated by sinister traffickers who act with total impunity.

We cannot permit countries that now so rightly accuse the Libyan dictator to continue so un-rightly with their irresponsible greed, filling the arsenals of other “potential” autocrats with last-generation weapons.

Together, we can. The urgent answer resides with in the United Nations.

Urgent: preclude military intervention in Libya employing all possible means of peaceful conflict resolution

2011-05-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

It would be very dangerous to once again resort to force, in principle, but also because in this case we shouldn’t underestimate Muammar Gaddafi’s military capabilities.

They are quite well known to those who until just a few days ago were selling him armament. In Sirt in September, 1999, along with the majority of African presidents and ambassadors from many European and Eastern European countries, I had the opportunity to witness a formidable “demonstration” of the immense military capabilities amassed by Libya at that time: French fighter planes, thousands of Japanese tanks, armored vehicles on parade against the backdrop of the sea, many types of rockets and missiles...

Military action on the part of the West would create a serious precedent and would have negative effects, possibly undermining the liberation movements already underway in the Maghreb and in the Arab world. We need to talk. We’ve just witnessed the terrible results achieved in Kosovo and Iraq.

In that regard, we should think before quickly accusing Gaddafi of crimes against humanity. After so many deaths and the precedents of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram... it’s difficult to accuse some while exonerating others.

Thus I believe that now, more than ever before, it is essential to grant the United Nations, including Russia and China, the authority to immediately negotiate a cease fire agreement and to seek the appropriate solutions.

With all that has transpired since the beginning of the century, isn’t it time to change our “partial” policies of force and, with a duly reinforced United Nations, to try other formulas that don’t result in so many deaths and so much suffering and displacement?

The West must understand once and for all that the peoples who are now rising up don’t need weapons but rather aid to sustain the development that will provide equal dignity for all.

INCONGRUENCIES

2011-04-29T04:56:00.000-07:00

Much has been said about the need to “calm the markets”… when what should be done sufficiently in advance is to calm the people, who won’t tolerate much longer the social inequities and this entirely disrupted economic system, with biased rating agencies.

In Italy the Coliseum is intended to be privatized… when a cultural symbol of such magnitude should be totally "italian”, totally "roman”, of a creative people who are in the hands of a few unscrupulous citizens.

I’ve read in the press: “The scandal of mass layoffs will bring down Chávez and Griñán”, in the opinion of the Popular Party candidate to the Andalusian regional government, while they are presenting a handful of candidates who are presently under criminal investigation and who actually have good perspectives of being elected, according to the opinion polls. Is it true that “with more corruption, more votes”? Despite party loyalty and blindness toward certain cases, I refuse to believe this.

Petroleum consumption is on the rise… and so are oil prices! And, thus, carbon dioxide emissions are also increasing. With increased consumption, you would expect prices to go down… . It is urgent to support renewable energies! It is one of our foremost commitments to future generations.

There’s no money to fight extreme poverty, nor to maintain the healthcare in the United States that President Obama had achieved despite the Republicans’ lack of solidarity… and there’s no way on earth to get them to even minimally cut military expending.

“Microcredits” provided excellent mini-solutions for many people… but as I warned many years ago, there was a risk that the “macrocredits” for development cooperation granted to replace exploitation would soon dry up.

Instead of admitting the reality of citizens’ quality of life, international financial institutions and the World Bank insist on using indices such as the GDP and per capita income. And, thus, it turns out that Uganda and Ruanda have shown “spectacular growth”. But this is mostly due to the coltan mined in the Kivu region by huge multinational consortia, which leaves the country via Kampala and Kigali, but which in no way benefits the native Congolese. So I must insist: if we ignore reality, we will never be able to provide appropriate solutions.

We talk of the overriding need to guarantee freedom of the press… while watching so many television channels concentrated in the same hands and, at the newsstands, choosing from so many biased newspapers that only reflect their “master’s voice”...

The markets must be regulated and tax havens must be shut down… In the end it is they who are regulating daily politics and providing selfish citizens opportunities to commit tax fraud. We’ve read in the press that “The European Union has reinforced its rescue fund in exchange for a strict social adjustment program”. I am sure that in a few months this type of news will no longer be published, because distance participation will enable citizens to make the right decisions in democracies consolidated through their intervention.

The social programs supported by savings banks have also been greatly cut back… . Another incongruency: the social programs have always been the “popular difference” that distinguished savings banks from other financial institutions. It’s clear that, until now, the chain always breaks at the weakest link. But, once again, take note of the “virtual tidal wave” and before they know it they will no longer be able to continue with this type of incongruencies.

Incongruencies, incongruencies… but for how long?

Inadmissible lacks of solidarity!

2011-04-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

1) The lack of solidarity of those who fail to pay their taxes –to share democratically and ensure that everyone has access to the social security system and health care, free education, and basic quality services…., choosing instead to deposit their money in tax “havens” that zealously keep the identity of their investors secret. This is a collective shame. Europe is scattered with countries whose largest source of revenue are funds deposited by selfish tax evaders.

When the failing financial institutions were rescued in November, 2008, the G-20 plutocrats assured law-abiding tax payers that this time the global banking system would be regulated and tax havens would be closed down for once and for all… But once again they broke their promises.

Governments should penalize this shameful situation for the social damage it causes, and regulate it through a reinforced United Nations backed by the whole of its member states.

A news item published not long ago underscored that thousands of Spaniards maintain accounts in Switzerland. Well, let it be known because if it is “normal” it should be transparent… and if it’s not transparent, then it’s certainly suspect.

3) The lack of solidarity of those who promote or tolerate a black market economy… who are often also those who rail against the high unemployment rate, whose “official” figures include a large percentage of “non-VAT” workers. This is another instance of a lack of employer solidarity that must be urgently remedied.

4) The lack of solidarity of those who for greed excessively “delocalize” production, just as Spain was used when we were a “developing country”. A huge amount of production has been transferred to countries in which labor costs are much lower (and where workplace conditions are often intolerably inhumane).

5) The lack of solidarity of those who file tax returns to pay less than they should, using every possible loophole (even legal ones…)

We are presently plagued by a systemic crisis, and the irreducible beneficiaries of globalization continue to work to ensure their survival and permanence.

Citizens must urgently take action to close down tax havens, to flush out the underground economy, to bring home the production of goods from places so distant from consumers that it cannot be justified, even in environmental terms.

If we act with solidarity, our problems will be resolved. Otherwise, our government leaders will continue to be trapped by opaque and protected markets, and politicians will continue to make empty promises aimed to attract voters, knowing all the while that if elected they will have to do what the system dictates… or simply look ridiculous, like those leaders who fly on low-cost airlines while drastically decreasing subventions for education and raising taxes…

Lack of solidarity, no. “The Peoples” will no longer tolerate it.

The Courts’ Unequal Diligence… is of much concern

2011-04-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

In addition to interpreting laws according to their “progressive” or “conservative” political affiliations, which is a recurring issue that is difficult to explain and casts doubts as to the impartiality of certain judges, another related matter of much concern is the different level of diligence evident in certain courts. Thus, to cite two well-known examples, in Castellon and Valencia days, months and even years may pass, even beyond the statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions, while in Seville, to mention another more recent example, cases are diligently expedited, being enthusiastically supported by those accused in the “slower” prosecutions.

Let there be no mistake: the “democratic principles” so well proclaimed in the UNESCO Constitution commence with the judicial system. Let’s all work together to foster a quick “normalization” of this cornerstone of the future we all desire.

Otherwise, the peoples, who now have a voice, will no longer tolerate these time unbalances or the biased and partial verdicts of our judicial system.

Uncovering the “shadow” economy...

2011-04-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

This is good news for the economy and for dignity. As a scientist, I will never tire of repeating that reality can only be transformed to the extent that it is actually known. If only partially known, solutions will likewise be partial.

We were aware that there were many people and companies working “underground”, unknown, and the level of tax fraud and lack of solidarity that this represents.

In the interest of everyone, transparency, true knowledge of reality, will facilitate radical changes.

Are there any “just” wars?

2011-04-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

Throughout history many wars have been proclaimed “just..." by those who started them. As the United Nations Charter very clearly indicates, an armed conflict may only be initiated when preventive mechanisms have failed, and all –or a large majority- of countries deem confrontation with the aggressor warranted. Confrontation may become inevitable, but it is not "just".

Once again, Forges’ masterly comic strip, published in "El País" on March 22, says it better than any treatise could:

There are not just wars and unjust wars: there are only abominable wars

How could you paint it in the sky?

Because the truth is written even in the air

2011, the whirlwind year

2011-04-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

Like humanity itself, the wind that carries the voice of the peoples, secularly silent, silenced, originated in Africa. It will now reach the whole world.

We must react wisely and timely. Not like in Libya. The time for dominating powers, for groups of plutocrats, is over.

It is time to unite, for a strong United Nations with a General Assembly that represents all of “the Peoples”. And an expanded and balanced Security Council, with the appropriate advisors, to likewise deal with questions of economic, environmental, energy and food security nature.

A United Nations to “save the future generations from the scourge of war”, the supreme commitment.

Do we realize how perfectly the UN Charter’s luminous mandate is being drawn?:

the Peoples

building peace

future generations

It is essential to achieve democracies that are “less formal” than the present ones in which obedience and biased interests drown out debate and the possibility for advancement and progress. Democracies hounded by the markets that, surreptitiously, are actually those in command.

Will our present political leaders be capable of rising to this great challenge?

Agreements are reached without threats

2011-04-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Do those who are now champions in the use of force, under strict limitations and for the specific purposes authorized by the Security Council, really believe that they will find a solution to the fratricidal excesses in Libya by threatening to drag the Libyan leader, who they so strongly armed, before the Criminal Court?

Do those who until only a few weeks ago received the now “dictator” Gaddafi with honors really believe this? Those who allowed him to set up his tent in prominent venues, awarded him medals –and even academic degrees- and sold him immense arsenals of war material?

They must now seek a clever way out of this mess. And after…

After seeing that the oil and profits to be made will go to the Libyan people (in that regard, who is now exploiting the oilfields in Iraq?)... Let’s not let that happen in Libya.

Later, after calmly considering what has happened in Iraq –millions of displaced people, thousands of dead and injured by an invasion based on lies and strategic and oil interests-… and in Gaza, for example…

Then, and only then, may Gaddafi and other autocrats be judged with reliable evidence.

Later. But right now find a peaceful solution that, as I have repeatedly underscored, should have been sought before, through the United Nations with the support of the world’s superpowers (which continue to attempt to govern the world with groups of plutocrats).

Later, perhaps. Now, urgently stop the conflict.

Get angry!

2011-04-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

Not everything is permissible, neither in form or substance, in order to mislead citizens for electoral purposes.

Following Stéphane Hessel’s wise recommendation, let’s get angry. Let’s cease to remain passive when once again we observe politicians who, offering no solutions and some of whom are surrounded by scandal and accused of corruption, who even came to power in questionable circumstances involving well-compensated vote-switching, are now at the highest level –those involved in the 1998 negotiations and in the Azores- slinging accusations against the Government and the police forces based on documents from ETA!

There is a limit to everything, especially in light of the great progress made in the fight against terrorism. Giving this group credibility will have consequences that this improper attitude deserves. It will truly have a boomerang effect.

It is not acceptable for the communications media to repeat not only the same insidious claims, but also to use language inappropriate from a democratic perspective and unwarranted for many citizens who, unaware, risk actually believing these outrageous remarks.

This is intolerable. It’s disgraceful.

Let’s raise our voices in protest. It’s a crime to remain silent.

Make Peace, Not War!

2011-04-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

A new lesson, to endow the United Nations with the authority that is essential if it is to promptly fulfill its mission of preventing the “scourge of war ".

When the present powers that be, who only know how to use force, turn to the United Nations, it is only at the last minute in situations such as the present one when there’s no alternative to war, but which is better than ignoring the UN as was the case in Iraq.

The G-8 and G20 should disappear from the international scene once and for all, because their decisions always come too late, at the wrong time, or never.

If 20 days ago they had unanimously supported the United Nations, peace could have been negotiated because all countries in the world oppose Gaddafi’s brutal tactics. Now, once again, we must resort to the language of bombs. But since until only a few weeks ago they were selling arms to the “dictator”, the weapons used on each side are the same and are known to all...

Let’s once and for all rid ourselves of the embarrassment of these “acrobat” leaders who without compass or measure one day embrace him and the next day disown him. And although they don’t want to recognize it, this is a systemic crisis and what they must promptly do is to turn world governance upside down and with courage and intelligence replace the G20 with a G-196, with all nations... because all countries suffer the consequences of the current plutocracy.

It’s true, we could not consent to what was happening. No one can fire on his own people with impunity... but when political determination was needed to promptly and unanimously apply diplomatic and economic pressure, force was used instead, with results that will always be unpredictable and considerable “collateral effects”.

They now commit acts of war with the same diligence with which they sold him weapons just a month ago. It’s essential that we learn this terrible lesson and take measures to ensure that similar opprobrium is not repeated.

Look at what is happening in Bahrain and Yemen. Isn’t it time to end the dreams of domination of Reagan, Thatcher and the groups of plutocrats to return to a United Nations as it should be, and quickly make it strong, efficient and respected by all?

Only a strong United Nations

2011-04-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

Only a strong… and united (!) United Nations will be able...

To serve as a valid and efficient spokesman, representing all countries and not merely a few (European Union, OECD, Arab League... each, moreover, with its “less than exemplary” history) to intervene –and prevent- situations that Gaddafi’s Libya so dramatically represents...

As was to be expected, we are reaching a point of no return, and we will lose a historic opportunity, with many victims and much suffering.

The G-8 and G-20 continue to crumble, while the United Nations isn’t receiving –and this would be the moment to do so- the support needs to play the role that only it can play.

If it receives the support of all of the “globalizers” who seek to be the dominant power, and having been entrusted with an unpostponable universal commitment to the future generations, the United Nations is the only institution capable of reaching a global energy agreement that respects the environment, to henceforth regulate the consumption, use and characteristics of different energy sources (including, and foremost, oil and nuclear energy).

Only the United Nations system has the capacity to coordinate and implement the appropriate courses of action to respond to natural or man-made disasters and to reduce their impact, with the right technology and properly trained personnel...

Only a strong and united United Nations can provide a universally-recognized reference for the arbitration of such “new” and urgent global matters such as the management of Internet...

The time for neo-liberal globalization, for G groups and dominant powers is over. “The Peoples” referred to in the United Nations Charter are now beginning to make their voices heard.

Crime of silence: the time has come. It’s time for action

2011-04-08T02:52:00.000-07:00

Editorial Comanegra has just released “Crime of Silence: the time has come. It’s time for action", a publication in which its author, Federico Mayor Zaragoza urges citizens to take a stand and take the reins of their destinies into their own hands, rather than remaining silent spectators, and to say ENOUGH!

INTRODUCTION

Awareness, foresight, prevention. Behaving in such as way as to forge the future and invent a tomorrow in consonance with equal dignity for all human beings. This commitment to the future generations requires profound transformations and radical changes, but also that we preserve the essential values that must guide our steps and serve as a point of reference when responding to the great challenges that we face.

Thus, against the wind, we must plow our fields and plant our seeds, even in bad weather and hostile environments. For centuries, in male-dominated circles of power there has been a culture of imposition, violence and dominance. And people, as obedient vassals, have remained silent and fearful.

But at last the time has come for the peoples, the women and men of the whole world, to take the reins of their destinies into their own hands. The time has come to refuse to accept the unacceptable. To rise up, to raise our voices and to offer an outstretched hand.

Information and communications technologies now make distance participation possible. And, thus, they can facilitate a transition from an economy of speculation and war to an economy of sustainable global development. From subjects to citizens. From force to words.

The time has come. It’s time for action, and to cease being passive spectators.

The time for silence is over.

Libya: at last, “We the Peoples!..."

2011-04-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

This “tidal wave” can only be contained by a United Nations duly endowed with the necessary authority.

Now it turns out that the solution to the crisis in Libya “will be political and not military,” according to the same European leader who SOME days ago frenetically unleashed all possible military resources...

It’s clear. This “tidal wave” was foreseeable, commencing with the neighboring countries.

It was foreseeable that groups of globalizing plutocrats, hounded by the markets, would be unable to provide good governance.

It was foreseeable that, as designed by Roosevelt, only a strong United Nations with sufficient authority could now undisputedly offer the only possible solution.

To all of those who finally opted for a military solution rather than having previously chosen a political one: we must now recommend that they not delay taking these decisions, as they did before... because this “tidal wave” can no longer be stopped.

Diplomacy, from the beginning

2011-04-06T06:05:00.001-07:00

For many years, as Director General of UNESCO, created to “avoid war” and “build peace in the minds of men,” I have underscored the need to come together in dialogue and conciliation before conflicts arise or, at least, as soon as they commence.

Instead of seeking the Security Council’s permission last hour to reduce Gaddafi by force, the United Nations’ Member States should have unanimously supported earlier the UN as the major negotiator in preventing the conflict.

Maximo’s cartoon in the March 25th issue of ABC is excellent. It says so much in so few words! (and it certainly stands out among so many words that say so little.)

LIBYA: NOT ONLY WITH THE STICK!

2011-04-01T03:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, we should stop Gaddafi’s deadly acts against his dissident citizens. This has been authorized by the United Nations Security Council. But simultaneously we must do what should have been done a long time ago: talk. Talk under the supervision of the United Nations. There have been proposals for mediation from Venezuela, Russia, Brazil, BRIC…

The United Nations, which authorized this military action, should now force the parties to mediate. This is essential. And this is the UN’s principal role.

And it should be made quite clear for the future that the “world’s leaders” cannot continue to attempt to govern through the G-8 or the G-20, only seeking the United Nations’ “placet” when there is no other option.

From now on, instead of turning to the United Nations as a last resort, that’s where we should start. All countries must unite with the United Nations… instead of permanently alienating the UN.

In that regard, it is simply immoral to compare a military action such as this one, limited exclusively to stopping an intolerable repression, with the invasion of Iraq, based on lies and on energy and geo-strategic ambitions. Those who promoted it knowing that no arsenals of mass destruction existed will be seriously accountable to history.

LIMITLESS INSULTS?

2011-04-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Democracy should not tolerate such abuse

In today’s ABC, Gabriel Albiac published a column entitled “An Honorable Exit”. It was devoted to the President of the Government, to whom he referred in different paragraphs of his article as a “smiling nobody”, a “fool armed with resounding nonsense” and the “dumb one in the tribe”. He ends the article by saying, “I don’t know whether it’s true that he is planning to resign now, after having botched everything in both word and deed, to later return home as if nothing had happened. In his place, the least I would do would be to blow my brains out. With dignity.”

This is intolerable. This final paragraph borders on the criminal, and demands rectification and apologies.

Mr. Albiac should not have written this. ABC should not have published this.

As a tireless promoter of a culture of peace, I respect all types of criticism –and praise!-, all points of view and all opinions, although they may be radically opposed to my own. But violence, no. Imposition, no. Threats, no. Given the extent of this defamation, it is obvious that Mr. Albiac’s brain isn’t functioning properly. I trust that his mental disorder will only be temporary.

2011-03-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

Once again, El Roto’s comic strip in the January 25 El País was fantastic!

The confusion, the mist in so many dimensions, the distractions that prompt passiveness and indifference, replacing democratic principles for the laws of the market,... lead to isolation, a lack of solidarity and fear. And what is worse: in doubt of the human capacity to face challenges.

Human beings are characterized by their unique powers of creativity, for being able to anticipate and foresee and deliberately design their own futures. If we are capable of understanding the depth that these distinctive characteristics afford us, we will be able to ensure that hope infuses our minds, and not panic.

Watchtowers for tomorrow, confident of the immeasurable strength of the spirit.

Reaping a windfall?

2011-03-23T05:23:00.001-07:00

The news is quite disconcerting: Switzerland has frozen the (Tunisian) dictator’s assets... And now? What a scandal!

We remember with outrage that in November, 2008, when the G-20 recommended “rescuing” the failing financial institutions, they ensured us that they would “rapidly regulate and eliminate tax havens".

And not only is there still total deregulation with tax havens filled to the brim but, as I have often underscored, the “rescued” are now hounding their diligent and impoverished “rescuers.”

Instead of “cleaning house” and demanding transparency for bank deposits, they continue to camouflage funds while ignoring their source. This involves a continuous generalized intake of often fraudulently-obtained money. Shouldn’t the bank accounts of all of those who take refuge in tax havens be frozen, since they are shirking their responsibilities as democratic citizens?

As for the “dictators” whose accounts have now been so pompously attached, in less than two months the western powers have gone from praising them as their best customers, to publicly rejecting them. From embracing them to repudiating them.

According to Intermon-Oxfam’s Corporate Social Responsibility Observatory, 80% of the Ibex 35 companies are present in tax havens through their affiliates. But of course: with much paperwork they conduct detailed audits of their small expenses and petty cash while turning a blind eye to those large sums.

But this won’t last much longer because just as the dictators whose money has been frozen were overthrown, those who threaten coexistence and democracy will likewise soon be brought down, peacefully through cyberspace communications.

You will see: it won’t be possible much longer to only reap windfalls from the misfortune of others...

Either they change, or we’ll change them

2011-03-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

With what moral authority can they now accuse Gaddafi and other “dictators” when only a few days ago they were offering them the shelter of their tax havens, selling them tons of weapons, accepting their kickbacks and even granting their children doctoral degrees and other academic distinctions?

Let’s take note and with much embarrassment warn them that they must rapidly learn the lesson, taking specific measures quickly and publicly, or they will soon feel the rejection of their citizens. Just as the current uprisings have uncovered so many absurdities and contradictions, let’s prompt changes in those who continue to cling to the market, money as the supreme value, the whims of those who control finances, the military, energy and the media, and the huge corporations –such as Exxon Mobile- which announced $32,000 in profits for 2010 while raising oil prices to asphyxiate consumers, with serious collateral effects such as a simultaneous rise in food prices.

Let’s immediately demand a reinforcement of the United Nations, an economy based on local sustainable development, “relocalization” of production... in summary, what makes good sense.

Change is urgent. And changes certainly won’t be made by those who trust that citizens will continue to be distracted and complacent without proposing any solutions.

Let’s cease to be obsessed with inflexible election campaigns, accompanied by intolerable maneuvers, promises and deceit, and let’s clearly proclaim that if there’s no transparency and no real change, we will rise up like the citizens of Egypt and Tunisia have done... because we are outraged that only the assets of those who have been “overthrown” are frozen… while everything else remains the same: relentless hounding by the markets (what happened to social aid programs?), rising oil prices (what about climate change?), the underground economy, evasion of civic responsibilities (how many Spaniards have, as do the “tyrants”, deposits in tax havens?)

Once again: either they change, or we’ll change them.

Legality and Legitimacy in Democratic Elections

2011-03-16T02:07:00.000-07:00

The progressive drop in voter turnout is quite worrying, underscoring citizen disenchantment and the fragility of democracies whose governments and parliamentarians enjoy little popular support.

As was the case a few months ago in the United States, in the recent Portuguese elections abstentions greatly exceeded voter turnout.

In the European Parliament elections the percentage of votes obtained by the “representatives” of many countries was simply scandalous, and an unacceptable example of indifference and apathy.

This precarious situation must be urgently reversed. Otherwise we will be obliged to accept this dangerous display of simulation, with an enormous discredit for democratic institutions, whose legitimacy as well as legality are presently less evident than ever.

Setting a minimum percentage of required votes would be useful as well as instructive. How can those who have not participated complain about the weaknesses and lack of organization of democratic systems?

Let’s correct this incoherence. It’s especially relevant for the future that requires radical changes. That is, strong democracies.

Oil and Food Prices... back to the old ways?

2011-03-11T02:00:00.000-08:00

Weren’t markets going to be regulated? Weren’t limits going to be set on the greed of those who fix oil prices on a whim?

If this new intolerable speculation isn’t halted, the situation of the world’s already delicate and fragile economy will be further aggravated.

Even more immoral is the increase in price of the basic food stuffs that are most essential to ensure the survival of so many of the world’s inhabitants.

And the G-20, or a G-2 or a G-1 would not be capable of doing so. Only “the Peoples". Only all of the Peoples, with the enthusiastic support of a reinforced United Nations, endowed with all of the necessary resources and institutional respect would be capable of erasing for once and for all the collective shame of the abysmal differences between the privileged minority and the needy majority, in circumstances in which over 70,000 people die of hunger each day.

The present increase in prices must be halted immediately before those who live at the edge of equal human dignity once again become disheartened!

Food security.

Environmental security.

We will never cease to demand this.

If necessary, thousands of us will raise our voices in cyberspace, prompting a huge popular mobilization, so that the powers that be don’t return to their old ways.

Dakar, World Social Forum

2011-03-10T02:33:00.000-08:00

Porto Alegre, Bombay, Nairobi... and in 2011 (February 6-13) in Dakar, Senegal. In December the World Education Forum was held in Santiago de Compostela...

About 50,000 people participated from 130 countries, representing 1,200 organizations. The Senegalese authorities didn’t facilitate this meeting of “the Peoples”, but the gathering of so many persons of good will, profoundly different but united in the same goals, was a great success. They expressed their points of view, explained the situation in the areas of the world in which they live, shared experiences and serenely but firmly cried out for justice and peace.

Hundreds of “self-managed” activities, pronouncements, declarations. With a few appreciated exceptions, as was to be expected the media gave very little attention to the Social Forum, due to its “belonging”. That’s all right. In reality Davos fades away with the last throb of the “globalizers”, while Porto Alegre, represented this time in Dakar, is growing progressively stronger.

The news media normally highlights protests, logically because they stem from the world’s disinherited or those acting on their behalf, while ignoring proposals. Some of them excellent proposals based on a new model of sustainable development, beneficial for all and committed to the coming generations. But this system is clearly incompatible with huge military spending, delocalization of production based on greed, tax havens... The poor want to play fair.

Concrete proposals concerning renewable energies, alternative funding from electronic transactions, replacing the Washington Consensus for the Barcelona Consensus adapted to the present situation... for which the Washington Consensus is largely responsible.

Whether those still anchored in the past and in their privileges want to recognize it or not, specific proposals were made to prevent new crises, especially another food crisis, the worst of all, the one that causes the most suffering and leaves unhealed wounds. Food, water and health must not be subjected to the strictly economic criteria of “consumer goods". Regulation of the “food chain” is a demand of both justice and common sense, in order to stem popular outrage.

I particularly love Africa for its temperament, its wisdom and the calculated capacity of its people to forget. For this reason I have fought and will continue to fight for an emancipated Africa, which for so long has been dominated and humiliated.

While strolling through the streets of the Corniche in Dakar, a stone’s throw from Goree Island where the slave trade reached unthinkable limits of perversion, I was reminded of Pietro Barcellona’s “In Praise of Useless Talk”. Apparently useless only because... it has extraordinary multiplying and mobilizing effects.

The proposals will now have broad repercussions in cyberspace. As in the north of the African continent, the peoples will strengthen democracy and bring authoritarianism and arbitrariness to an end. In a very few years the World Social Forum will have won the battle thanks to modern communications technology.

As I wrote in my homage to José Vidal Beneyto, "Vitality will rise from the South. / From the South will come the dawn for so many human beings tired of compromising"...

"In the streets of Tunis and Cairo and many other African cities”, said former Brazilian President Lula in Dakar, “a new hope is being born. Millions of people are rising up against the poverty to which they are subjected, against the domination of tyrants, against the submission of their countries to the policies of the great powers". Senegalese President Wade, from a very different position, expressed his disagreement with the antiglobalization movement, although he shares with them "the idea of changing the world "[1].

The 11^th World Social Forum has demonstrated that the dream born in Porto Alegre can come true: "Another world is possible".

[1][1] See "FSM: Lula and Wade in Opposite Corners", by Koffigan E. Adigbli, Other News/ IPS, 9.02.11

They don’t need bullets, but bread and justice

2011-03-02T04:52:00.000-08:00

The reactions of the European Union to the mobilizations in Tunisia and Egypt were inappropriate for a great regional entity, underscoring that it still lacks common foreign, security and defense policies. Once again new challenges have uncovered the extraordinary deficiencies in what, even with its many patches, continues to be merely an economic community. It’s sad that the only thing that’s occurred to the EU leaders is to reinforce the EU’s defensive capacity in the north Mediterranean to contain social movements from the south. Don’t they realize that these events are the result of massive citizen participation, facilitated by cyberspace? Don’t they realize that precisely what the citizens in those countries want is a change of system and in “colonization” by those who to-date have assumed global governance? Don’t they realize in Brussels and Washington that those countries desire freedom, democratic participation, social justice and quality of life for all?

Less than 20% of us live in the wealthy neighborhood of our global village. The rest, in a progressively inferior gradient, live in difficult conditions in which at times they struggle exclusively to survive. I have constantly pointed out that it is a collective shame that we continue to invest 4,000 million dollars daily in military spending, while over 70,000 people die of hunger in an authentic genocide of abandonment and neglect. Now we’ve read in the press (El País, 5 February 2011) that "NATO warns Europe of the effects of the revolt and demands increased defense spending"!! What happened with the majority of the aid that the US gave Egypt? It returned to the US in the form of purchases of military hardware, to the delight and profit of Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, among others...

No: it is a tremendous error to think that what Europe needs is to further increase its military potential and the military potential of the regimes in those countries. What Europe should do is to once and for all dedicate itself to achieving sustainable economic development in those countries; supporting increased participation in exploiting the natural resources of so many places that have become impoverished due to the greed of those in the “north”. They don’t need more investment in defense, but rather in “life”. The West needs to rapidly review their military arsenals, the majority of which are filled with outdated weaponry; the definitive destruction of nuclear warheads; a rapid increase in sustainable energy sources to reduce consumption and “oil power”; a strong United Nations to enable rapid intervention in unacceptable drifts toward violence and extremism; global coordination of all personnel and technological resources to respond to natural or man-made disasters...

What Europe needs is to anticipate the “revolts”, which thanks to distance participation will soon ensue all over the world (including Europe) among those who will no longer accept the pitiful spectacle of speculators’ hounding of democracies that, due to pressure from the markets, are forced to reduce or abandon their social programs.

"Europe must be prepared to defend itself against new threats”. Europe cannot allow itself to neglect defense", warned NATO Secretary General Anders F. Rasmussen. But threats are no longer of war, but rather of a social nature, of demands for a decent life. Europe doesn’t need to reinforce its military armament, but rather to offer an outstretched hand.

Neither is greater “cyberdefense” required. For the moment I would recommend listening... and taking the appropriate preventive measures. Prevention is the greatest victory.

Europe shouldn’t seek new “military partners” who will be of little use in facing the challenges of these troubled times. They would do better to heed the prophesy of Isaiah: If you “deal thy bread to the hungry, …then shall thy darkness be as noonday”.

And, despite it all, we live in fascinating times

2011-02-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

Because, for the first time, the radical changes that citizen responsibility demands are now possible.

It’s true that power (economic, military, energy, media…) has never before been concentrated in so few hands, a fact that soon gave rise to situations and events that are real –and often unprecedented- challenges, such as the speculators and the markets’ hounding of political leaders; oil consumption that, despite carbon dioxide’s toxic effects on the environment continues to increase along with its price, once again threatening the timid advances of global financial regulation; exploitation of natural resources continues in so many southern countries, progressively impoverished by the limitless greed of multinational consortia (coltan in the Congo unfortunately continues to be an odious example); not only have tax havens not been shut down, but they are receiving more funds than ever before; among the supranational trafficking that continues with unprecedented impunity, drug trafficking is particularly harmful, where there’s a refusal to admit that price is not a deterrent to drug use while its impact has triggered actual civil war in several regions in the world...

All of this has been accompanied by a gradual alienation of the United Nations, replacing it with groups of plutocrats totally lacking in institutional organization; delocalization of production with serious repercussions for the workforces of so many countries; powerful communications media that reduce us to merely fearful and uniform spectators...

As a tragic balance, hunger takes the lives of over 70,000 people daily while, armed to the teeth, we continue to increase the shameful sum of 4,000 million dollars invested daily in military spending, aircraft, tanks, rockets and warheads...

But for the first time in history citizens are acquiring global awareness, they know the “real reality,” as Gabriel García Márquez called it, which will enable them to compare and appreciate what they have, and what they and others are lacking. This “global vision” has an extraordinary transforming effect at the personal level. Human beings become progressively “aware” of the world in which they live. And thanks to modern communications technology, many are also now capable of expressing themselves, assuming commitments, acting and participating. I have often observed that this distance participation will soon result in substantial improvements in democracy and in citizens’ capacity to be active and proactive, especially with regard to young people. We have just seen what we had hoped for in Iran: mobilization brought on peacefully through cyberspace.

Yes: we are gradually ceasing to be passive witnesses to finally prompt the changes we dream of and desire. Let’s secure quick changes in the present system of powers. Take note: the tidal wave of mobilization through Internet and mobile phones won’t only change the particularly serious status of tyranny and oppressive regimes. It will go even farther to achieve the changes that are so necessary and urgent for human dignity, such as remedying social inequalities, providing an adequate quality of life for all (access to water, food, health, decent housing), with an urgent reduction in the nuclear threat and unbridled military spending in outdated weapons...

But above all we will promote prevention, adopting measures before the calls for justice, freedom and solidarity give rise to anger and violence. Soon, from cyberspace there will be support for adopting anticipatory measures, imagination. Because faced with those who oppose change, the only way to achieve it is through the unexpected, inventing the future. Our hope lies with the unexpected. I like to repeat Amin Maalouf’s recommendation: "unprecedented situations require unprecedented solutions". At her inauguration Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that in order to make dreams a reality it is necessary to “exceed the limits of the impossible". The impossibles of today can be the possibles of tomorrow, if we are capable of defeating inertia and facilitate evolution by preserving what is worth preserving and rapidly changing what needs to be changed.

We live in fascinating times: we have the means for participating; black presidents govern the destinies of the United States and South Africa; life expectancy has increased, particularly in the more prosperous regions of the earth, and it will now gradually extend to the others; the Soviet Union, so lacking in freedom, fell; capitalism, so lacking in equality and justice, has now likewise fallen...

We now feel new breezes, breezes from the century of the peoples. A new era is dawning. A new beginning.

An uncontrollable tidal wave from cyberspace has commenced!

2011-02-16T01:09:00.000-08:00

The mobilization of the peoples has commenced.

Those who continue to speculate on the deathbed of “globalization”, those who met in Davos… are generally ignorant of current reality: citizens are starting to express themselves through modern communications technology. The time for resignation and silence is over.

They have consistently refused to listen: for years I and many others have predicted that distance participation using mobile phones and Internet would change the course of history, greatly increasing citizens’ capacity to influence the democratic process, which previously was limited in the best scenarios to voting in elections. But I added that genuine democracy is not only being counted in elections, but counting, being taken into account daily. The voice of the people! The “We, the Peoples!” so lucidly proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.

The United Nations have been reduced to an international humanitarian agency and an institutional refuge of convenience, conferring real power to groups of the world’s wealthiest nations (G6, G7, G8… G20). Since the 1980s when values (social justice, equity, solidarity …) were replaced by the rules of the market and the “democracy” that the UN represented was replaced by plutocracy, it became clear that inequalities would increase, production would be outsourced, tax havens would overflow instead of being shut down once and for all, supranational trafficking (drugs, arms, people) would go unpunished, financial transactions would remain unregulated…

But it was all in vain.

Cyberspace’s capacity for moving the masses soon became apparent, even in Iran! It is now extending to the Maghreb. Hopefully it will be peaceful, and what could have been predicted won’t be put down with violence.

And, above all, let’s hope that those responsible for the current situation, particularly the “great dominion” (the energy, military, economic and media powers) promptly take the appropriate measures. When the Berlin Wall fell and with it, thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev’s magic, the Soviet empire, I warned that if the current tendencies weren’t rapidly rectified, the same would happen in the “Western” empire. “A system based on equality, but lacking in freedom has just collapsed. Now, if there are not radical changes, this system based on freedom but lacking in equality and justice will also collapse”.

The exploited, frustrated, poor and impoverished, those who have been humiliated may now make themselves heard and “seen”. Until recently, the scope was local and the basis for protests was also “local”. Now there are global causes, and the markets’ intolerable hounding of political action has become widespread.

Today it’s so easy to see that those who provoked this situation are those who are now accusing the leaders of the countries affected by this “tidal wave”! They must immediately start taking corrective decisions, because citizen mobilization, like an uncontrollable high tide (which hopefully won’t become a tsunami) is now unstoppable.

We were silenced because they deemed our voices utopian, irrelevant, irritating but insignificant… instead of realizing that this was a gradual process toward mobilization at all levels.

I remember years ago they called us “do-gooders,” when from positions of responsibility all over the world we advocated a rapid reform of the United Nations, so that citizens could finally play the role that the United Nations System represents and promotes, inspired in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Don’t look the other way. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Accelerate change. Change is going to come, regardless. Think of that incontrollable tidal wave …

Authenticity and Impartiality

2011-02-14T01:33:00.000-08:00

The role of cyberspace, social networks and cell phones in mobilizing people has only just begun.

But it’s true that just as they enable all citizens to join together and express themselves freely, the “powers” can use new communications technologies to control, threaten and dissuade.

The echo of social networking pages is even greater when the press or audiovisual media use them as news sources.

Distance, peaceful rebellion may be the key for the “fermentation” of strong, well-organized non-violent popular action.

While the western powers looked the other way, as is customary, in Tunisia there has been a profound movement among the people who –precisely due to improved education- could no longer bear the corruption that tarnished the regime, especially given the President’s wife’s present saga.

Protests are successful because there are motives, because –in the words of the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights- citizens can be “compelled to rebellion”. If there are no circumstances to motivate and prompt reactions, without having to wait for a “tsunami”, which always involves suffering and negative effects, attempting to elicit a response from society at the wrong moment can be counter-productive and the targeted governments may capitalize on any failure and take regulatory, logistical and propaganda measures to later hinder the capacity for awareness and commitment that come with freedom of expression.

We have to become “indignant” at the right time and stay alert, to guarantee the effectiveness of the communications media, which in a very few years will overthrow authoritarian systems and consolidate genuine democracy.

It is also essential –as I have previously insisted*- to confirm the veracity of information provided by Wikileaks and other information sources. We need to know the truth, and all of the truth, because it is suspicious, for example, that practically none of the information leaked refers to Israel, and when it exceptionally does, it has been to denigrate the Palestinians, ridiculing their “offers” in the peace process, which can further aggravate internal divisions …

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas had announced that in September of this year, on the 20^th anniversary of the initiation of the peace process with Israeli negotiators who, with the exception of Yitzhak Rabin, have always prevented them from concluding successfully, he would declare the Palestinian State, with the support of President Obama. Abbas’ position was weakened by leaks, although their veracity has never been demonstrated. “The Guardian” was the newspaper that “selected” these news items, describing them as “verified”.

And we must ask, are the aforementioned references a part of Wikileaks or are they a part of the selection made by the communications media that published them?

Rigor can be demanded. Because, if not, what might be an essential element of the “new beginning” that we all desire, could be used to the advantage of the great powers.

Rigor, verification: I was also impressed with the bias shown in the press with the recent publication of Human Rights Watch’s Report, particularly with respect to Guantanamo. The European Union was harshly criticized for its “soft” touch with the world’s dictators (the reference was principally to Ben Ali, the deposed President of Tunisia). China was treated with “almost universal cowardice”… I would also like to read a condemnation of the deadly invasion of Gaza in “Operation Cast Lead” about which, according to Wikileaks, the Palestinian leader had already been informed by the Tel Aviv government!