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

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.

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

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

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.

Agreements are reached without threats

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.

Make Peace, Not War!

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?

Libya: at last, “We the Peoples!..."

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.

LIBYA: NOT ONLY WITH THE STICK!

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.