WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

• When CBL deals are in the process of being terminated, independent
consultants must be sought. The ones responsible for
“fobbing the deals off” on the municipal partners in the first
place cannot be allowed to continue rendering their services
– as interested parties who stand to gain as much by the rescission
of the contracts as they did by their conclusion. We cannot
entrust a dog with the guarding of a sausage factory!
• The jugglers and acrobats who performed in the neoliberal
financial circus must not be allowed to draft bills regulating
the financial markets, something which is still happening at
present. Artistes like these are the most unsuitable persons imaginable
for this task.
• No contracts, either CBL or others, should be entered into
when public assets or essential resources serve as collateral and
are thus exposed to serious risks. CBL contracts are an integral
part of the financial crisis, which came about mainly as the result
of speculative business lacking in genuine substance. The
sole purpose behind these transactions is the personal gain of
a small circle of players at the expense of the rest of us. This
snatching of public funds is historically unique, not only as
far as the amounts involved were concerned but also the brazen
manner in which it was carried out. Debts of this order
of magnitude will become the burden of future generations.
This is why it is absolutely essential that we introduce elements
of direct democracy into our society in the form of referenda
at national level and, more importantly still, on public budget
issues at local level. Those in power have proven themselves
incapable of putting an end to dirty neoliberal financial tricks.
Not only this – they are accomplices, supporters and patrons of
the global casino. The sovereign must be given the power to intervene
to safeguard public interests. It borders on perversion
when taxpayers are repeatedly handed the bill but denied any
power of decision-making whatsoever.
131