WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

manner, as a great number of examples illustrate. Even the most serious
violation of international law, an illegal war of aggression like the one
being waged against Iraq since 2003, has become possible – without any
real veto on the part of the international community! Here we have a
war of aggression being waged by countries who, in the Millennium
Declaration, pledged that they would do everything in their power to
respect international law and human rights!
The arrogant neocolonial approach of the wealthy nations, who
continue to prescribe for poorer ones what they must do to overcome
their poverty, will do very little to win the trust of these countries. If
we, i.e. the “industrial nations”, sincerely want to resolve the problem
of world poverty, we must let impoverished states speak for themselves
and learn to accept and respect the autonomous decisions they make.
Without this respect for the sovereign rights of these nations, poverty
will never become a thing of the past.
8.4 Global Compact
The UN General Secretary at that time, Kofi Annan, seemed convinced
about this himself when he introduced his “Global Compact”
campaign, in an attempt to remind the business sector of its responsibilities.
Annan envisaged the three forces in society – politics, business
and the general public – working together to solve world problems.
But here, too, there is a catch: the three protagonists are pursuing totally
different goals. Joint stock companies are under pressure to make
ever-increasing profits, while citizens are first and foremost interested
in preserving the basis of their everyday existence. The kind of giveand-take
situation which Kofi Annan almost certainly had in mind is
impossible because the interests of those involved are diametrically opposed.
Only an on-the-spot assessment of the living conditions of a local
population will allow the essential needs of the people to be directly
and democratically defined. These must then be defended against the
onslaught of the business sector and, if need be, energetically asserted.
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