>Capitalism may be brutal in Chile, but it "works" in the sense that it can
>reproduce itself, and that it's convinced most people that there's no
>alternative. Until it stops working in both senses, and until socialists
>have answers to just these sorts of questions, capitalism will continue in
>Chile and everywhere else. Socialism has virtually no credibility anywhere
>right now.
>
>Doug
I am not sure that in a place like Colombia the people in arms are worried
so much about whether they have the answers on how to manage a socialist
economy successfully. The interesting thing about Colombia is that it is
the first significant advance in the armed struggle for the past ten years
regardless of the failure of "existing socialism." My guess is that the
ELN/FARC leadership are "Castroites" in their political and economic
theory. This means Marxism with a healthy quotient of pragmatism. I don't
mean pragmatism in the Richard Rorty sense, but in the sense of not
allowing dogma to override sound economic policy. The Cubans are supreme
pragmatists, as ironically any Marxists in power must be.
Even with the beating that the neo-NEP Cuban economy is taking, there is
still some hints that this model would remain attractive to the miserable
Colombian campesino:
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
Monday, 13 April 1998
Two-and-a-half million children forced to work in Colombia
----------------------------------------------------------
By Hendrik Groth
BOGOTA -- Coal is an important source of export earnings in Colombia. The
South American country has large reserves, enough experts believe, to
supply 10 per cent of world demand. The country's coal mining companies
export about 60 million tons each year --at very low prices. It is no
wonder that in many mines children are employed instead of more expensive,
well-trained workers.
For the child labourers --often as young as 10-- basic safety precautions,
protection against coal dust and minimum employment benefits are concepts
as foreign to them as a classroom.
According to the Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO), 26
per cent of children in Latin America are forced to work hard for their
living. Human rights organizations estimate that about 2.5 million
children in Colombia are forced to work.
In the cities, children usually begin their working lives at the age of
10. According to the United Nations, only about 60 per cent leave school
with a primary school diploma.
In the provinces, where there is less infrastructure and many families
live a hand-to-mouth existence, it's even worse. There, 5-year-olds often
have to do their bit to contribute to the family income. Ruthless
businessmen and criminals exploit their hardship. In Colombia, children
frequently help harvest the coca leaves from which drug traffickers and
local guerrillas make cocaine.
The kids would love to have a five-day week. Instead they work six days,
sometimes seven days a week, enjoy no health or unemployment benefits and
are paid pitiful wages.
Estimates show that children in Colombia usually work nine hours a day.
The poverty that affects many regions of Latin America prevents change for
the better. According to the ILO, children's wages amount to as much as a
third of a family's income.
But in Colombia, children's rights are not just being violated in coal
mines or by the drug mafia. Child labourers also toil in one of the
country's biggest export industries --flowers. They work on the
plantations where many of the world's flowers grow. In the enormous
greenhouse complexes near Bogota, children are reportedly exposed to
pesticides that have long been banned in industrialized countries.
And the problem doesn't stop there. Pimps too exploit the economic
necessities of many families. Underage girls in particular are virtually
sold off to work as prostitutes.
Copyright 1998 Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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CUBA WILL HOST THE THIRD CONGRESS OF CARIBBEAN DOCTORS
Havana, April 14(RHC)-- Cuba will be the site of the
Third Congress of the Association of Caribbean Doctors,
which will be dedicated to workers health. The meeting will
gather doctors, paramedics, dentists and other health
specialists from over 20 countries.
Participants will discuss job-related hazards, physical,
chemical and biological contamination, as well as safety
issues that could contribute to disease, accidents and
premature-aging.
The director of the health workers group from the Cuban
Health Ministry, Maria Elena Reyes, pointed out that one
hundred per cent of the work places that have environmental
risks in Cuba have a doctor and nurse that directly treat
the workers.
According to the health expert, about 45 percent of Cuban
work places have a family doctor and nurse at the work site.
In addition, Cuba's health care system offers free medical
care to the entire population.
