http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2010/abril/mier21/Evo.html
Havana. April 21, 2010
Evo condemns capitalism for
destroying the planet
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia, April 20.- Bolivian President Evo Morales yesterday
condemned here the capitalist system, which he described as principally
responsible for the destruction of the planet, PL reports.
President Morales shows Conference
participants a plastic plate, a product
which contaminates the environment.
At the inauguration of the First People's World Conference on Climate Change
and the Rights of Mother Earth, he stated that the consumerist system is the
principal enemy of Mother Earth, as it seeks profits to the detriment of
nature.
President Morales showed the audience a plastic plate, a product he considers
to be a pollutant of the environment.
"Capitalism is the source of the asymmetries and inequalities in this world,"
he emphasized.
Addressing 15,000-plus representatives from five continents gathered in the
Esteban Ramírez ecological stadium in the town of Tuquipaya, Morales read out a
letter to future generations to alert them that the planet is sick due to
capitalism, which attempts to turn everything into merchandise.
In the missive, the president stated that a wounded Mother Earth is giving us
warning signals with earthquakes, seaquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and
droughts, hence the need to protect the environment.
In the text he also called attention to climate migrants, some 50 million
people, a figure that could reach 200 million victims in 2050 on account of
negative environmental impacts.
He also criticized the recent 15th UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen
(Denmark) and the so-called "understanding" of its member nations, because the
demands of social organizations and indigenous peoples were never listened to
there.
At this inaugural event, individuals speaking on behalf of five continents and
some 130 countries participating in the Mother Earth Summit, also backed
Bolivia's initiative to organize a world referendum on the environment on
October 12 and to constitute an International Climate Justice Tribunal to try
governments and businesses that put life on earth.
COLORFUL CEREMONY
A colorful religious ceremony and Bolivian music concluded the opening event of
the Mother Earth Summit.
The Bolivian Amuata Commission was in charge of leading a wajata, in which
Andean priests and representatives from indigenous communities from the five
continents took part.
To the sound of pututus, quenas and zampoñas, typical Andean instruments, the
Amatuas requested permission from "Father Cosmos" and "Mother Earth" to
advocate positions of consensus in defense of nature and humanity.
Translated by Granma International
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
