OAS calls on Summit leaders to help jobless
The current global recession is endangering the jobs and the well being of millions of people all over the world and Hemispheric leaders meeting in Port of Spain must come up with new and innovative ways of helping them, according to Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS).
Addressing a Workers Forum at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Insulza, a former Foreign Minister of Chile, said that the private sector traditionally reduces its labour force when facing an economic recession.
“Governments have an obligation to step in and assist workers when this situation arises”, he added.
Insulza, a socialist, told the meeting that Chile’s social welfare system was a model for the entire Americas and he called for the lifting of the 47-year suspension of Cuba from the OAS.
The forum, part of the Fourth People’s Summit, was organised by the Caribbean Congress of Labour and the National Trade Union Centre of Trinidad and Tobago (Natuc) and other labour groups .
The “People’s Summit” highlights issues which the organisers believe regional Heads of State should consider and debate.
Some regional leaders will raise issues not on the agenda which they consider important.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has already made it clear that he is unhappy with Cuba’s non-participation at the Summit and said he would not be signing the final declaration.
Labour and leftwing organisations view the OAS summit as a forum for big business and a protector of US interests.
But several of the larger and wealthier South American states have swung sharply to the left since military rule came to an end.
Socialist Michelle Bachelet Juria is now president of Chile while Socialist Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva is President of Brazil.
Argentine President Cristina de Kircher leans to the left while Chavez proclaims himself a radical Socialist.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales is a former labour leader and is the first indigenous Latin American to lead a South American country.
‘Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa Delgado describes himself as a “humanist and left wing Christian”.
With the exception of the outspoken Chavez, these leaders are moderate centre left politicians who see newly elected US President Barack Obama as a possible sympathiser.
But some regional leftwing groups see Obama as yet another defender of the status quo which promotes the interests of the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
Comments
One Response to “OAS calls on Summit leaders to help jobless”
Another multi-directional article, Mr. Pantin. A key point in your article seems to be Mr. Insulza’s assertion regarding Chile’s social welfare system yet you never expand on it.
Your readers want journalism, not mere regurgitation of random sound bites.