Discussion about FairTrade about 9 minutes in FARC rebels accuse Colombia of secrecy in talks Colombian officials at a meeting with the FARC delegation in Havana. (file photo) Sat Sep 14, 2013 2:17AM GMT http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/09/14/323805/farc-rebels-accuse-bogota-of-secrecy/ FARC is Latin America's oldest insurgent group and has been fighting the government since 1964. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has accused the Colombian government of reaching a "secret" agreement with wealthy Colombian landowners, rather than talking to farmers. On Friday, FARC negotiator Jesus Santrich made the remarks during the latest round of peace talks, which resumed on Monday and will end on Sunday in the Cuban capital Havana. Santrich accused the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos of reaching an agreement with wealthy landowners instead of the indigenous farmers in an attempt to put an end to three weeks of protests over the high price of fertilizers and cheap imports of agricultural products from Europe and the United States. On September 7, farm leaders came to an agreement with Bogota to end the protests, which left at least five people dead, and caused food shortage in the country. "I think the president should listen to the farmers, the indigenous, the Afro descendant population who live in our rural areas," said the FARC negotiator. Talks between the FARC rebels and the Colombian government kicked off in the Cuban capital Havana in November 2012. The talks recess and resume every few weeks as clashes between the two sides continue. FARC is Latin America's oldest insurgent group and has been fighting the government since 1964. Bogota estimates that 600,000 people have been killed, and some three million others have been internally displaced by the fighting. The rebel organization is thought to have around 8,000 fighters operating across a large swathe of the eastern jungles of the Andean nation. Why an independent investigation of Fairtrade is needed Start a charity. Print millions of pictures of starving children, and say how you will stop this. Collect the money. Spend one percent on doing up a couple of villages. Take photographs, videos. Write lots of stories and press releases. Drive round the bush and video anyone photogenic telling you how wonderful GrabbitAid is: for a fiver they will say anything. Photograph any new schools, etc you come across. Spend 30 per cent on advertising, telling donors that they are wonderful caring people who are doing everything they can for the Third World. Say that you are helping Third World farmers. (True, a dozen or two.) Keep perfect accounts within the UK, until the money leaves for a Third World bank on its way to a tax haven. Get suitable accounts prepared there. Any discrepancies can be explained away as mistakes by the ill-educated small farmers you are helping. There is no possibility that the police will investigate: they are not investigating our banking system. Why an independent investigation of Fairtrade is needed Start a charity. Print millions of pictures of starving children, and say how you will stop this. Collect the money. Spend one percent on doing up a couple of villages. Take photographs, videos. Write lots of stories and press releases. Drive round the bush and video anyone photogenic telling you how wonderful GrabbitAid is: for a fiver they will say anything. Photograph any new schools, etc you come across. Spend 30 per cent on advertising, telling donors that they are wonderful caring people who are doing everything they can for the Third World. Say that you are helping Third World farmers. (True, a dozen or two.) Keep perfect accounts within the UK, until the money leaves for a Third World bank on its way to a tax haven. Get suitable accounts prepared there. Any discrepancies can be explained away as mistakes by the ill-educated small farmers you are helping. There is no possibility that the police will investigate: they are not investigating our banking system. SOME HYPOTHESES Fairtrade diverts resources from the big issues 1. Fairtrade is very effective in making rich westerners feel that they are warm caring people who are doing everything they can for the Third World. a. This means that these people think they have done their bit, and everything is under control. They do not, for instance, demand action on Trade Justice and the WTO. b. Governments see that everyone has a warm glow, and do not feel it is necessary to take action on the Third World. 2. The enormous amount of energy, enthusiasm, passion, effort and emotional energy going into Fairtrade means that this is not available for other development activities that would achieve far more. If the impact per person hour (or unit of enthusiasm, passion, etc.) is higher elsewhere, then Fairtrade is damaging our efforts to Make Poverty History.

• published: 18 Sep 2013
• views: 1242