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Fidel Castro’s Predictions on World Economy Validated
By Joaquin Rivery Tur - rivery@granma.cip.cu -

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Latin America Needs to Grow and Fight Poverty

Predictions made by Cuban President Fidel Castro at earlier editions of the annual Conference on Globalization and the Problems of Development were validated Monday at the opening of this year’s event that continues through Friday at the Havana Convention Center.

In welcoming the nearly 1,500 participants from 43 countries and 27 international organizations, economist Roberto Verrier, the organizing committee president, recalled some of Fidel’s opinions since the first conference back in 1999. He noted the Cuban leader’s argument that out of great crisis comes great solutions and his warning that an aggression against Iraq would turn into a patriotic war.

Verrier highlighted the fact that several political figures who are now presidents participated at past events as delegates including Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Luiz Inancio Lula de Silva (Brazil) and Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua). He said that all of these presidents are now committed to changing the history of their nations, each in their own way.

A surprise of the opening session came when a message was read from 2006 Nobel laureate in Economics Edmund Phelps from the United States. On behalf of his wife and himself, Phelps said that it had been an honor for him to have spoken in the presence of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and in the presence of such a broad gathering of Cuban experts and students.

Also at the opening was Radhames Garica, the director of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In recognition of Fidel Castro’s contribution to the debate on economics and other issues, Garcia presented a painting and a letter to be delivered to Fidel Castro.

Numerous top level Cuban officials took part in the opening of the Ninth Conference on Globalization and the Problems of Development including Jose Luis Rodriguez, minister of Economy and Planning; Gladys Bejerano, minister of Auditing and Control; Raul de la Nuez, minister of Foreign Commerce; Georgina Barreiro, minister of Finances and Prices; Ricardo Cabrisas, minister of Government; and Osvaldo Martinez, president of the Economic Commission of the Cuban parliament.

Latin America Needs to Grow and Fight Poverty

Achieving economic growth, social equality and fighting poverty are the three factors that pose the major challenge for Latin America today, said Andres Solimano representative of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL) as he addressed the 9th International Encounter of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems underway in Havana. In his presentation at the event on Monday, Solimano explained that regional economic recovery levels over the past 15 years have resulted inefficient in historic terms, since such growth indicators have not eliminated social inequalities in Latin American countries.

Some 220 million Latin Americans, out of a total of 500 millions, live under the poverty line, a situation that poses a great challenge, said the economist as he addressed nearly 1500 participants from 43 countries at the Havana gathering. The CEPAL representative exposed what he called the terrible impact of the foreign debt on regional countries, as well as the unbalanced commercial exchange during the so-called “lost decade of the 1980´s." He explained the huge economic and social foreign debt became impossible to pay.

The fast economic growth of China, India and other Asian countries have a favourable impact on Latin America, the CEPAL official explained.

However, he stressed that the Gross Domestic Product in the region and the per-capita GDP have decreased if compared to other stages and regions, and although domestic saving and investment have improved in different countries, and inflation has lowered with an acceptable performance of labor productivity, the general panorama reveals global inefficiency.

Latin America and the Caribbean will experience light economic fall and the world economy will also decrease, he warned, and looked at the fiscal deficit in the United States and the superávit in China as two global challenges with a strong impact on the region, though he said that all economic growth must address the difficult problems facing the sectors of education, public health, social assistance, the improvement of quality of life and the social equality required by millions of people. (ACN)

http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_cuba/conference020607.htm
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