Colombia trade deal will increase repression – Latin American workers
Many crises must be addressed - Victor Baez Mosquieira.
recorded in Gatineau, QC, on March 25, 2009, Part 2 in a series, with video posted on Youtube
Victor Baez Mosquieira, the Secretary General of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, was at the roundtable "What role for Canada in the Americas?" hosted by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC).
Transcript
Victor Baez Mosquieira: Yes, I am born Paraguayan, I live in Saint Paulo where the headquarters of the trade union confederation of the Americas are located. The trade union confederation of the Americas is the confederation of National centers of the Americas, here in Canada we have two affiliates: the CLC and the CSN and also other sectors and we represent in the hemisphere about 50 million people from Alaska to Argentina.
Straight Goods News: And what is the confederation's role here today? Are you bringing a message to the Canadian people and the Canadian government?
Victor Baez Mosquieira: We were asked about our views on the foreign policy of the Canadian government and we were also asked how we would like to see different policies of Canada in the Americas. Actually what we think of the current foreign policy of Canada is that the government of Canada has been advocated for free trade and free investment agreements in the hemisphere. The government has been using the OAS also to advocate for free trade and free investment agreements for the neo-liberal model, and that is not the most appropriate model for Latin America. The financial and economic crises are just a part of other crisis that have emerged before this crisis. We are talking about this social crisis, of the social inequalities in Latin America, the environmental crisis, the food crisis, and the of course the energy crisis. We want to solve the current crisis financial and economical; we have also to address the other crisis that emerged before. And so we have different points of view the neo-liberals want to solve this crisis just by putting some regulations on the financial capital, we think the other crisis must be addressed too. Altogether we have to solve this crisis's with a more important role of the states in public policies, in order to solve the inequalities, the environmental problem, the food crisis and the energetic crisis.
Straight Goods News: Here is Canada our government has fast-tracked a free trade deal with Colombia. What do you fear/predict/expect will be the results of this, of this deal going forward?
Victor Baez Mosquieira: I have no doubt as in the past the Bush government, the Canadian government will push for the acceptance of the free trade agreement with Colombia. But, that will not solve the problem of Colombian developments. At the same time we want to raise the attention of the civilian people on the situation of civil rights in Colombia – but even if all those human rights were respected in Colombia, the free trade agreements and the free investments agreements are not the way out, the solution for the problems of development in Colombia. And I also want to point out that Canada may be wanting some trade agreements with the Central Americans. In the past the Bush government didn't pass the agreement with because of human rights violations on Chadi Newdidsa (probably wrong but I couldn't make out what it was) but they did approve the agreement with Central America but the problem is in Guatemala they are also killing Chadi Newdidas, firing people who want to organize unions so it means that for the Bush administration, the human rights of the Colombians are more valuable than the human rights of the Guatemalans. The developed countries cannot get into those types of contradictions.
Straight Goods News: Are you involved in the people's summit coming up in Trinidad and Tobago?
Victor Baez Mosquieira: Yeah, my administration is organizing a union forum to debate on the current crisis financial and economic, but also to debate on the solutions of the social, economic and the food and the environmental crisis.
Straight Goods News: And what do you hope to go forward with from that people's summit?
Victor Baez Mosquieira: From our point of view it is very important, the alliance of the labour movement with other sectors of civil society that do want to overcome this neo-liberal model. Therefore we are part of the hemispheric social alliance; we work together with other sectors: the peasants, the human rights sector, the gender sectors, the churches, and other sectors that do want to overcome this model. The struggle will go on, will continue because the neo-liberal sectors still will exist in more free trade, in more free investment agreements in order to overcome this crisis. While we now it is not the right way out of the crisis, and we will discuss with them openly what our points of view are.
recorded in Gatineau, QC, on March 25, 2009, Part 2 in a series, with video posted on Youtube 
