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Latin Americans issue regional food emergency
2008-05-07
Seventeen Latin American governments issued a regional food "emergency" Wednesday at the close of a one-day summit on the food crisis that underscored an ideological split among its participants. The final statement included a 100-million-dollar Venezuelan initiative to boost cereal production that Mexico said should have been omitted because it was merely a proposal. The document was signed by all but El Salvador and Costa Rica, who complained that Venezuela and its leftist allies were against free trade. The summit, convened by the Alba trade group -- Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba; all leftist regimes -- called for speeding up food production in Latin America and urged the 63rd UN General Assembly to take up the world food crisis when it meets in September. The final statement, a copy of which was provided to AFP, also urged regional governments to increase investment in agriculture and the international community to "significantly" boost cooperation to ease the crisis. More specifically, the summit suggested that private banks in the region invest up to 10 percent of their assets in agricultural development, and criticized developed nations for their farm subsidies and technological monopolies that harm poorer nations. The final statement also called for drafting a plan of action within 30 days to boost local food production in the region and establish a system of "fair trade within and between the countries that results in fair prices for producers and consumers." Speaking on behalf of both Costa Rica and El Salvador, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said of the statement: "There are value judgments, concepts here I don't agree with, so I don't want the name of Costa Rica to appear on it." Later, he told reporters that the Alba group created by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, "doesn't believe in free trade." Summit host Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega stressed at a press briefing that a "large majority" of summit participants had agreed with the statement. Besides Ortega and Arias, the summit included presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Antonio Saca of El Salvador, Manuel Zelaya of Honduras and Martin Torrijos of Panama. Chavez did not attend for health reasons and Guatemala President Alvaro Colom could not attend by law because the country's vice president was abroad visiting Chile. Rising shortages of basic grains, milk and foodstuffs that have led to deadly violence in developing countries was described by World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran in Washington Tuesday as perhaps "the first global humanitarian emergency." WFP is seeking contributions for a 755-million-dollar emergency fund while the UN Food and Agriculture Organization is trying to raise 1.7 billion dollars to provide seeds to the poor and boost output. Global food prices have nearly doubled in three years, according to the World Bank, sparking riots and protests in several poor countries.
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