DAVOS, Switzerland - One of the few indicators on the rise at this time of
economic and financial crisis is the level of repudiation expressed about those
responsible for the disaster, and about the institutions sponsoring them.
This became apparent at the Swiss tourist resort of Davos, the venue for the
annual sessions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), one of the arenas that has
supported the deregulation policies blamed for causing the present global
economic and financial crisis.
Socialist Swiss lawmaker Susanne Leutenegger was outspoken in linking the WEF
with the crisis. The Davos Forum has been
one of the ideological agencies behind these policies, as finance, industry and
politics mingled at the forum sessions, which started 39 years ago, she said.
This was the place where contacts and informal networks were established, while
politicians sat "below the salt" and the media were fascinated by the rich and
powerful global elite, she said. The forum was "a fly-by-night lobby operation
for the bankrupt neo-liberal (free market) business model".
Leutenegger was speaking at the awards ceremony of the Public Eye on Davos,
organized by Swiss non-governmental organizations The Bern Declaration and
Greenpeace Switzerland, where "dubious distinctions" are conferred on companies
that have shamefully violated ethical and environmental principles.
As a result of these awards and the political content of the prize-giving
ceremonies, the Public Eye has been, since 2000, one of the most critical
observers of the Davos Forum.
Back then, the media were in such a frenzy about Davos that they stifled voices
of critical dissent calling for a more socially responsible economy with
sustainable policies, Leutenegger said.
The global Public Eye award went this year to US mining company Newmont, the
world's largest gold producer, for its "scandalous" practices in Ghana, where
it has destroyed unique natural habitats, carried out forced resettlement of
local people and polluted soil and rivers, according to the jury.
The "prize" for Swiss companies was awarded to BKW FMB Energy, for building a
coal-fired thermoelectric plant in Germany. Coal is the most polluting of all
fuels, the organizers said.
In contrast, the Public Eye awarded a Positive Prize, in recognition of the
efforts of Colombian trade union leaders Jairo Quiroz and Freddy Lozano and
their union Sintracarbon to reverse the decision of a transnational coal mining
company that had displaced 800 Afro-descendant families to expand their
operations in El Cerrejon, in northeastern Colombia.
In fact, the negative awards target two companies that epitomize the social and
environmental abuses committed by all the members of the WEF and by large
corporations that are the true image of profit motivated globalization, the
organizers of the Public Eye said.
The Bern Declaration and Greenpeace sent a letter to US President Barack Obama
on Thursday, asking him to introduce corporate regulation.
So far, efforts to impose mandatory international corporate accountability
rules on transnational corporations have failed because of opposition from the
United States, they said.
The message to Obama requests that in the future, all transnational company
projects respect the rights of local communities in their area of operations.
It also asks for an end to impunity for companies that violate the rules.
The two organizations want the Public Eye to become a rallying point for all
critics of the Davos Forum, said Oliver Classen of The Bern Declaration.
The Swiss authorities also came in for criticism for their financial support
for the WEF. The forum is a private meeting, but the Swiss government
subsidizes it to the tune of eight million Swiss francs (US$7 million), mostly
for security services, Leutenegger said.
She estimated that total spending by the Swiss state on the Davos Forum
amounted to some 20 million Swiss francs.
Police from several Swiss cantons and some 5,000 army soldiers are deployed
during the week of WEF sessions, while the national air force, in conjunction
with that of Austria, secures the air space over Davos.
Leutenegger said that street protests against the Davos Forum are for the most
part prohibited. The rights to free speech and free association are practically
suspended throughout the country during the WEF, she said.
A demonstration against the Davos Forum, convened by left-wing political and
social organizations for Saturday in Geneva, was banned by the authorities.
Leutenegger remarked that the neo-liberal revolution appears to have failed
dismally worldwide, and now its "shameless promoters" want to get free money
from the state.
However, the Davos Forum, a successful instigator of that economic model, is
doing very well, the lawmaker said. According to her estimates, the world's top
1,000 companies, members of the WEF, contribute some 40 million Swiss francs
annually to the forum.
In total, including the special contributions from financial companies and the
fees paid by forum participants, the WEF, which operates in Switzerland as a
charitable foundation, has an annual income of about 100 million Swiss francs.
Leutenegger also rebuked the left and trade unions for failing to apply the
necessary pressure to contain the forces that precipitated the crisis.
Fundamental discussion is needed, especially among the left, trade unions and
social movements, about building a post-capitalist system and putting it into
practice, she concluded.
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