26 December 2012 | Chronicles | Victims of climate change | Water | Land grabbing | Resisting neoliberalism | Human rights | Social activists at risk | Food Sovereignty
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Bolivian president Evo Morales called for a celebration in Isla del Sol, Titicaca Lake, on Friday, summer solstice, considered by native cultures of the American continent as the beginning of a new era. Several representatives of Latin American progressive governments and social movements participated in the event where Evo Morales read the “Isla del Sol Manifesto”.
In his address, Evo said: “we are gathered here to give hope to this new dawn for the peoples of the world”, and reminded that it was in Isla del Sol itself where 1,000 years ago the "time of the sun" started, which was disrupted by the European invasion to the Abya Yala continent: “Encouraged by greed, they arrived to our continent Abya Yala to subdue indigenous nations. It was a time of darkness, of pain and sadness, a time of no time".
When talking about the current political situation, the Bolivian president said: “The world is being hit by a global multiple crisis in the form of a climate, financial, food, institutional, cultural, ethical and spiritual crisis. This crisis means we are living the last days of capitalism and overconsumption; of a model of society where human beings want to be superior to Mother Earth, turning nature into an object of their ruthless predator domination".
When speaking of the commodification of nature brought by capitalism at global level, Morales said: “We live in the kingdom of the color green. Green as dollar bills are monetary policies, green as dollar bills are development policies, green as dollar bills are housing policies, green as dollar bills are human development and environmental policies. That is why, in light of this new wave of crises of the capitalist system, its drivers promote the privatization of nature through the so-called green economy or green capitalism".
"In the capitalist system, banks have privileged economic rights and enjoy first-class citizenship, and banks are worth more than life", he added.
The true solutions included in the Manifesto can be divided in political, social, environmental, cultural, spiritual aspects, integration among peoples, food sovereignty, knowledge and technology, finance and international institutions.
The Manifesto also defines the coordinates of the inclusive and participatory change sought: “Our vision of Well Living Community Socialism is based on rights, not on the market. It is based on the fulfillment of the happiness of the people, by respecting the rights of peoples, States and Mother Earth in a complementary, inclusive and interdependent way."
And he added: “the new era is of the power of work, the power of communities, the
power of the solidarity of the peoples and the communion of all living beings so that we can build Mother Earth and the Living Well Community Socialism together".
Real World Radio will conduct different interviews in the following days to cover the readings at the event called by the Bolivian government.
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