AN IMPRESSION FROM THE SOUTH

Gerardo Vargas, Foro Emaus /Pastoral Social

I've been asked to give my opinion about this seminar. In Central America there is a song-writer called Ricardo Cajona He has written a song called "If the north were the south". If the north were the south, you would be producers and workers in the banana-sector and we, from the south, would be the consumers. If the north were the south, you would have your concept about fair trade and we would have another one. If the north were the south, this seminar would probably take place in Honduras, San Vincente or Ghana. And you would be the guests and we would be the organisers. But, after all, there's nothing certain about it. It's only a song. And the north continues to be the north and the south continues to be the south. And the north is in the European Union and the WTO, which prescribes the rules and norms, and the GATT agreements. And the multinationals are also located in the north. In the north, there is the OECD and the UNO, who gave the order to invade Irak because they have got biological weapons, but who do not say that the United States should be invaded, too, because they've got the missiles.

But the north is still the north and the south is still the south. This seminar, in which all of us participated, is one more step in preparation for the banana conference in May. So we should stop believing that one part of us is from the south and the other part is from the north, instead of considering all of us as inhabitants of one unique world, where north and south are nothing more than geographical concepts and where all of us are human beings. And what we are fighting for is fair trade, which should allow all of us to live a decent life. And in this way, there definitely is a logic in saying that the north should be the south and the south should be the north.

In this seminar we learned about norms, rules and treaties of the WTO and the EU. But these are only rules to regulate the relationship between countries in political and economic terms. They are there to regulate an abstract market, a market which in the very first place tries to protect the interests of the huge multinational companies from capitalistic countries who control all of us. Therefore, the treaties between the countries have got an economic background. They are determined by the factor "money", which makes the world turn around. Money determines our economies and the relationship between countries and continents.

Those who have been present in this seminar have got to know a lot of organisations. We already knew some, but others were completely new to us. And we realised that there is an army here, fighting for fair trade. And as this army of organisationns becomes stronger and confirms its position, the situation in the banana-producing countries will change. We have got a lot of information, too. And it was a pleasure for us to realise that fair trade has a future. Not only because it's trade, but especially because it is fair trade. And as fair trade will have a future, the day-to-day reality of thousands of men and women living in our countries will change.

In this seminar, we have well understood what a big task all of us has to face, from the south and from the north. You, from the north, you will have to continue to fight for fair trade. And the mission you've got to fulfill is rather difficult: it is your business to increase the awareness thousands of people, so that they will understand that the object of our campaign is not just a beautiful fruit, but a fruit sold under clean and fair conditions, with regard to social and environmental aspects.

On the other hand, we from the south have to intensify the fight against our governments. Frequently, these governments have also been imposed upon us by the huge multinational concerns. We have to bind these governments, so that they will respect social and environmental clauses in the production of bananas. The multinationals will always be against us, and they will always try to destroy your and our work because transnationals and the govern-ments want to maintain their monopoly. And these companies will continue to impose rules on us, norms, presidents and ministers. They want to prevent us from looking for alternative solutions in the production of bananas and in the banana-market. Because, as we find alternative solutions, they will lose their privileges.

After all, this long way of preparation which leads us to the International Banana Conference should have convinced all of us, people from the south and from the north, that we need a change in the south as much as in the north - a political, economical and social change. And this change will bring us justice.

We should all prepare for this change in the 21st century. Fighting for this objective should be our common aim. north and south, these are geographical points of reference splitting us up into two groups. That's why the defence of a fair 21st century banana should be our common task. The 21st century banana shall be completely different from the 20th century banana. Justice is not a concept limited either to the south or to the north. Thank you.