As the protests and repression were taking place on the streets of Scotland, a summit to deliver Africa into the arms of the G8’s corporations and abandon the (already heavily compromised) Kyoto treaty climate change was also happening behind the fences and armed police of Gleneagles. The G8 communiqué was spun as a triumph but proved all the critics right – there was no deal on trade, debt relief will only be granted to 18 countries and is worth just over $1bn, not the 60 and $45.7bn demanded as a minimum by the conservative Make Poverty History coalition, and the $50bn a year aid increase from the rich countries to the poor will only kick in by 2010 and is some $75bn short of development campaigner’s demands. To get these crumbs from the table, Africa must commit to major Western-style economic and political reforms. Geldof and Bono caused outrage from normally mild-mannered NGOs when they described the outcome as “the greatest G8 summit there has ever been for Africa”. War on Want and World Development Movement released a joint statement criticising the G8 summit as a betrayal and launched a scathing attack on Bono and Geldof, arguing that they “may be content with crumbs from the table of [their] rich political friends. But we did not come to Gleneagles as beggars. We came to demand justice for the world’s poor.” Geldof in return branded the NGO’s criticism as a “disgrace”.
Source: Indymedia
It was nice to have hope for a day.