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Cuba Calls for Just World Order to Deal with Climate Crisis

BOLIVIA, April 23, 2010.—  During his address at the closing session of the First Peoples World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo called for a just and rational world order for all of humanity.
Esteban Lazo said that we can no longer allow developed countries to hold international commerce hostage to its consumer politics. He cited Cuban National Hero Jose Marti who wrote, “The [people of the world] must form ranks to keep the giant with seven-league boots from passing.”
After passing on greetings from Cuban Revolution Leader Fidel Castro and Cuban President Raul Castro, Lazo called for a process of citizen participation, consultation and open dialogue to come up with urgent measures to be implemented to avoid further destruction of Mother Earth.
Esteban Lazo said that Cuba supports the conclusions reached after three days of debate at work tables during the conference to save the planet, as well as Bolivian President Evo Morales’ initiative to hold this peoples conference every two years to contribute to defending the environment.
The Cuban vice president said that during the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Summit to be held in December in Cancun, member countries should demand that the real causes of climate change be analyzed and not just its consequences.
“We need to make commitments to ensure that future negotiations help the world move towards a genuinely sustainable economic model,” said Lazo. He added that developed countries need to respect the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the peoples’ right to development.
Esteban Lazo stated that the industrialized world, the primary party responsible for climate change, must contribute new resources and pay off their multibillion ecological debt.  He said that the primary abusers of Mother Earth are the same countries who oppose measures to slow climate change, while blaming climate change on underdeveloped country.
In this regard, Lazo highlighted the need to call on the US government, the world’s largest pollutant, to sign the Kyoto Protocol and to commit to a second more ambitious phase.
Finally, Esteban Lazo criticized the process and the conclusions of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change held in December 2009.
Cuban Vice President of the Council of State Esteban Lazo arrived on Wednesday to Bolivia along with Cuban Vice Minister of Science and Technology Fernando González, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Abelardo Moreno, and Cuban Ambassador to Bolivia Rafael Dausá.
On Thursday the Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo participated in a panel discussion with other leaders from social organizations, academia and government on the topic of fostering dialogue between government and citizens.
In the afternoon, Esteban Lazo took part in an activity held at the Félix Capriles Stadium in Cochabamba to celebrate International Earth Day that was founded by the United Nations in 2009 thanks to a proposal submitted by Bolivian President Evo Morales.
The Cuban vice president is next scheduled to meet with Cuban internationalists working in the healthcare and education sectors and with Cuban social workers in Bolivia, reported Prensa Latina.

(Cubaminrex- Juventud Rebelde)