27 de noviembre de 2009 | Entrevistas | Anti-neoliberalismo
Root Cause
Alexandra Strickner from ATTAC Austria analyzed the ministerial summit and the alternatives of the social movements
1:50 minutes
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Free-trade policies promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) are the root causes of the economic, food and environmental crisis affecting the world, according to Alexandra Strickner, member of ATTAC Austria. She will be participating in the ministerial summit of the WTO to be held in Geneva, Switzerland.
In an interview with Real World Radio, Alexandra Strickner stated that the recipe promoted by WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy, to increase trade liberalization “is not a solution to all these crises”.
She also pointed out that the Summit which will be held in Geneva will take place on the tenth anniversary of the meeting in Seattle, US, which laid the foundations for the international social movement´s claim to take into account the needs of the population instead of the interests of transnational corporations.
There are no high expectations in terms of the outcomes of the ministerial, except a declaration that reaffirms the legitimacy of free trade. However, environmental, peasants and workers movements will also come to Geneva.
With reference to the alternatives, Alexandra highlighted the discussions held at the World Social Forum held in Belem, Brazil, and stated that there are clear paths towards the concept of Food Sovereignty. She stressed that the main challenge is to think of a radically different industrial model, and introduce changes on the life-styles of the populations towards socially and environmentally sustainable systems.
