As the 22nd Congress of the Socialist International entered its last day on Wednesday, leftists from around the world put the final touches on a declaration in favour of a new world order and against the unilateral policies of the United States.
Delegates were expected to approve the Declaration of Sao Paulo that calls for the reshaping of globalisation that they say now favours rich countries and corporations to the detriment of the planet’s poor.
Without citing names, the declaration’s draft version points an accusing finger at the US administration of George Bush.
”Neoconservatives are attempting to …. dismantle all forms of global governance, to minimise the role of the United Nations, to undermine multilateral institutions, to promote unilateralism and the consecration of the market and to impose the will of the powerful to decide the future of mankind,” the document says.
US unilateralism makes it difficult to establish the new world order the Socialist International is calling for, said the organisation’s president, Antonio Guterres.
”After World War II there was a new vision, and we need a new vision today, ”he said. ”It is obvious that with the present administration in Washington, a dialogue about this new vision is quite difficult.”
”Nevertheless we must deal with the United States, which must be part of any solution to the world’s pressing problems,” he added.
As it stands now, globalisation is ”unsustainable” for it fosters social inequality and widens the global divide between the rich and the poor, the document’s draft version says.
To address this issue, the document calls for the reform of the United Nations, making it more ”representative, democratic and responsible.”
Another document, entitled The Socialist International in the World, calls for the end of agricultural subsidies in place in the United States, the European Union and Japan- subsidies that stymie economic growth in developing nations.
The draft version of this second document also calls for a Palestinian state established side by side with Israel ”under irreversible security guarantees for both sides.”
It also urges Israel to dismantle the security wall it is building and end to the construction of settlements. It calls on Palestinian authorities to redouble their efforts to stop terrorism.
On Iraq, it recommends the transfer of power to an Iraqi administration, which should take charge ”of governing the country as soon as possible.”
Founded in 1951 by a group of mainly European social democratic parties, the Socialist International holds a congress every four years to discuss advancing social democratic change under the banner: ”For a more human society. For a world more fair and just.”
Former German Chancellor Willy Brandt led the group from 1976 to 1992, and was succeeded by former French Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy. – Sapa-AP