There is only one form of discrimination that we should foster — that in favour of the underprivileged. Progress requires the political capacity and will to discriminate positively in the allocation of resources, and equality of opportunity can only be achieved by discriminating in favour of the weak.
In this 21st century, Africa must not be left behind. But, by the same token, Africa must not shirk this century’s core challenges. That is where dialogue between continents, between Africa and Latin America, is fundamental. We want a globalised world that is governed by rules and in which multilateral organisations play a key role. It is there that we must define how to cooperate with those most afflicted by want, and how to ensure that world markets operate fairly, delivering growth for all. In a world without rules, it is the strong who triumph and the weak who pay the highest costs.
What can we do when hazardous cargo is being shipped around the Cape of Good Hope? To whom should we complain when the northern hemisphere’s industrial emissions thin the ozone layer of the extreme south? These and other questions call for an active dialogue between our countries. And, undoubtedly, that is also the case when we seek new ways to elect the authorities of international financial organisations or design policies for the Bretton Woods institutions.
Globalisation is here, and it is here to stay. As Nelson Mandela pointed out last year, refusing to accept globalisation is like denying the existence of winter and therefore not wearing warm clothing. We have to work within globalisation, but we also have to make globalisation work to the benefit of all the world’s citizens.
My visit to South Africa occurs when the country is celebrating a decade of freedom from apartheid. This occasion has a close bearing on the ethical roots of Chile’s international policy, but is also important because it comes at a time when the country is in the vanguard of Africa’s bid to move towards a new stage of its quest for modernisation and a better life for its citizens.
Chile, on the Pacific coast of South America, seems remote from the destiny of Africa. But often we have found ourselves aligned with this continent’s deep-rooted demands. The first president of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid was a Chilean, Hernán Santa Cruz, and our country has consistently supported anti-colonial policies.
In 2000 Chile hosted the Regional Conference of the Americas, a prior step to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that took place in Durban the following year. The meeting in Chile made a guiding contribution to the conference in South Africa. In Santiago, we formally recognised the multiracial, multi-ethnic, multicultural and pluralist character of the Americas as an inherent part of our identity.
Just three days after the meeting in Durban the world was shaken by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Those appalling events spawned new manifestations of racism and intolerance, particularly of a religious and cultural nature.
Ricardo Lagos is the President of Chile