 |
| Pix Credit Granma here |
Especially in the United States (though also a feature of missionary work among those in need of salvation), and to a substantial extent practiced among believers of one of the various communal traditions of Protestant Christianity, religious revivals have been an important performative (witnessing) element of the profession of faith. It is a communal act of solidarity aiming to inspire active members, gain new converts, and generally firm up the faith by calling on all sinners (whether or not baptized) to repent their sins (Generally Charles G. Finney, Revivals of Religion (CBN University Press, 1978), pp. 6-15).
Political movements also have their share of revival meetings: and towards the same ends. Recently there has been a convergence of the form of revival within the structures of G+ meetings: G7; G20; etc. Each, of course, consists of a flock of believers that distinguish themselves from other "G+" congregations by virtue of some set of characteristics or others of importance to them (and consequentially to the rest of us). Not all such congratulations are "G+s". Other have arisen around trade blocs: OECD, BRICS, and the like. But the ends of all are similar: firm up the faith, reinforce the guiding leading of the vanguard or priesthood of the congregation, and further develop (and make understandable) its theology and behavior expectations. These are witnessed internally by congregants but offered up to the world as variations of what Christians have long called the "good news" or "glad tidings" (evangelium and gospel), the witnessing of which will bring humanity closer to the realization of the purpose of that witnessing. As with religious revivals, these political revivals "should be practical" (Finney, supra 205 citing 2 Tim 3:16--"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness").
 |
| Pix credit here |
Today a very special, and by the time reckoning of politics, ancient, G+ organization is having its revival. The G77 +China is holding its annual meeting hosted by Cuba. And with it, G77 is mounting a political-religious a revival of the sort of Scriptural fervor of the political religions of the post-colonial and developing world that was crystalized with the New International Economic Order of the 1970s, and is now manifested in its most developed state in New Era Marxist Leninist theories of Internationalism. It too must embed doctrine, reprove heresy, correct, and instruct. Indeed, its basis rooted in the sensibilities and political outlook first crystalized in the Bandung Conference, also reflected the five principles for peaceful co-existence developed in the regularization of Chinese Indian relations (as touchy as they remain to this day) and which now serve as the foundation for Chinese Socialist Internationalism: mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, and equality.
This is a revival, to be sure, in all the classical senses of that term. It is, however, one in which Marley's ghost--the ghost of past "sins" and unresolved errors-- hovers at the edges ("I must wander through the world and I wear the chains because I was so stingy in life. I only cared about business but not about the people around me." here). The G77 wears heavy chains indeed. And who is that ghost, that spectre who reminds the global elites that very very little has changed, conceptually, since the 1960s?--Fidel Castro Ruz. When one wanders through the discursive thickets of what will be crystalized as the G77 agenda, "statement", "action plan" and the like, one will find in it a precise echo (though now in the language of the third decade of the 21st century) of the speech that Fidel Castro Ruz made to the UN General Assembly on 26 September 1960. 1960. . . . (Fidel Castro Ruz, "The problem of Cuba"; Address to the UN General Assembly (26 Sept., 1960), in Fidel Castro's Personal Revolution in Cuba: 1959-1973 (James Nelson Goosdell (ed); Alfred Knopf, 1975); pp. 30-32 ("The poor and underdeveloped country of the Caribbean, with 600,000 unemployed, contributing to the economic development of the most highly industrialized country in the world!, ibid., p 32). Indeed, as heralded in the press organs of the Cuban Communist Party "As part of the agenda, attendees are expected to continue the Group’s
historical demands, particularly in relation to the new international
economic order, the reform of the global financial architecture, the
rejection of unilateral coercive measures, concentration of wealth and
the weight of the external debt." (Granma 15 September 2023).
 |
| Pix Credit here |
The Group of 77 (G-77) was established on 15 June 1964 by seventy-seven developing countries signatories of the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries” issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. . . The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations, which provides the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote South-South cooperation for development. (G77)
The theme for G77 (+China) 2023 is is the scientific and technological divide between rich and poor countries and its impact on development. The current meeting was opened by the UN Secretary General.
"The focus is the scientific and technological divide between rich and poor countries and its impact on development. Guterres said greater international equality was essential to building the consensus needed to tackle climate change and inequality. "The world is failing developing nations" he said, expressing the hope that the meeting would strengthen participants' clout on a wide range of issues. He echoed climate advocates who have long urged developed nations, including top greenhouse gas polluters like the United States, to pay to mitigate climate change and lessen the weight of foreign debt" (UN secretary-general calls for equality for Global South at Cuba G77 summit).
 |
| Pix credit here |
His remarks follows below. This theme was taken up by Cuba's President, hosting the event, whose remarks (Díaz-Canel: En nombre de los pueblos que representamos, hagamos respetar sus voces; in English HERE) also follow. But all made in the shadow of Fidel Castro, Marley's ghost. Díaz Canel summed up his remarks in a most telling way:
Twenty-three years ago, at a meeting like this one, the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro asserted and I quote: “As for the Group of 77, this is not the time for begging from the developed countries or for submission, defeatism or internecine divisions. This is the time to rescue back our fighting spirit, our unity and cohesion in defending our demands. “Fifty years ago we were promised that one day there would no longer be a gap between developed and underdeveloped countries. We were promised bread and justice; but today we have less and less bread and more injustice.” End of quote. The topicality of those words can be construed as a defeat, in terms of what this Group aimed for and failed to achieve. I ask you to take it as a confirmation of the long road we have traveled together and of all the rights we have to demand the overdue changes.
Hace 23 años, en una reunión como esta, el líder histórico de la Revolución cubana, Fidel Castro, afirmó: “Para el Grupo de los 77 la hora actual no puede ser de ruegos a los países desarrollados, ni de sumisión, derrotismo o divisiones internas, sino de rescate de nuestro espíritu de lucha, de la unidad y cohesión en torno a nuestras demandas. “Nos prometieron hace cincuenta años que un día no habría abismo entre países desarrollados y subdesarrollados. Nos prometieron pan y justicia, y hoy hay cada vez menos pan y menos justicia”.La vigencia de esas palabras pudiera interpretarse como una derrota de lo que este Grupo pretendía y no ha logrado resolver. Yo pido que la tomen como una confirmación del largo camino que hemos andado juntos y todos los derechos que nos asisten para exigir los cambios pendientes. (Díaz-Canel: En nombre de los pueblos que representamos, hagamos respetar sus voces; in English HERE)
Key themes are old: technology transfers; transformation of the systems of patent ownership and exploitation, reparations (presented in a variety of forms), and a focus on a development lens for human rights and sustainability goals. But these have also been updated for the times, and here with the support of the UNSC: transformation of voting system in the UN and the structures and powers of the UN Security Council; and to some extent other international organizations which would effectively shift authority in a more horizontal way among states, irrespective of their wealth and state of development. And the G77 +China want access to the technological innovations of developed states.Lastly, the G77 (+China) embraces the increasingly important narrative of just transitions (eg here, here, and here). Again Secretary Genera Guterres:
Turning to your theme for today’s meeting: Science, technology and innovation can forge solidarity, solve common problems, and help to make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality. Yet today, they frequently inflame inequalities and entrench divisions: Richer countries hoarded COVID vaccines while the pandemic ran rampant in the Global South. . . And Africans in particular pay three times more the global average for data, while tech titans amass unimaginable wealth. Only global action can tackle these inequalities, secure a just transition to a digital economy, and ensure that in a new technological era, no one is left behind. (Guterres remarks)
Wanting something, and getting what one wants are quite distinct things. But, again, effective solidarity can have effects, even at the margins. And thus the elements of revival and the continuing power of the narratives of the 1950s-1970s outside of OECD states. At the same time that power of narrative poses a great challenge and constitutes a terrible burden; a heavy weight pulling G77 +China back into a past the goals of which were unsuccessful then (because they were not aligned with the times) and less likely to succeed now (except among the intellectual glitterati, nostalgia addicts, and left populists). And here again Marley's ghost--Fidel Castro-- whose spirit is infused in must of the structural and normative elements of the G77 agenda (consider the essays, Fidel Castro Ruz, De Seattle al 11 se septiembre (Editorial Txalaparta, 2002)); and see here, and here.
And it would foolish for the advanced elements of the liberal democratic camp to fail to take notice--and counter-measures. But to be effective these ought to focus on targeted states rather than on the modalities of leading state self-actualization. But that will require listening carefully to the narratives of developing and post colonial states, not change them necessarily, but to use them as a basis for effective engagement consistent with the goals and principles of the G7 leading states. But that requires both a knowledge of the historical context in which the current narratives were forged and their contemporary (though reshaped) power, to align with contemporary agendas. But here as well, the developed states also wear quite heavy chains that they forged in their past that that continues to weigh them down in the present. To understand the G77, one must, in some sense, teleport oneself back to the middle 1960s. That it remains self-referencing, self-contained and thus inter-subjective, provides it both with its power, and ultimately its limits. In that sense, little has changed from the performative realities captured in the 1961 iteration of this reflex.
 | ||
| Pix Credit here |
Nonetheless, revivals are powerful--especially when deployed against an orthodoxy that is viewed (or constructed) as weak. Revival in all its senses; one that it would be foolish for the "established churches" of contemporary political theocracies to ignore for long.
15 September 2023
Secretary-General's remarks to the G77 and China Summit
António Guterres
[Bilingual, as delivered]
Excelentísimo señor presidente,
Excelencias, señoras y señores, amigas y amigos todos:
Es un placer estar hoy con ustedes aquí, en la histórica La Habana.
Felicito a Cuba por su presidencia exitosa del G-77 y le agradezco la cálida bienvenida y la hospitalidad que me ha brindado.
Excelencias:
Hace casi 60 años, un grupo de naciones se reunieron para firmar el documento fundacional del G-77, a saber, la Declaración Conjunta de los Setenta y Siete Países en Desarrollo.
Los fundadores se declararon unidos en su determinación de remediar, y aquí cito literalmente, “siglos de injusticia y abandono.”
En el convulso mundo actual, esta función sigue siendo tan importante como entonces.
Sus miembros son el motor del desarrollo sostenible.
En las últimas décadas sus países han sacado a cientos de millones de personas de la pobreza, y se han aunado en las Naciones Unidas en la búsqueda de soluciones globales y de solidaridad.
Pero ahora se ven enredados en una maraña de crisis mundiales.
La pobreza va en aumento y el hambre es cada vez mayor.
Los precios están disparados, la deuda es exorbitante y los desastres climáticos son cada vez más frecuentes.
Los sistemas y los marcos mundiales les han fallado.
La conclusión es clara: el mundo le está fallando a los países en desarrollo.
Excellencies,
To change this, we need national action – to ensure good governance, mobilise resources, and prioritise sustainable development.
But we need global action, that respects national ownership, to build an international system that upholds human rights and works in your interests at all levels.
And that requires the G77 plus China using its voice to fight for a world that works for all.
Excellencies,
The task begins with the multilateral system itself.
We are moving to a multipolar world.
Multipolarity creates new opportunities for leadership on the global stage.
But alone it doesn’t guarantee peace and justice.
Those require strong, effective multilateral institutions.
But many of today’s institutions – particularly the United Nations Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions – reflect a bygone era;
One when many developing countries were shackled by colonial rule and had no say on their own affairs, or on global affairs.
I have proposed measures to make the global financial architecture more representative and responsive to the needs of developing countries.
And the SDG Summit next week and the Summit of the Future next year are real chances to make headway.
I thank you for your strong support for those proposals and count on your continued leadership and backing.
Excellencies,
Turning to your theme for today’s meeting:
Science, technology and innovation can forge solidarity, solve common problems, and help to make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality.
Yet today, they frequently inflame inequalities and entrench divisions:
Richer countries hoarded COVID vaccines while the pandemic ran rampant in the Global South.
Y quiero aprovechar este momento para felicitar a Cuba por el exitoso desarrollo de sus vacunas, vacunas que no solamente han servido al pueblo cubano, pero que con generosidad, Cuba permitió su utilización por otros pueblos, víctimas de la desigualdad del acceso internacional a las vacunas.
And Africans in particular pay three times more the global average for data, while tech titans amass unimaginable wealth.
Only global action can tackle these inequalities, secure a just transition to a digital economy, and ensure that in a new technological era, no one is left behind.
Our proposed Global Digital Compact can achieve exactly that.
It aims to bring together governments and industry to ensure that technology works for all humanity and accelerates the Sustainable Development Goals.
It is being negotiated by Member States ahead of the Summit of the Future.
And I urge you all to play a leading role.
New rules for new technologies cannot just be written by the wealthy and the privileged.
My High-Level Body on Artificial Intelligence – which includes experts from G77 countries – will report this year, so Member States can consider forms of justice in global governance options for artificial intelligence.
And we count on the G77 to put the interests of developing countries firmly on the table.
Excellencies,
Finance is another area for urgent global action.
Many developing countries are unable to service their debts.
You are suffering economically from the lingering effects of COVID, a cost-of-living crisis, and extreme climate impacts that deprive communities of basic needs.
Unsurprisingly, many of your countries simply do not have the finance to invest in technology, sustainable development, debt recovery, or climate action.
The world needs climate justice as it needs financial justice.
Developed countries must deliver the promised $100 billion, double adaptation finance by 2025, and recapitalise the Green Climate Fund.
Every person on earth must be protected by an early warning system by 2027 against natural disasters.
And I hope my upcoming Climate Ambition Summit – focused on credibility and action – will be able to drive real progress.
And at COP28 all parties must operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund championed by this group.
Reforms to the international financial system are gaining traction, but there is still a lot of resistance and it will take some time.
But we need action now. We need action today.
That is the reason that I have proposed an SDG Stimulus that would release at least $500 billion per year in affordable long-term finance for sustainable development and climate action in developing countries.
That includes increasing the capital base of the Multilateral Development Banks;
Changing their business models to leverage far more private finance at reasonable cost to developing countries;
Increasing contingency financing for countries in need;
And creating an effective debt relief mechanism.
Those efforts are making progress. But too slowly.
They have been discussed by groups of Member States from Paris to Bridgetown, and most recently Delhi.
Last week, the G20 expressed support for the SDG Stimulus, for strengthening the MDBs, and increasing finance for development and climate action. But that’s not enough.
The upcoming SDG Summit is a chance to build momentum, to accelerate action, and to renew determination to reach the SDGs; turning warm words into urgent action and facing with effectiveness the enormous inequalities that are still not allowing us to make the necessary progress.
This is also something that we want to go on building at the Summit of the Future.
Excellencies,
The SDG Summit next week, and the Summit of the Future next year, are real opportunities:
To reshape the international system and international institutions to make them reflect today’s realities instead of the realities that existed after WWII.
And create a fairer future for developing countries.
And we all have a duty to seize them.
The voice of the G77 plus China will always be essential at the United Nations.
And I count on your Group, who have long been champions of multilateralism, to step up, to use your power, and fight:
Champion a system rooted in equality;
Champion a system ready to reverse the injustice and neglect of centuries;
And champion a system that delivers for all humanity and not only for the privileged.
Thank you very much.
* * *
Díaz-Canel: En nombre de los pueblos que representamos, hagamos respetar sus voces (+Video)
Discurso pronunciado por Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba y Presidente de la República, en la Sesión inaugural de la Cumbre de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno del Grupo de los 77 y China, sobre los Retos actuales del desarrollo: papel de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación, en el Palacio de Convenciones, el 15 de septiembre de 2023, “Año 65 de la Revolución”
(Versiones Taquigráficas - Presidencia de la República)
Excelencias;
Distinguidos delegados e invitados:
Sean todos cálidamente bienvenidos a Cuba, la tierra de José Martí, a quien debemos la hermosa idea de que patria es humanidad.
Gracias por aceptar la invitación que hoy nos une en defensa del futuro de las grandes mayorías que conforman el grueso de ese grande y unificador concepto que es humanidad.
Como anunció el Canciller cubano en las vísperas, esta es una Cumbre austera, y espero que disculpen las carencias con las que puedan tropezar. Cuba está literalmente cercada por un bloqueo de seis décadas y por todas las dificultades que se derivan de ese cerco, ahora reforzado.
Enfrentamos también, por supuesto, los colosales desafíos que son consecuencia del injusto orden internacional vigente; pero no somos los únicos. Hace casi 60 años fue la comunión de dificultades y la esperanza de que juntos podríamos enfrentarlos y vencerlos, lo que nos hizo nacer como grupo. ¡Somos los 77 y China! ¡Y somos más!
Como apreciarán en estos días, carecemos de muchas cosas, pero nos sobran sentimientos: de amistad, de solidaridad y de hermandad. Y nos sobra voluntad para hacerlos a ustedes sentirse en familia. ¡Todos están en casa!
Cuenten también con la garantía de que haremos todo para que nuestras deliberaciones conduzcan a resultados tangibles, en el clima de solidaridad y cooperación que hace posible todavía la misión colectiva.
El Grupo de los 77 y China tiene la inmensa responsabilidad de representar en la escena internacional los intereses de la mayoría de las naciones del planeta. Por razones históricas e identitarias conservamos el nombre original, pero somos más, muchos más que 77 países. Hoy somos 134, lo que equivale a más de las dos terceras partes de los Estados miembros de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), donde vive el 80 % de la población mundial.
Reunirnos a nivel cumbre nos brinda la oportunidad de deliberar en colectivo y al más alto nivel político para aunar esfuerzos en defensa de los intereses de esas mayorías. Nos ayuda a conciliar posiciones frente a los retos actuales para el desarrollo y el bienestar de nuestros pueblos. Pero también nos impone cuestionamientos.
Tras casi 60 años de batallas diplomáticas, en el difícil y hasta hoy muy infructuoso intento de transformar las reglas injustas y anacrónicas que rigen las relaciones económicas internacionales, vale recordar los llamados de nuestros líderes históricos a democratizar la Organización de las Naciones Unidas; las advertencias de Fidel Castro de que “Mañana será demasiado tarde...”, y una frase inolvidable del Comandante Hugo Chávez, cuando dijo que los presidentes andamos de cumbre en cumbre y los pueblos de abismo en abismo.
Abogaba el líder bolivariano por reuniones realmente útiles, de las que pudieran emerger beneficios concretos para los pueblos que esperan soluciones, al borde del abismo en que nos ha sumido el egoísmo de quienes llevan siglos cortando el pastel y dejándonos las sobras.
Esta Cumbre ocurre en momentos en que la humanidad ha alcanzado un potencial científico-técnico, inimaginable hace un par de décadas, con una capacidad extraordinaria para generar riqueza y bienestar que, en condiciones de mayor igualdad, equidad y justicia, podría asegurar niveles de vida dignos, confortables y sostenibles para casi todos los pobladores del planeta.
Si coloreamos el espacio que ocupan las naciones miembros del Grupo en un mapamundi, veremos dos fuerzas que nadie supera: ¡Somos más y somos más diversos! El Sur también existe, dicen los versos del poeta uruguayo Mario Benedetti. Por todo el tiempo en que el Norte acomodó al mundo a sus intereses para mal del resto, ya toca al Sur cambiar las reglas del juego.
“Es la hora de los hornos, en que no se ha de ver más que la luz”, diría José Martí. Con el derecho que nos asiste por ser –la gran mayoría de los miembros del Grupo de los 77– las víctimas principales de la actual crisis multidimensional que sufre el mundo, de los desajustes cíclicos del comercio y las finanzas internacionales, del abusivo intercambio desigual, de la brecha científica, tecnológica y del conocimiento; de los efectos del cambio climático y del peligro de destrucción progresiva y el agotamiento de los recursos naturales de los que depende la vida en el planeta, exigimos ya la democratización pendiente del sistema de relaciones internacionales.
Son los pueblos del Sur los que más padecen pobreza, hambre, miseria, muertes por enfermedades curables, analfabetismo, desplazamientos humanos y otras consecuencias del subdesarrollo. Muchas de nuestras naciones son llamadas pobres, cuando en realidad deberían considerarse naciones empobrecidas. Y es preciso revertir esa condición en que nos sumieron siglos de dependencia colonial y neocolonial, porque no es justo y porque no soporta ya el Sur el peso muerto de todas las desgracias.
Los que levantaron ciudades deslumbrantes con los recursos, el sudor y la sangre de las naciones del Sur, sufren ya, y sufrirán más en lo adelante, las consecuencias de los desequilibrios económicos y sociales que propició el saqueo, porque viajamos en la misma nave, aunque algunos sean pasajeros VIP y otros sus servidores.
El único camino válido para que esta nave-mundo no termine como el Titanic es la cooperación, la solidaridad, la filosofía africana del Ubuntu, que entiende el progreso humano sin exclusiones, donde el dolor y la esperanza de cada uno sean el dolor y la esperanza de todos.
Excelencias:
Hemos propuesto como tema de esta Cumbre el papel de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación, como componentes esenciales del debate político asociado al desarrollo.
Lo hacemos convencidos de que los logros y avances en ese campo son los que dirán a la postre si es posible y cuándo alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible relacionados con el fin de la pobreza; el hambre cero en el mundo; la salud y el bienestar; la educación de calidad; la igualdad de género; el agua limpia y el saneamiento; la solución a los problemas de la energía, el trabajo, el crecimiento económico, la industrialización y la justicia social.
Tengo la más absoluta convicción de que tampoco será posible avanzar hacia un modo de vida sostenible, en armonía con las condiciones naturales que garantizan la vida en el plantea, sin esas premisas. Y es obvio que el proceso transformador hacia el logro de esos objetivos contempla, de una forma u otra, el papel del conocimiento como generador de ciencia, tecnología e innovación.
Es preciso derribar ya las barreras internacionales que han obstaculizado el acceso al conocimiento por los países en desarrollo y el aprovechamiento, por parte de ellos, de factores tan determinantes para el avance económico y social.
Hablo de barreras íntimamente asociadas a un orden económico internacional injusto e insostenible, que perpetúa condiciones de privilegio para los países desarrollados y relega a condiciones de subdesarrollo a una parte mayoritaria de la humanidad.
Sin atender esos temas no se podrá alcanzar de ningún modo el desarrollo sostenible al que todos tenemos derecho, por más metas que se pongan. Ni se podrá estrechar la inmensa brecha que separa las condiciones de vida privilegiadas de un segmento reducido de la población del planeta, ni el subdesarrollo que se profundiza entre las grandes mayorías. Tampoco se podrá confiar en que alcanzaremos un mundo de paz, en el que desaparezcan las guerras y los conflictos armados de todo tipo.
La ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación desempeñan un papel trascendental en la promoción de la productividad, la eficiencia, la creación de valor agregado, la humanización de las condiciones de trabajo, el impulso del bienestar y la garantía del desarrollo humano.
Estamos ante la mayor revolución científico-técnica que ha conocido la humanidad. La ciencia ha modificado el curso mismo de la vida. El ser humano ha sido capaz de conocer el espacio sideral e ingeniar sofisticadas máquinas que automatizan hasta los procesos más elementales asociados a su existencia.
Internet ha borrado los límites espaciales y temporales. El desarrollo tecnológico ha permitido conectar al mundo y eliminar miles de kilómetros de distancia a la velocidad de un clic. Ha multiplicado las capacidades de enseñanza y aprendizaje, acelerado los procesos investigativos y dotado al género humano de capacidades insospechadas para mejorar sus condiciones de vida. Pero estas posibilidades no están al alcance de todos.
Al respecto, la ONUDI ha resaltado que la creación y difusión de las tecnologías de producción digital de avanzada (PDA) sigue concentrada a nivel mundial, con un desarrollo muy débil en la mayoría de las economías del Sur. Solo diez economías –punteras en tecnologías de PDA– son responsables de un 90 % de todas las patentes mundiales y de un 70 % del total de exportaciones directamente relacionadas con las mismas[1].
Lejos de convertirse en herramientas para cerrar la brecha del desarrollo y contribuir a superar las injusticias que amenazan el propio destino de la humanidad, tienden a convertirse en armas para profundizar esa brecha, doblegar la voluntad de muchos gobiernos y proteger el sistema de explotación y saqueo que durante varios siglos ha alimentado la riqueza de las antiguas potencias coloniales y relegado a nuestras naciones a un papel subalterno.
Eso explica que, en medio del más colosal desarrollo científico-técnico de todos los tiempos, el mundo haya retrocedido tres décadas en materias de reducción de la pobreza extrema y se registren niveles de hambruna no vistos desde 2005.
Explica que en el Sur más de 84 millones de niños permanezcan sin escolarizar y más de 600 millones de personas sin electricidad; que solo el 36 % de la población utilice Internet en los países menos adelantados y en las naciones en desarrollo sin litoral, frente al 92 % con acceso en los países desarrollados.
Tómese en cuenta que el costo medio de un teléfono inteligente apenas representa el 2 % de los ingresos mensuales per cápita en Norteamérica, mientras esta cifra asciende al 53 % en el sur de Asia y al 39 % en África Subsahariana. No se puede hablar seriamente de avance tecnológico o de acceso equitativo a las comunicaciones ante estas realidades[2].
La transición energética transcurre también en condiciones de una profunda desigualdad, que tiende a perpetuarse. La desproporción en el consumo energético entre los países desarrollados –167,9 gigajulios por persona al año– y en vías de desarrollo –56,2 gigajulios por persona al año– es consecuencia de la brecha económica y social existente y también causa de que esta brecha continúe creciendo. El consumo de electricidad per cápita en los países de la OCDE es 2,38 veces mayor que la media mundial y 16 veces mayor que el de África Subsahariana[3].
Una parte sustancial de las enfermedades, más prevalentes en los países en desarrollo, son aquellas que son prevenibles y/o tratables. La Organización Mundial de la Salud[4] declaró en su informe de salud mundial que se estima que 8 millones de personas mueren prematuramente, cada año, a causa de enfermedades y afecciones que pueden curarse. Estas muertes son aproximadamente un tercio de todas las muertes humanas en el mundo cada año.
Tenemos el deber de intentar cambiar las reglas del juego y solo lo lograremos si movilizamos la acción conjunta.
Todos o casi todos tratamos de atraer la inversión extranjera directa como componente necesario de nuestro desarrollo y del manejo de nuestras economías. En ocasiones alcanzamos el objetivo de que esta venga acompañada de cierta transferencia de tecnología. Pero sabemos que lo más frecuente es que no se acompañe de la transferencia de conocimientos y de ayuda para la creación de capacidades. Esa ausencia conduce a que los países en desarrollo se ubiquen en los eslabones más bajos de las cadenas globales de valor, y que sus investigaciones en salud, alimentos, medio ambiente y otras resulten muy limitadas o padezcan una devaluación sistemática.
Este fenómeno ocurre junto al drenaje de talentos o lo que comúnmente se denomina “robo de cerebros”, o sea, la práctica de los países más desarrollados de beneficiarse de la preparación y el conocimiento de profesionales que los países en desarrollo forman con mucho esfuerzo, regularmente sin respaldo alguno de las naciones más ricas.
Es ese un drenaje masivo y un aporte financiero notable que hacen los países en desarrollo a los ricos, mucho mayor, por cierto, que la Ayuda Oficial al Desarrollo, sobre la base de un flujo migratorio que es devastador para los países subdesarrollados.
Otra realidad es la tendencia a patentarlo todo. Es esta una práctica que incrementa las arcas de las grandes empresas transnacionales en los países más poderosos y hace más frágiles a las restantes economías. De ese modo, el galopante proceso de privatización del conocimiento contribuye a ampliar la brecha y limita así el acceso al desarrollo.
Se presiona a los países en desarrollo para que introduzcan leyes de protección de los derechos de propiedad intelectual, y se olvida con todo propósito que muchos países industrializados se desarrollaron precisamente pirateando productos y tecnologías fuera de sus fronteras geográficas, especialmente en los que hoy son países en desarrollo.
Las solicitudes de patente siguieron aumentando, incluso en medio de la pandemia, en 2020 en 1,5 %, y se dispararon en 2021 creciendo un 3,6 %. Las tecnologías relacionadas con la salud continuaron registrando el crecimiento más rápido entre todos los sectores. Durante 2021, las solicitudes de marcas alcanzaron 3,4 millones a nivel mundial, aumentando 5,5 % con respecto a 2020. Sin embargo, fue desigual por regiones: Asia recibió dos tercios, el 67,6 %, de todas las solicitudes presentadas impulsadas principalmente por el crecimiento en China; América del Norte, el 18,5 %. Mientras que Europa con el 10,5 %, África el 0,6 %, América Latina y el Caribe el 1,6 % y Oceanía el 0,6 % representaron los más bajos porcentajes del total de solicitudes[5].
La brecha de género en la innovación persiste. El personal dedicado a la investigación aumentó a un ritmo tres veces más rápido, un 13,7 %, que el crecimiento de la población mundial, 4,6 %, en el periodo 2014-2018[6]. Sin embargo, solo un tercio de los investigadores son mujeres. Según la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual, los hombres siguen representando una gran mayoría de las personas asociadas a las invenciones patentadas en el mundo. Solo el 17 % de las personas designadas como inventoras en las solicitudes internacionales de patentes eran mujeres en 2021[7].
La privatización del conocimiento pone límites a la circulación y recombinación del mismo. Plantea limitaciones al progreso y las soluciones científicas de los problemas. Constituye una barrera significativa para el desarrollo y el papel que en él deben desempeñar la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación. Agrava las condiciones socioeconómicas en los países en desarrollo.
Baste señalar que en medio de la mayor pandemia que ha conocido la humanidad, solo diez fabricantes concentraron el 70 % de la producción de vacunas contra la COVID-19[8]. La pandemia evidenció con crudo realismo el costo de la exclusión científica y digital, que cobró vidas y amplió las distancias entre el Norte y el Sur.
Como resultado, los países en desarrollo solo llegaron a disponer de 24 dosis de vacunas por cada 100 habitantes, mientras los más ricos disponían de casi 150 dosis por cada 100 personas[9]. Ante el llamado a multiplicar la solidaridad y apartar las desavenencias, el mundo terminó siendo absurdamente más egoísta.
La Organización Mundial de la Salud ha formulado el conocido síndrome 90/10, según el cual el 90 % de los recursos de la investigación en salud se dedican a las enfermedades que producen el 10 % de la mortalidad y la morbilidad, mientras las que generan el 90 % de estas solo disponen del 10 % de los recursos[10].
Tras la pandemia, nuestros países han debido atravesar por circunstancias sumamente complejas, en las que aún pelean duramente para salir a flote.
Al acudir a los mercados financieros, las naciones del Sur se han enfrentado a tasas de interés hasta ocho veces superiores a las de los países desarrollados[11]. Alrededor de una quinta parte de las economías en desarrollo liquidaron más del 15 % de sus reservas internacionales de divisas para amortiguar la presión sobre las monedas nacionales[12].
En 2022, 25 naciones en desarrollo tuvieron que dedicar más de una quinta parte de sus ingresos totales al servicio de la deuda externa pública[13], lo que equivale a una nueva forma de explotación.
El gasto mundial en investigación y desarrollo, entre 2014 y 2018 aumentó un 19,2 %, superando el ritmo de crecimiento de la economía mundial del 14,6 %. Sin embargo, continúa altamente concentrado, pues el 93 % lo aportan los países integrantes del G20[14].
Los recursos necesarios para la solución de fondo a estos problemas existen. Solo en 2022, el gasto militar mundial alcanzó la cifra récord de 2,24 billones, o sea, millones de millones de dólares[15]. ¿Cuánto pudiera hacerse con esos recursos en beneficio del Sur?
Lograr la participación universal e inclusiva en la economía digital requerirá invertir en nuestros países, como mínimo, 428 000 millones de dólares para 2030[16], demanda que puede cubrirse con apenas el 19 % del gasto militar global[17].
Sin embargo, el Sur pareciera destinado a vivir de las migajas que el actual sistema tiene reservadas para él. El apoyo financiero del Fondo Monetario Internacional a los países menos adelantados y otros de renta baja, desde 2020 hasta finales de noviembre de 2022[18], no sobrepasa el equivalente a lo que ha gastado la empresa Coca-Cola solo en la publicidad de su marca en los últimos ocho años[19].
Mientras tanto, menos del 2 % de la ya deficiente Ayuda Oficial al Desarrollo se ha dedicado a capacidades de ciencia, tecnología e innovación[20].
Estimaciones realizadas indican que el 9 % del gasto militar mundial podría financiar en diez años la adaptación al cambio climático, y el 7 % sería suficiente para cubrir el gasto de vacunación universal contra la pandemia[21].
Una arquitectura financiera internacional que perpetúa semejantes disparidades y obliga al Sur a inmovilizar recursos financieros y a endeudarse para protegerse de la inestabilidad que el propio sistema genera, que ensancha los bolsillos de los ricos a expensas de las reservas del 80 % más pobre[22], es, sin duda, una arquitectura hostil al progreso de nuestras naciones. Debe demolerse, si realmente se aspira a labrar el desarrollo de la gran masa de naciones aquí reunidas.
Excelencias:
Debe ser tarea prioritaria derribar de una vez los paradigmas de investigación que se limitan a los entornos culturales y las perspectivas del Norte, y que privan a la comunidad científica internacional de un capital intelectual considerable.
Esta tendencia plantea una premisa para nuestras naciones: la urgencia de rescatar la confianza en el elemento más dinamizador de nuestras sociedades: el ser humano y su actividad creativa.
En este empeño, la creación de capacidad es clave para hacer realidad las promesas que la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación entrañan para el desarrollo sostenible.
Reconocemos, en este sentido, el mérito de la Iniciativa para el Desarrollo Global, impulsada por el presidente de la República Popular China, Xi Jinping. Es una propuesta inclusiva y coherente con la necesidad de un nuevo orden internacional justo y equitativo, que coloca al desarrollo basado en el conocimiento donde corresponde, en el centro de las prioridades del sistema internacional.
Aun siendo un país en desarrollo y lastrado por grandes dificultades económicas, Cuba cuenta con capacidades científicas que no se deben subestimar y que son parte del legado del líder histórico de la Revolución Cubana, el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, quien, con visión de adelantado, identificó en este campo una fuente potenciadora del desarrollo.
Disponemos de un sistema de gestión de gobierno basado en ciencia e innovación, que ha devenido en importante fortaleza para la preservación de nuestra soberanía, con su mejor expresión en la creación de vacunas propias cubanas contra la COVID-19.
No obstante, para Cuba, conectar el conocimiento con la solución de los problemas del desarrollo es una tarea de gigantes, porque esos esfuerzos deben transcurrir en medio de un férreo bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero que resulta en notables limitaciones de recursos.
Por solo citar un ejemplo, por decisión política del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos, muchos sitios de la red dedicados al conocimiento y la ciencia están específicamente bloqueados para los investigadores cubanos.
No es este el escenario para extenderme sobre el impacto que el criminal bloqueo económico de los Estados Unidos ejerce sobre nuestra economía, nuestro progreso científico-técnico y nuestro desarrollo, con un costo humanitario que se hace visible. Pero debo identificarlo como un obstáculo fundamental, a pesar del cual y sobre la base de una férrea voluntad política Cuba ha tenido la capacidad de alcanzar resultados indiscutibles en la ciencia y la innovación.
Los invito a discutir estos días sobre los retos del desarrollo de nuestras naciones, de las injusticias que nos apartan del progreso global, pero también del valor de nuestra unidad y de todo nuestro rico caudal de conocimientos.
Dirijamos nuestras reflexiones a la búsqueda de consensos, estrategias, tácticas y formas de coordinación. Pongamos sobre la mesa todo nuestro acervo, potenciemos las sinergias. Mostremos la valía y la experticia del Sur frente a los que pretenden presentarnos como una masa amorfa en busca de caridad o de asistencialismos.
Recordemos que muchas de las singulares naciones que representa el Grupo de los 77 y China escribieron impresionantes páginas de creatividad y heroísmo en la historia de la humanidad antes de que la colonización y el saqueo empobrecieran los destinos de una parte de ellos.
Recuperemos ese espíritu de lucha, el conocimiento tradicional, el pensamiento creativo y la sapiencia colectiva. Luchemos por nuestro derecho al desarrollo, que es también el derecho a existir como especie.
Solo así estaremos en condiciones de concurrir a la revolución científico-técnica en pie de igualdad. Solo así seremos capaces de ocupar el lugar que nos pertenece en este mundo donde nos pretenden relegar a la condición de mansos aportadores de riqueza para minorías. Cumplamos juntos la honrosa misión de completarlo, mejorarlo, hacerlo más justo y racional, sin que pese sobre nuestros sueños la amenaza permanente de desaparecer.
Excelencias:
Hace 23 años, en una reunión como esta, el líder histórico de la Revolución cubana, Fidel Castro, afirmó:
“Para el Grupo de los 77 la hora actual no puede ser de ruegos a los países desarrollados, ni de sumisión, derrotismo o divisiones internas, sino de rescate de nuestro espíritu de lucha, de la unidad y cohesión en torno a nuestras demandas.
“Nos prometieron hace cincuenta años que un día no habría abismo entre países desarrollados y subdesarrollados. Nos prometieron pan y justicia, y hoy hay cada vez menos pan y menos justicia”.
La vigencia de esas palabras pudiera interpretarse como una derrota de lo que este Grupo pretendía y no ha logrado resolver. Yo pido que la tomen como una confirmación del largo camino que hemos andado juntos y todos los derechos que nos asisten para exigir los cambios pendientes.
¡En homenaje a los que creyeron y fundaron, en nombre de los pueblos que representamos, hagamos respetar sus voces y reclamos!
¡Somos más! ¡Y Venceremos!
Muchas gracias (Aplausos).
[1]ONUDI (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Industrial) (2019). Informe sobre el Desarrollo Industrial 2020. La industrialización en la era digital. Resumen. Viena, ONUDI ID/449. https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/files/2019-11/UNIDO_IDR2020-Spanish_overview_0.pdf.
[2] Guterres, A. (2023). Prólogo. Informe de Políticas de Nuestra Agenda Común 5: Un Pacto Digital Global – Un Futuro Digital Abierto, Libre y Seguro para todas las Personas, mayo, https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/our-common-agenda-policy-brief-gobal-digi-compact-es.)
[3] Agencia Internacional de la Energía (AIE) (Estadísticas de la AIE © OCDE/AIE, jea.org/stats/index.asp); Estadísticas de energía y balances de países no pertenecientes a la OCDE; Estadísticas de energía de países de la OCDE, y balances de energía de países de la OCDE. https://datos.bancomundial.org/indicator/EG.USE.ELEC.KH.PC)
[4] Organización Mundial de la Salud (2004): 10/90 Report on Health Research 2003-2004 2004. 282 pages. ISBN 2-940286-16-7
[5] WIPO (2022). World Intellectual Property Indicators 2022, Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN: 978-92-805-3463-4 (online), ISSN: 2709-5207 (online). https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-941-2022-en-world-intellectual-property-indicators-2022.pdf.
[6] UNESCO (2021). La carrera contra el reloj para un desarrollo más inteligente, 11 de junio, https://www.unesco.org/reports/science/2021/es.
[7]Para más detalle ver: https://amiif.org/mujeres-y-propiedad-intelectual-aceleracion-de-la-innovacion-y-la-creatividad/ (fecha consulta: 3 de julio de 2023).
[8] Datos obtenidos del sitio oficial de Naciones Unidas, https://news.un.org/es/story/2022/11/1516737
[9] Datos extraídos del Informe “Financiamiento para el Desarrollo Sostenible 2022: Cerrando la gran brecha en el financiamiento”, del Grupo de Trabajo Interinstitucional sobre Financiamiento para el Desarrollo.
[10]Luchetti, M. (2014). Global health and the 10/90 gap. British Journal of Medical Practitioners, 7(4), 4.
[11] Dato obtenido del prólogo del Secretario General de la ONU al Informe de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible 2023
[12] Informe sobre Financiación para el Desarrollo Sostenible, 2023, Naciones Unidas
[13] Informe sobre Financiación para el Desarrollo Sostenible, 2023, Naciones Unidas
[14] UNESCO (2021). La carrera contra el reloj para un desarrollo más inteligente, 11 de junio, https://www.unesco.org/reports/science/2021/es.
[15] Datos obtenidos del Infome: Trends in World Military Expenditure 2022, publicado por SIPRI
[16] Informe sobre Financiación para el Desarrollo Sostenible, 2022, Naciones Unidas
[17] Dato calculado a partir de la cifra del gasto militar en 2022 y el estimado de inversiones necesarias en materia de economía digital
[18] 32 mil 300 millones de dólares Informe sobre Financiación para el Desarrollo Sostenible, 2023, Naciones Unidas
[19] Datos obtenidos del sitio web “El Statista” a partir de información publicada por la compañía Coca Cola. https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/1292278/coca-cola-co-inversion-publicitaria/ (Entre 2015 y 2022, los gastos de la compañía en publicidad ascendieron 31 mil 491 millones de dólares.
[20] Datos obtenidos del Informe “Tecnología e Innovación 2023”, de la UNCTAD.
[21]OXFAM (2023): Informe Paralelo de 2023 sobre Financiación Climática DOI: 10.21201/2023.621500) www.oxfam.org.
[22] Se refiere a la población que representa el Grupo de los 77 y China.
* * *
Díaz-Canel: It is necessary to dismantle, now, the international barriers that have obstructed access by the developing countries
Speech by the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the inaugural session of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China on the current challenges of development: the role of science, technology and innovation
Havana, September 15, 2023 (Ver.6)
Your excellencies,
Distinguished delegates and guests,
The warmest of welcomes to Cuba, the land of José Martí, to whom we owe the beautiful idea that Homeland is Mankind.
Thank you for accepting an invitation that brings us together today to defend the future of the vast majorities that form the bulk of that great and unifying concept: mankind.
As announced by our foreign minister on the eve of the present event, this is an austere summit; I hope you will forgive any shortcomings you may encounter. Cuba is literally besieged by a six-decade blockade and beset by all the problems that go with that siege, which has recently been intensified.
We are also faced, of course, with the immense challenges generated by the prevailing unjust international order; but we are not alone. It was almost 60 years ago that our common difficulties and the hope that together we could face them and prevail, generated the idea that led to the formation of this group. We are the Group of 77 and China. And we are more.
As you will realize in the coming days, we lack a lot of things, but we’re not short of feelings: of friendship, of solidarity, of humanity. Neither are we lacking in the will to make you feel welcome. Here, you are at home.
You can also be sure that we will do everything to ensure that our deliberations lead to tangible results, in the climate of solidarity and cooperation that underpins the success of any collective endeavor.
The Group of 77 and China has the huge responsibility of representing, in the international arena, the interests of the majority of the world’s nations. For reasons of history and identity we have kept the original name, but we are a lot more than 77 countries. Today we’re 134, equating to over two-thirds of the UN member states and accounting for 80% of the world population.
Meeting at summit level gives us the opportunity to deliberate collectively and at the highest political level, to pool efforts in defense of interests of that majority. It helps us find common positions on the current challenges to development and the wellbeing of our peoples. But it also poses us interrogatives.
Following almost 60 years of diplomatic battles, in the difficult and thus far fruitless attempt to reform the unjust, anachronistic rules that govern international economic relations, it behooves us to remember the calls of our historic leaders to democratize the UN; Fidel Castro’s warnings that “tomorrow will be too late” and an unforgettable remark by Comandante Ugo Chávez: “We presidents go from summit to summit, and the peoples go from abyss to abyss”
Chavéz called for truly useful meetings, which could produce concrete benefits for the peoples waiting for solutions beside the abyss we have been consigned to by the egoism of those who, for centuries, have been cutting the cake and leaving us the crumbs.
This summit is taking place at a time when mankind has achieved a level of scientific/technical progress unimaginable a couple of decades ago, conferring an incredible capacity for generating wealth and well-being which, in times of greater equality, equity and justice, could ensure decent, comfortable and sustainable living standards for practically every inhabitant of this planet.
If we color the space occupied by the Group of 77 and China on a world map, we see two strengths which no-one beats: we are the largest, and the most diverse. The South also exists, in the lines of the Uruguayan poet Mario Benedetti. Considering the length of time during which the North has adapted the world to suit its interests, at everyone else’s expense, the moment has arrived for the South to change the rules of the game.
“It’s the hour of the furnaces, in which all there is to see is light”, José Martí would say. With the rights we - the vast majority of the Group of 77 members - acquire by being the primary victims of the world’s present multidimensional crisis; of the cyclical imbalances in international trade and finance; of the abusive, unequal exchange; of the science, technology and knowledge gap; of the danger stemming from progressive destruction and exhaustion of the natural resources on which life on earth depends, we demand realization now of the overdue democratization of the system of international relations.
It is the countries of the South which suffer most from poverty, hunger, indigence, deaths from curable diseases, illiteracy, human displacement, and other effects of underdevelopment. Many of our nations are labeled poor whereas they should properly be referred to as pauperized. The need is to rectify a situation which centuries of colonial and neocolonial dependence have left us in: it is unjust and the South can no longer bear the deadweight of all the problems.
Those who built shining cities with the resources, sweat and blood of the nations of the South are already suffering and will go on suffering the impacts of the economic and social imbalances that favored the plunder, because we’re all in the same boat - although some are ‘first class’ and others their servants.
The only safe route, to ensure that this world ship doesn’t meet the
same fate as the Titanic, is that of cooperation, solidarity, the
African Ubuntu philosophy, which sees human progress as without
exclusions, where one person’s pain and hope is the pain and hope of
everyone.
Your excellencies:
We have proposed as this summit’s theme the role of science, technology and innovation as essential components of the political debate associated with law.
We do so in the conviction that the achievements and advances in this field are those that will finally reveal whether and when it will be possible to fulfill the ideal sustainable development goals, relating to: ending poverty; zero world hunger; health and well-being; high-quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; solution of the problems of energy, employment, economic growth, industrialization and social justice.
I am totally convinced that, likewise, it will not be possible to progress towards a sustainable way of life, in harmony with the natural conditions that support life on the planet, without these premises.
And it is obvious that the transformation needed for reaching these goals implies, in one form or another, the role of knowledge as a driver of science, technology and innovation.
It is necessary to dismantle, now, the international barriers that have obstructed access by the developing countries and the use by these of such critical factors for economic and social progress.
I’m referring to barriers closely associated with an unjust and unsustainable international economic order that perpetuates conditions of privilege for the developed countries and condemns most of mankind to underdevelopment.
If these issues are not addressed, it will not be possible to reach the sustainable development to which we are all entitled, however many goals we set ourselves.
Neither will it be possible to narrow the yawning gap between the living standards of the privileged few and the underdevelopment marking the conditions endured by the vast majority.
We will have no prospect of a world of peace, in which wars and all other kinds of armed conflict disappear.
Science, technology and innovation play a key role in fostering productivity, efficiency, the creation of value added, the humanization of working conditions, promotion of well-being and the guarantee of human development.
We are seeing the greatest scientific/technological revolution in human history. Science has changed the very course of life. Man has been able to know sidereal space and develop sophisticated machines that automate even the most basic processes associated with our existence.
The internet has broken through the limits of time and space; technological development has enabled a connected world and reduced distances of thousands of miles to a click. It has multiplied the capacities of teaching and learning, speeded up research and endowed man with unsuspected abilities for improving our standard of living.
But these possibilities are not within the reach of everyone.
In this context, UNIDO has stressed that the creation and dissemination of advanced digital production (ADP) technologies worldwide remain concentrated, with minor activity in most of the emerging economies. Just 10 economies - spearheading ADP technologies - account for 90% of all the patents globally and 70% of the total exports directly related to these.
Far from becoming tools for closing the development gap and helping overcome the injustices that overshadow mankind’s very future, they tend to be weaponized for use in widening the gap, sapping the will of many of our governments and protecting the system of exploitation and plunder that for centuries fed the wealth of the old colonial powers and condemned our nations to a subordinate role.
That explains why, in the midst of the most tremendous scientific/technical advance of all time, the world has regressed three decades as regards reducing extreme poverty, with levels of hunger not witnessed since 2005.
It explains why, in the so-called Third World, over 84 million children are without schooling and over 660 million have no electricity; why only 36% of the population use the internet in the least advanced countries and the landlocked developing nations, compared with 92% in the industrialized world.
Note that the average cost of a smartphone represents 2% of monthly income per head in America, while the corresponding statistic in South Asia is 53% and in sub-Saharan Africa 39%. It is impossible to speak of technological advance or fair access to communications in these circumstances.
The energy transition is also taking place in conditions of extreme inequality, which seeks to perpetuate itself. The disproportion in energy consumption between the developed countries (167.9 GJ per person per annum) and the developing world (56.2 GJ) results from the existing economic and social divide and also ensures that the gap goes on widening. Electricity consumption in the OECD countries exceeds the world average 2.38 times and that of sub-Saharan Africa 16 times.
Many of the diseases that are more prevalent in the developing countries are preventable or at least treatable. The WHO in its report on the world’s state of health estimates that every year 8 million people die prematurely from curable diseases and conditions. These deaths represent around one-third of annual worldwide mortality. Average spending on public health per capita in the Western countries is estimated at $947 compared with $20 in the low-income nations.
We have a duty to try to change the rules of the game; we will succeed only by mobilizing joint action.
All or nearly all of us are trying to attract direct foreign investment as a necessary component of our development and the management of our economies. We sometimes succeed in arranging for this to be accompanied by technology transfer.
But we know that more often than not there is no transfer of knowledge or help with capacity building. This lack means that the developing countries find themselves at the lowest levels in the global value chains, while their research in health, food, the environment and other fields is very limited or deficient in systematic devaluation.
This phenomenon accompanies the emigration of talent commonly referred to as the “brain drain”: the practice of the most developed countries to poach the preparation and knowledge of professionals trained with much effort by the developing nations, generally entirely without support by the richest countries.
This is a massive drain and a significant financial contribution by developing countries to the rich ones, much greater, by the way, than official development assistance, as a result of a migratory flow that is devastating for the underdeveloped world.
Another reality is the tendency to patent everything, including life forms, as promoted by the World Trade Organization. This is a practice that swells the coffers of large transnational corporations in the most powerful countries and makes the remaining economies more fragile. Thus, the rampant process of privatization of knowledge contributes to widening the gap and limits access to development.
Patents are part of a neoliberal theology, according to which knowledge can be privatized, bought and sold like any other commodity.
There is pressure on developing countries to introduce laws to protect intellectual property rights, while conveniently forgetting that many industrialized countries developed precisely by pirating products and technology outside their geographic borders, particularly in today's developing countries.
Patent applications continued to increase, even in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 (up by 1.5%) and jumped in 2021 (3.6% growth). Health-related technologies continued to record the fastest growth among all sectors. During 2021, trademark applications reached 3.4 million globally (up 5.5% on 2020). However, it was uneven by region: Asia received two-thirds (67.6%) of all applications filed, driven mainly by growth in China; North America 18.5%, Europe 10.5%; the lowest percentages of total applications were those of Africa (0.6%), Latin America and the Caribbean (1.6%) and Oceania (0.6%).
The gender gap in innovation persists. The numbers engaged in research increased at a rate three times faster (13.7%) than the growth of the world population (4.6%) between 2014 and 2018. In 2018, the number of researchers reached 8.854 million. However, only one third of researchers are women. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) men still represent the large majority of those associated with patented inventions in the world. In 2021, only 17% of the persons designated as inventors in international patent applications were women.
The privatization of knowledge places limits on the circulation and recombination of knowledge. It poses limitations to progress and to scientific solutions to problems. It represents a significant barrier to development and the role that science, technology and innovation should play in it. It exacerbates the socioeconomic conditions of Third World countries.
Suffice it to say that in the midst of the greatest pandemic humanity has ever known, just ten manufacturers accounted for 70% of anti COVID-19 vaccine production.[9] The pandemic was a starkly realistic illustration of the cost of scientific and digital exclusion, which took lives and widened the gap between North and South.
As a result, developing countries had only 24 doses of vaccines per 100 inhabitants, while the corresponding number for the richest countries was almost 150. In response to the call for greater solidarity and put aside disagreements, the world ended up being, absurdly, more selfish.
The World Health Organization has formulated the well-known 90/10 syndrome, according to which 90% of health research resources are devoted to diseases that cause 10% of mortality and morbidity, while those that cause 90% of mortality and morbidity receive only 10% of the resources available.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, our countries have had to endure extraordinarily complex conditions, which they are still fighting hard to overcome.
In tapping financial markets, the nations of the South have faced interest rates up to 8 times higher than those charged to developed countries. About one-fifth of developing economies liquidated more than 15% of their international foreign exchange reserves to cushion the pressure on domestic currencies.
In 2022, 25 developing nations had to devote more than one-fifth of their total income to servicing public external debt, which is tantamount to a new form of slavery.
Between 2014 and 2018, global spending on research and development (R&D), increased by 19.2%, outpacing the growth of the global economy (14.6%). However, it remains highly concentrated, as 93% is arises in the G20 countries.
The resources needed for a comprehensive solution to these problems do exist. In 2022 alone, global military spending reached a record $2,24 trillion, that is millions of millions of dollars. How much could be done with these resources for the benefit of the South?
Achieving universal and inclusive participation in the digital economy will require at least $428 billion to be invested in our countries by 2030, a demand that can be met with just 19% of global military spending.
However, the South seems destined to live on the crumbs that the current system has reserved for it. The International Monetary Fund's financial support for the least developed countries and other low-income countries, from 2020 to late November 2022, was no more than what the Coca Cola Company has spent on advertising its brand alone in the last 8 years.
Meanwhile, less than 2% of the already deficient Official Development Assistance has been dedicated to capacities in science, technology and innovation.
Estimates indicate that 9% of global military spending could finance climate change adaptation over 10 years (proposed by the "Global Commission on Adaptation") and 7% would be sufficient to cover the cost of universal vaccination against COVID-19.
An international financial architecture that perpetuates such disparities and forces the South to tie up financial resources and go into debt to protect itself from the instability that the system itself generates; that enlarges the pockets of the rich at the expense of the reserves of the poorest 80%[23] is, without a doubt, an architecture that is inimical to the progress of our nations. It must be demolished if we really want to work for the development of the great mass of nations gathered here.
Your excellencies,
It must be a priority to abolish once and for all the research paradigms that are specific to the cultural environments and perspectives of the North, and that deprive the international scientific community of considerable intellectual capital.
This trend poses a premise for our nations: the urgency of restoring confidence in the most dynamic element of our societies: the human being and his/her creative activity.
In this endeavor, capacity building is key to fulfilling the promise of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development.
We recognize, in this regard, the merit of the Global Development Initiative, promoted by the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping. It is an inclusive proposal, consistent with the need for a new, just and equitable international order, which rightfully places knowledge-based development at the center of the priorities of the international system.
Even though Cuba is a developing country burdened by great economic difficulties, it has scientific capabilities that should not be underestimated and that are part of the legacy of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who, with foresight, identified this field as a mainspring of development.
We have a government management system based on science and innovation, which has become an important strength for the preservation of our sovereignty, the best expression of which was the creation of our own vaccines against COVID-19.
However, for Cuba, linking knowledge to the solution of development problems is a titanic task, since such efforts are to be made in the midst of an entrenched economic, commercial and financial blockade that translates into significant resource limitations.
To name but one example, by political decision of the U.S. government, many websites related to knowledge and science are specifically blocked for Cuban researchers.
This is not the occasion for me to dwell on the impact that the criminal US economic blockade has on our economy, our scientific-technical progress and our development, with an obvious humanitarian cost.
However, I must identify it as a major obstacle, despite which - due to our strong political will - Cuba has been able to achieve indisputable results in science and innovation.
I invite you to discuss during these days the challenges to our nations of development, the injustices that exclude us from global progress, but also the value of our unity and our rich store of knowledge.
Let us focus our reflections on the pursuit of consensus, strategies, tactics and ways of coordination. Let us put on the table all our assets, let us maximize synergies. Let us show the value and expertise of the South to those who seek to present us as an amorphous mass seeking charity or handouts.
Let us remember that many of the unique nations represented by the G-77 and China wrote impressive pages of creativity and heroism in human history before colonization and plunder impoverished the destinies of a number of them.
Let us recover that fighting spirit, traditional knowledge, creative thinking and collective wisdom. Let us fight for our right to development, which is also the right to exist as a species.
Only then will we be in a position to participate in the scientific-technical revolution on an equal footing. Only then will we be able to occupy the place that is rightfully ours in this world in which they try to relegate us to the condition of meek contributors of wealth to minorities. Let us fulfill together the honorable mission of integrating and improving this world, making it fairer and more rational, without the permanent threat of extinction overshadowing our dreams.
Excellencies,
Twenty-three years ago, at a meeting like this
one, the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro asserted
and I quote:
“As for the Group of 77, this is not the time for begging from the developed countries or for submission, defeatism or internecine divisions. This is the time to rescue back our fighting spirit, our unity and cohesion in defending our demands.
“Fifty years ago we were promised that one day there would no longer be a gap between developed and underdeveloped countries. We were promised bread and justice; but today we have less and less bread and more injustice.” End of quote.
The topicality of those words can be construed as a defeat, in terms of what this Group aimed for and failed to achieve. I ask you to take it as a confirmation of the long road we have traveled together and of all the rights we have to demand the overdue changes.
In tribute to those who believed and laid the foundations; in the name of the people we represent, let us see that their voices and demands are respected.
There are more of us. And we shall triumph.Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment