GENEVA, May 19: He had to say it. He said it simply. Not that what he says will buck the trend, but Cuban President Fidel Castro today threw cold water on a winners trade party today when he told them they were strengthening their grip over the global economy at the expense of the poor nations of the world.Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde said that the ``utter realism'' of Castro's speech had dwarfed the ``arrogant'' speech by President Bill Clinton who made a two-hour stopover here.
``Globalisation is not a policy choice... it is a fact,'' said Clinton as Castro sat in the audience taking notes. ``We can work to shape these powerful forces... or we can retreat behind walls of protection and get left behind in the global economy,'' Clinton said and proposed a new round of trade talks offering to hold it in Washington next year.
Hours later, Castro, to thunderous applause at the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation celebrating 50 years of free trade, said that Third World countries hadbeen losing everything that protected the value of their exports.
``What are we going to live on?... what industrial production will be left for us? Only low-tech, labour intensive and highly contaminating ones? Do they perhaps want to turn a large part of the Third World into a huge zone full of assembly plants which don't even pay taxes?'' Castro asked.
Castro condemned a deal between the United States and the European Union aimed at ending their dispute over the American Helms-Burton law that punishes firms doing business with Cuba. He said the EU-US agreement finalised in London last weekend appeared to have been clinched ``at the expense of Cuba.''
The European Union, pushing hard for a new round it says will be a millennium round and include everything from tourism to telephony to corruption in government practices, quickly welcomed the US proposal and suggested end of 1999 as a possible time frame.
Tucked with Clinton's speech were calls for international negotiations on issues ranging fromtrade and labour to environment to government practices. India firmly opposes including labour rights in trade negotiations.
``Nobody's statement is a policy,'' said Hegde. ``We are not opposed to a new round but first we have to see if what has been agreed in the earlier round has been satisfactorily implemented.'' He said Clinton's speech showed extraordinary talent but lacked even the most basic consideration for the problems faced by the developing countries.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
