I am forwarding a very sensible counter-proposition to those who are for internationalization of Amazonia. I would add, following the logics exposed below, that since they are essential to cover the basic food necessities of humankind, all croplands in North America down from the Canadian prairies to the Gulf of Mexico should also be internationalized... [translation by Néstor Gorojovsky for personal use] Cristovam Buarque on internationalization of Amazonia: O Globo 23/10/2000 Opinion A world for everybody CRISTOVAM BUARQUE During a recent debate, I was questioned in the United States on what did I think of the internationalization of Amazonia. The young person introduced the question by explaining that he was expecting the answer of a humanist and not the answer of a Brazilian. For the first time, a fellow in the discussion determined the humanist point of view as a starting point for an answer of mine. In fact, as a Brazilian I would simply speak against internationalization of Amazonia. Even though our governments are not careful enough with this patrimony, it is ours. I answered that, as a humanist, and sensing the risk of environmental degradation that Amazonia is sufferning from, I could imagine its internationalization, in the same way I could imagine the internationalization of everything else that was important for humankind. If, from a humanist point of view, Amazonia must be internationalized, we should also internationalize the oil reserves of the globe. Oil is as important for the well fare of humankind as Amazonia is for our future. The owners of those reserves, however, feel themselves with a right to increase or decrease the rate of extraction in order to get higher or lower prices. The rich of the world, in their right to burn away this enormous patrimony of humankind. In the same way, financial capital in the rich countries should be internationalized. If Amazonia is a reserve for the whole of humanikind, then it cannot be burnt away because of the will of an owner, or of a country. Burning Amazonia is as serious as the unemployment rates that other arbitrary decissions of global speculators provoke. We can't allow financial reserves to be used to burn away whole countries in the voluptuosity {"volúpia", I don't know if the translation is a good one) of speculation. I would even like to see, before the internationalization of Amazonia, the internazionalization of the large museums of the globe. The Louvre should not belong just to France. Each museum in the world keeps under custoty the most beautiful products of human genius. This cultural patrimony, just in the same way the Amazonic natural patrimony, cannot be left to manipulation and eventual destruction by an owner or a country. A Japanese millonary, not long ago, made a masterpiece of painting be given to earth with himself. This masterpiece should have been internationalized, instead, before this could happen. During the meeting where I was made that question, the United Stations were convening the Millenium Forum, but some Presidents of countries had problems to assist to the forum, due to restrictions in the frontiers of the USA. I thus proposed that New York, since it is the home to the United Nations, should be internationalized, Manhattan at the very least should belong to the whole of humankind!. The same runs for Paris, Venice, Rome, London, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Recife, evert town, with its specific beauty and its world history, should belong to the whole world. If the United States want to internationalize Amazonia, because it would be risky to leave it in the hands of the Brazilians, let us also internationalize all the nuclear arsenal of the United States. At least because they have already shown that they _can_ use those weapons, thus provoking a destruction thousands times larger than the destruction provoked by the regrettable burnings in Brazilian forests. The current candidates to the American Presidency have, during their debates, defended the idea that global forest reserves should be internationalized in exchange for foreign debt. Let us instead begin by using this debt in order to ensure that each child in this world has a possibility to go to school. Let us internationalize children, caring about each one of them, no matter the country where she or he was born, as a patrimony that deserves global care by humankind. They deserve this still more than Amazonia. The day the world leaders care about the poor children in the world as a patrimony of humankind, they will not allow those children to work when they must be learning, they will not allow them to die when they would be living. As a humanist, I accept to defend the internationalization of the world. But, while the world will deal with me as a Brazilian, I will fight for Amazonia to remain ours. Only ours. CRISTOVAM BUARQUE is a professor at the UNB (National University of Brasília), and he has written " A cortina de ouro" Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international