In the meantime, what’s happening in Peru? Well the outcome of the election is still not clear and looks like it won’t be for a while, seeing as its gone off into a ‘run-off’’ second round. The interesting news is that given the state of play, a dodgy manoeuvre is the signing a free-trade pact with the US – signed in Washington by President Alejandro Toledo, last Wednesday. Me thinks – pushing something lik e that through at a time like this is a bit sneaky? The deal is said to be similar to a 2003 deal between the US and Chile, which at the time was fiercely opposed by Chilean labour groups. The Institute for Public Accuracy has some insightful analysis on this topic and I was particularly interested in what Pedro Francke (Professor of Economics at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and also involved with ForoSalud, a coalition of organizations focusing on healthcare in Peru) had to say:
“The Peruvian Minister of Health has said that this agreement will double the price of medicine within 12 years, and will particularly affect those with AIDS, tuberculosis and other health problems. The Health Ministry has also calculated that between 700, 000 and 900,000 people would lose health coverage because of the agreement. It also prevents Peru from protecting its farmers. We are collecting signatures for a petition demanding that agreement be subject to a referendum.”
Sounds very sneaky to me.
Hola Sonja,
yes, it is sneaky. Toledo considers this deal to be a big part of his presidential “legacy”, if you can call it that way and he thinks because his administration has negotiated it over the last couple of years, it should be ratified while still in office.
The thing is, nobody in Peru, including myself, knows one thing about its contents and short- and longtime effects and consequences. The government and the media have done diddly squat to communicate it to the public in a pro and con fashion. And that is the reason why Toledo is fighting a referendum cuz it would certainly be declined by the people. Its like blindly trusting a doctor’s prescribed medicine, whether its cough syrup or cyanide….
How can you vote for something you don’t know nor understand? It could mean the economic death sentence for ‘Jose Fulano’ and ‘Juan del Pueblo’, who’s to say?
peruvian greetings
Inka
Good questions Inka. If everyone’s kept in the dark, how can they be expected to know if its good for them or not! And the fact that these deals are designed, signed and sealed in secrecy without much ‘disclosure’ by certain people proves what they think about democracy. Very little - they obviously don’t care. The thing that greatly annoys me is how they then still manage to preach about what they clearly don’t practise!