IV People's Summit Notes on Economic Crisis Panel

Analysis of the crisis

Various panelists commented on the hemispheric economic crisis. The economist Norman Girvan offered his perspective. He suggested the following: 1. The United Nations is the only organisation with legitimate authority to solve the crisis because it represents all countries of the world; 2. Super-national financial capital must be regulated; 3. The world must not depend on the U.S. dollar for commercial transactions, but rather develop regional and world wide currencies regulated by an international body; 4. The Cuban economic blockade must end; 5. The United States must promise not to continue its policy of unilateral intervention. A final representative,  Camille Chalmers, Asamblea de los Pueblos del Caribe  , reminded the audience that every crisis also represents an opportunity.  In this case, he argued, we must take the opportunity represented by the economic crisis to explore alternatives to capitalism.  In response to this panel,  audience members voicing concerns about afrodescendant and indigenous organisations reiterated that the Summit must acknowledge the demands of indigenous communities and discussions about racism in discussions about the current economic crisis. Later, Nnenna Ozobia, representative of TransAfrica, shared with us her call to recognise that certain communities feel the burden of neoliberal policies to a greater extent due to colonial and racist legacies.

Irmary Reyes-Santos, Michael Hames-Garcia