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Congresses

Speeches at the XXIII Congress of the Socialist International, Athens
Global Solidarity: The courage to make a difference

Speech by Vassos Lyssarides, Honorary President of the EDEK Social Democratic Party, Cyprus

·        Setting the global economy on a new path is interconnected with the way globalization moves.

Against the rapid technological developments and the greater possibilities of production the chasm of distribution of wealth and technology widens and the consecutive immigrant waves are unavoidable.

·        We face deserts of deprivation (Africa, but also Asia and Latin America) and minute oasis of overaffluence.

·        We also face a casino economy with trillions exchanging hands in share-holding transactions and exchange of money and artificial crisis like the present with the petroleum. It is not connected with values or overvalues.

·        The fact that we rely on the cooperation of profit oriented governments to bridge the chasm makes the task problematic given the difference in cosmotheoric views. We must turn to the people.

What is needed is not donations in the form of alms, but a real transfer of technognosia. When this transfer creates competitors the multinationals terminate the procedure, which was initiated by the advantage of cheap labour.

·        We witness a unity of action by the high global economic and monetary circles and lack of political control.

·        We also witness a monopolar system with the planetarch self-appointed as the overlooker for the implementation of democracy whereas the motivation is the control of natural resources, especially energy.

·        We witness an one-dimensional globalization with freedom of movement of capital and restrictions is on the labour market.

·        The present form of trade relations given the uneven methods of production widens the chasm between poor and rich countries.

·        Obviously economic is predominant over the political.

·        We need a restructure on a socialist line.

We do not share the view that the natural osmosis of ideologies as in all matters means the diminished role of ideological movements.

On the contrary the world today needs more than ever our clear socialist proposals for a more even distribution of wealth and technology on the international level and a more equitable distribution of the national incomes.

·        We need a radical restructure of the global socio-economic structures and a restructure of the U.N. which is now an almost idle body often manipulated by strong powers.

·        We cannot isolate the economic from the political.

The monopolic control of resources, the poverty, the deprivation of national and individual rights ignite terrorist activities which cannot be faced successfully by counterviolence, but by the removing of the causes of anomaly.

·        We need a world front. And we cannot carry the people with us if we tolerate an international order with a selective instead of a global implementation of principles.

When we witness people deprived of fatherlands –like the Palestinians- which are a whole nation in deprivation we realize our pending duties.

Even the regional problems are viewed with the eye of acquiring proxies to control the areas.

If we were to witness indifferently occupation and tolerance – sometimes reward of the aggressor or label as allies in our movement those that countersign such actions which violate our socialist principles we block our possibilities.

·        The world needs a strong pragmatic effective socialist line.

A true new international order based on law and global implementation of principles.

We must proclaim our new 21st century socialist manifesto.

This is our urgent duty.