Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2005)
Bishop speaks about 'neoliberalism' Raul Vera Lopez spoke to a crowd of about 200 as part of a symposium on the Cold War's legacy BY AJBING GUO DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER The poor people in Latin America deserve more respect and help than they are getting today, and “profit” should never be the sole goal a so ciety pursues in the free market sys tem, said Bishop Raul Vera Lopez of Mexico, who delivered a keynote speech Thursday. Lbpez, whose speech was part of the first day of the symposium “Smoldering Ashes: Revisiting the Legacy of the Cold War in Central America,” told a crowd of about 200 in the EMU Ballroom that several countries in Latin America adopted a system known as “neoliberalism,” which is based on a purely econom ic conception of man. This system considers profit and the law of the market as its only parameters while neglecting dignity and respect for individuals, he said. At times, this system has become the ideological justification for cer tain attitudes and behaviors in so cial and political spheres, leading to the neglect of the weaker members of society, he said. In reality, the poor in Latin America are more numerous than ever and are becoming victims of specific eco nomic policies and structures that are often unjust. Lopez said he doesn’t think glob alization is a good policy for social justice in the world, especially in Latin America. A few extremely rich members of a society currently con trol nearly all the profitable industries in Latin America, he said, while ordinary people have nearly nothing. “It’s not about good luck and bad i-r luck; it’s about the unjust social and economic systems,” he said. He said the globalized economy must be analyzed in light of the principles of social justice, adding that it must respect the poor’s op tions to work with dignity. Citing his trips to Latin American countries, Lopez said he found some conditions are increasing while others are decreasing. Among those increasing are poverty rates, working hours, river and air pollu tion, drug use, violence and de struction of natural resources. Those decreasing include the mid dle class, education, peace and se curity, natural resources and most importantly, hope. To turn things around, he said people’s right to work with dignity should be guaranteed and that a system or constitution embracing social justice should be established in Latin American countries. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, a glob al war on terrorism began; Lopez said poverty is one of the motiva tions driving terrorists. In order to get rid of the problem, all countries should also think about what they could do to decrease poverty in the developing world, he said. In the hour-long speech, Lopez’s passion and dedication to poverty relief elicited a large applause from the audience. Graduate student Bob Reinhardt said he was impressed by the speech, especially Lopez’s passion about poverty in Latin America. “I really appreciate his focus on the (economic) structure that caus es problems, ... and he really did a good job tying those problems to Nicole Barker | Photographer Bishop Raul Vera Lopez speaks in the EMU Ballroom on Thursday afternoon. the situation that we have here in the United States, like immigra tion and terrorism,” he said. "It’s very interesting.” Megan DeBates, an environmen tal studies major, said she is con cerned more about the pollution is sue Ldpez raised. She suggested that University students could do something such as refusing to pur chase commodities from those nations that are heavily polluted to urge those governments to improve their environment. Father David Orique of St. Thomas More Newman Center said Lopez’s speech would help Univer sity students better understand the reality of people’s struggle in Latin America and urge them to do what ever they can to support poverty-al leviating efforts. I-'— IN BRIEF Kulongoski criticizes roadless area policy GRANTS PASS — Gov. Ted Ku longoski believes the new Bush administration policy that opens 1.2 million acres of roadless areas in Oregon to potential logging amounts to saddling the state with work the U.S. Forest Service should be doing itself. The new roadless area policy for national forests is an “unnec essary distraction” from produc ing a reliable stream of logs for Oregon’s timber industry un der the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, Mike Carrier, natural re sources adviser to the governor, said Thursday. Roadless areas are large sections of national forests where little or no logging has occurred, originally because their rugged terrain and remote locations made logging un economical and more recently be cause scientists identified them as more valuable for clean water and fish and wildlife habitat. The Bush administration Thurs day adopted a new rule for road less areas that opens for considera tion 1.2 million acres in Oregon, 60 percent of the 2 million acres that were off-limits under a 2001 Clinton administration rule. Under the new rule, governors have 18 months to tell the Forest Service how they would like to see roadless areas managed, but the Forest Service retains the final say under management plans for indi vidual national forests. “What they are really doing is taking a federal responsibility and imposing it on the governors and imposing it at a time the states are strained to find the ca pacity to do the business of the state,” Carrier said. — The Associated Press OXOK<» Latin American Studies Symposium Smoldering Ashes: Revisiting the Legacy of the Cold War in Central America -COKOXOKOKOKOKOKOKOHOK Friday, May 6 9 am—11 am Gerlinger Lounge Human Rights in Central America: Traditions of Solidarity and Resistance David Orique (Newman Center, Eugene), “Flames of Prophetic Religious Activism: Legacies and Lessons” James Loucky (Western Washington University), “Sanctuary and Solidarity: A Retrospective on the Central American Movement” Robyn Braverman (Save the Children, Honduras), “The End of the Cold War and its Effects on Central American Children” 11 am—1 pm Gerlinger Lounge From the Cold War to the War on Terror: Legacies and Challenges Jane Cramer (University of Oregon), “Blood on Our Hands: U.S. Cold War Interventions” Richard Kraus (University of Oregon), “National Indigestion: US Foreign Policy Tries the Human Rights Diet” Greg Grandin (New York University), “The Latin American Roots of the Bush Doctrine and the New Imperialism” 3 pm—5 pm EMU Gumwood Room Testimonio and the Politics of Witnessing Roberto Arroyo (University of Oregon), “El Conccepto de Enemigo en el Relato Testimonial” Angelina Godoy (University of Washinton), “Violence and Victims: Lynchings, Agency, and the Legacies of War” John Beverly (University of Pittsburgh), “Torture, Testimony, and Truth” 5:30 pm EMU Ben Linder Room Re-Dedication Presentation of Award to Elisabeth Linder Music by “Lo Nuestro;” poetry by Margaret Randall; remarks by Daniel Goldrich; reception 7:00 pm EMU Ballroom “We don’t mean you ... well, yes we do” Margaret Randall Feminist writer and activist Keynote address UW SUMMER QUARTER NOT WHAT YOU’D EXPECT “Only UW students take summer classes at the UW.” The University of Washington in Seattle welcomes all students from other colleges in the summer. And with over 2,000 summer courses, you’ll likely catch whatever it is you happen to be fishing for. www.summer.washington.edu
