Trade crisis hits the starving

THE șo-called 'Marxist' President Allende of Chile will be host to some 3,000 politicians and economists gathering in Santiago next Thursday for a marathon discussion of the problems of the underdeveloped countries.

This will be the third United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and for the first time representatives of China will be present.

They will meet in an expensive new conference centre and, although one of their main subjects will be the poverty and malnutrition which afflicts two-thirds of the world's population, Santiago's luxury hotels, bars and restaurants are expecting to do a roaring trade.

In a 96-page report prepared for the conference, the secretary-general of UNCTAD, the Venezuelan Manuel Perez Gerrero, points up the complete failure to face up to what he calls 'the central issue of our The gap between the 'rich' and "poor' countries continues to widen and the problem, has, been aggravated by Nixon's August 15 measures and the currency re- measures and the currency realignments which followed.

Representatives of the 'poor' countries are resentful of the fact that they had no voice in the financial fincreased mess birdwhich have In creased • the their debts and worsened their trade position. Their share in world trade continues to decline.

The promise made as far back as 1961 that the advanced countries would devote at least I per cent of their national income to development aid has not been fulfilled.

Average expectation of life of someone born in Asia is only 35 years, in Africa 40. In the advanced countries of Europe, the USA and the Soviet Union it is 70.

Imperialism

In many of the underdeveloped countries the average annual income is less than £50 and in Latin America it is only E150.

Birth rates remain at a much higher level than in the advanced countries.

What the report does not say is that this state of affairs is the product of imperialism, which plunders the resources of the less-developed . countries and exploits théir people.

There is no solution, or even There is no solution, or even any prospect of an improvement, as long as they remain dependent parts of the capitalist world market. Their underdevelopment is the obverse side of the development which has taken place in the advanced countries which exploit their raw materials.

Political independence has done nothing to improve the situation as far as the masses of peasants and workers in the colonies and semi-colonies are concerned.

The national bourgeoisie which will be represented at Santiago is tied to imperialism and only seeks a greater share of the surplus value extracted from their own people. They cannot fight imperialism but only seek to bargain for better terms.

The governments of the underdeveloped countries have banded together in what is called the 'Group of 77' for this purpose.

A programme was worked out in Lima, Peru, last October and November to present to the advanced countries asking for more aid, an end to discriminatory trade practices and preferential treatment for their exports.

With the capitalist world in the grip of a trade depression the actual trend is just the reverse of this:

Trade barriers are increasin Trade barriers are increasing and hard-pressed producers of products like textiles and plastics are demanding further restrictions.

Equally: Utopian is the idea that the advanced countries should donate to the 'poor' countries *a substantial proportion of the savings resulting from progressive measures towards general and complete disarmament'.

Self-interest

In fact, of course, the governments of the advanced countries are fully behind the giant corporations which make vast. profits out of their activities in the underdeveloped countries. : Philanthropic gestures, which do not. conceal • some self-interested design-such as buying off local politicians, or preventing mass unrest-are out of the question for them.

There are, however, some hopeful members of delegations from the underdeveloped countries who hope that the presence of the Chinese will strengthen their hand.

This will no doubt prove to be one more illusion, but it will be interesting to see what role the Chinese will play now that they are respectable members of the UN.

Pro a, Monday April 10, 1872 PAGE