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Sierra Leone is hard hit by global crisis – Minah

Sierra Leone is hard hit by global crisis – Minah
Written by Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba

SIERRA LEONE has been hard hit by the global economic crisis, deputy foreign minister Vandi Chidi Minah has revealed. And Cuban President Raul Castro has said he is willing to discuss everything with the US but never will the island negotiate its political and social system.

Talking to journalists on the sidelines of the foreign affairs meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana last Wednesday, Minah said initially Africa held the view that the economic meltdown whose epicenter is the USA would not wreck much havoc to the continent.

"Now that is not the case anymore," Minah said. "Sierra Leone has been hit harder. Africa is affected. We have come to the worst of things but we are optimistic things will get better soon."

He said currently Sierra Leone was seeking assistance from the World Bank to contain effects of the recession.

Minah said another area of hope was in the processes being undertaken by the G-20.

"Of course we are waiting to see the details but at the same time African states are engaging at regional level and internationally to find ways to get out of the problem," he said.

Minah said the NAM meeting was a golden opportunity to share ideas with ministers from around the world.

He said friendship and solidarity was key to safety in a world of uncertainty.

Minah said as the economic crisis keeps on biting, the NAM was seen as a very important vehicle for south-south cooperation.

"We see Cuba as a leader in what can be done in the cause of self-reliance," he said.

Minah said Sierra Leone was benefiting immensely from Cuba particularly in the health sector.

He said during his stay in Havana he would meet his Cuban counterpart and agree on holding a Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) meeting either this year or early 2010.

Minah said the JPC could look at areas of energy production and tourism including expanding the already established health sector relations.

He said there were about 25 Cuban medical personnel in Sierra Leone who operate on a rotating basis.

Minah said over 20 Sierra Leone students were on Cuban scholarship in various universities on the island.

And opening the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana, Cuba on Wednesday, President Raul said it was not Cuba that should make gestures in order for the US to lift the decades long embargo.

"We have insisted that we are willing to discuss everything with the United States government, on equal footing but we are not willing to negotiate our sovereignty or our political and social system, our right to self-determination or our domestic affairs," he said.

President Raul said although the measures recently announced by US President Barack Obama were positive, they were of limited scope.

"The blockade remains intact. There is no political or moral pretext that justifies the continuation of that policy," he said.

Recently the US eased travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans to the island and also for remittances to family members in Cuba.

President Raul said Cuba had not imposed any sanction on the United States or its citizens.

He said it was not Cuba that prevented US entrepreneurs from doing business with the island.

"It is not Cuba that chases the financial transactions of the American banks. It is not Cuba that has a military base in the U.S. territory against that people's will, and so on and so forth, to avoid making an endless list therefore, it is not Cuba that should make gestures," President Raul said. "And if they want to discuss everything, as we recently said at an ALBA summit in Venezuela, that is, to discuss everything, everything, everything. We can discuss everything related to us but also everything related to them, on equal footing."

He said the greatest strength of the NAM lay in its unity within its characteristic diversity.

President Raul said the challenges identified three years ago when Cuba assumed the NAM presidency were not only still standing but were now more dangerous and pressing.

He said the world was currently afflicted by a deep economic, social, food, energy and environmental crisis that had become global.

President Raul said international debates had been multiplied but they did not engage every country. He said there was a growing awareness that solutions must be found shortly.

However, he observed that solutions seemed elusive.

"If we fail to act firmly and expeditiously, our peoples stand to suffer again the worst consequences of this crisis and for a longer period of time," he warned.

President Raul said a global order inspired in hegemonic pretences and the selfishness of privileged minorities was neither legitimate nor ethically acceptable.

He said a system that destroyed the environment and promoted unequal access to riches could not last.

President Raul said underdevelopment was an unavoidable result of the current world order.

He said neo-liberalism had failed as an economic policy.

"Today, any objective analysis raises serious questions about the myth of the goodness of the market and its deregulation; the alleged benefits of privatizations and the reduction of the states' economic and redistribution capacity and the credibility of the financial institutions," President Raul said.

He said currently the annual military expenses exceeded US $1 trillion dollars.

President Raul said the number of unemployed in the world could rise to 230 million during 2009.

He said the number of people starving in the world had risen from 854 million in 2008 to 963 million.

President Raul said the UN estimated that US $80 billion a year for a decade would be enough to eradicate poverty, hunger and the lack of health and education services and houses all over the world.

He said that figure was three times lower than what the South countries spent every year to pay foreign debt.

President Raul said the solution to the global economic crisis demands a coordinated action with the universal, democratic and equitable participation of all countries.

President Raul said the UN High Level Conference on the Economic and Financial Crisis and its Impact on Development scheduled for June 1 to 3, 2009, was the indispensable context to debate and try to find solutions by consensus to the on going grave situation and asked the NAM to support it.

Labels: GREAT DEPRESSION II, SIERRA LEONE

posted by MrK @ 3:48 PM