[E-rundbrief] Info 1351 - John Perkins - “Free-Trade” - Death Economy

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1351 - John Perkins (USA): “Free-Trade” - A Death 
Economy Next Door.

Bad Ischl, 21.8.2014

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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“Free-Trade” - A Death Economy Next Door

By John Perkins

20.8.2014

www.johnperkins.org

I have just returned from Ecuador, having spent nearly three weeks 
deep in the Amazon rainforests as one of the leaders of trips 
sponsored by Dream Change and the Pachamama Alliance. In addition to 
all the concerns in this country over the devastation caused by oil 
and mining companies, I’ve heard a great deal about the crises in 
Central America.

Central America is far from peaceful and prosperous; the problems 
there are brought home to us in the very vividly in the faces of the 
immigrant women and children who are being shipped around the States 
and back home by the busload. Our share of the responsibility for 
their plight cannot be ignored any longer. We have fueled and 
empowered the corporatocracy for decades, and the resulting power 
struggles and imbalances have destroyed local economies and caused 
unimaginable loss of life.

The so-called “free-trade agreements” such as NAFTA and CAFTA were 
forced on the countries of Central America by the US government and 
the corporatocracy by people with the job I once had, economic hit 
men. They were supposedly done to spur economic growth in Canada, the 
US, and Central America. But the architects of these agreements knew 
that the rich would benefit, and that the poor would get poorer. These 
kinds of agreements between often-corrupt governments (including the 
US’s) and corporations do not allow for tariffs and other barriers for 
imports that protect local farmers and businessmen. Instead they allow 
the to subsidize US interests. These interests include huge subsidies 
to corn and cotton growers who then sell their products in Central 
America for less than the farmers there can sell to their own 
neighbors. This kind of imbalance has devastated lives and destroyed 
Central American economies. These agreements exist to expand corporate 
rights, at the expense of human rights.

Before we support policies that send busloads of children back to 
their countries of origin, we must acknowledge our role in their 
situation. The policies we have put in place have been carefully 
crafted to benefit the already rich and powerful and to devastate 
those who most need opportunity, security, and a future. When economic 
policies were not enough to control a regime, the US and the 
corporatocracy did not hesitate to use military might. Our history 
bears witness to our repeated invasions of our neighbors: Cuba, 
Nicaragua, Guatemala, Grenada, and Haiti for example, as well as the 
overthrow of governments or assassination of leaders who dared to give 
power back to the people and implement social changes. As described in 
“Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” I was involved in such activities 
in the country where I am now located, Ecuador, as well as many others.

Central America is home to indigenous cultures that value community 
over individual profit, and in many villages the people have come 
together to farm and harvest and produce what the whole village needs. 
The “free-trade” agreements harm the ability of these organizations, 
causing wide-spread poverty and, in turn, the large numbers of 
immigrants crossing the US/Mexico border. These imbalances, along with 
our draconian CIA policies toward the governments of Guatemala, 
Honduras, and El Salvador, have caused the immigration problem we are 
experiencing today. I talk to Central Americans all the time while 
traveling in Latin America and also when at my home in the United 
States in Spanish, and few of them really want to be here. They would 
rather be back in their homelands, but their economies have totally 
failed.

People are waking up to these problems. The revolution in 
consciousness is helping people in the United States, and around the 
world, wake up to the terrible injustices that US policies have 
caused. Young people throughout Latin America are taking action 
towards a better future, one that keeps their families together and 
provides economic opportunity for the communities. When we see them 
migrating to the US, we should hear their message. Our policies should 
be to help them create a “Life Economy”; when we do this we also move 
out of a “Death Economy” and create a “Life Economy” for ourselves.

Coming Up:

...

October 4-5, 2014
Speaking event and workshop in London, England
At Regents’ University Conference Centre, London
• Saturday, October 4th: Talk: “Sacred plants, Shapeshifting, and 
Consciousness Revolution”
• Sunday, October 5th: Workshop: “Shapeshifting Yourself and the Planet”
Information: http://www.plantconsciousness.com

October 6, 2014:
Talk sponsored by Alternatives – “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”
Location: St. James’s Church, London
Registration: www.alternatives.org.uk

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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
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Ausgezeichnet mit dem (österr.) "Journalismus-Preis von unten 2010"

Honoured by the (Austrian) "Journalism-Award from below 2010"