Go to TOES '90 Program.

The 2nd Annual Summit of Witnesses
from Seven of the World's Poorest Peoples

The Summit of 7 of the Poorest is sponsored by TOES, the International League for the Right's and Liberation of Peoples, based in Rome, and CEDETIM and AGIR ICI, based in Paris.

Witnesses from 7 of the world's poorest peoples, all from non-governmental organizations, contrast sharply with representatives from the G7 nations who will meet immediately thereafter. While the G7 celebrate their power and wealth in Houston, poverty continues unabated in much of the world. In Haiti, the infant mortality rate is 10 times that in the USA, while per capita income is 55 times less. In Bangladesh, per capita income is $113 per year, 57 times lower than the lowest found in all G7 countries (Italy). And within the legal borders of the USA, we find a poverty rate of 45% on Native American reservations, and 39% in Puerto Rico.

What effects will the decisions taken at the G7 Summit have on these 7 of the world's poorest peoples? How will changing policies at the IMF and World Bank effect living conditions and the environment in Guatemala and the Philippines? What actions can the world's poorest take to affect these policies? What do they want from the G7, and what alternative development strategies do they put forward? These and other important questions will be discussed.

Organizers:

• Maya Muir, Milwaukie, OR.
  
• Bill Felice, Brooklyn, NY.

Moderator:

• Francis "Cissy" Farenthal, Houston, TX. A one time Texas gubernatorial candidate and long time political activist, Ms. Farenthal is a supporter of many progressive causes. In the workshop, she will be exploring the relationship of Houston to the economic and political situation in Central America. Questions such as immigration, trade, and military involvement will be touched upon.

Witnesses

Nigeria

• Oluwasseun Oladapo Ogunseitan*, Director, African Center for Science; environmental journalist in Lagos. Broke important stories about toxic dumping in Africa.

Guatemala

• Raul Molina, representative to the UN of the United Guatemalan Opposition; former Chancellor of the National University of Guatemala, San Carlos. Forced into exile in 1980.
  
• Francisco Villagran, representative of Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (United Guatemalan Opposition), physician and professor of medicine.

Native America

• Yvonne Bushyhead, Cherokee, co - case manager for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, former social worker and administrator of early childhood programs among the Cherokee.
  
• Melinda Micco, Seminole - Creek - Choctaw, International Indian Treaty Council, PhD candidate in Ethnic Studies at Berkeley. Field work on the lack of economic parity for the Seminole in Oklahoma.

Colombia

• Pedro Galindo, General Secretary of the Federation of Petroleum Workers in Colombia, expert on the effects of multinational investments in oil.

Haiti

• Daniel Henrys, physician, instrumental in establishing community health services in rural areas.

Bangladesh

• Salina Ahmed, professor of human nutrition from Bangladesh, currently on the national board of the (U.S.) Committee to Prevent the Flood.
  
• Muhammad Iman Mahbubuel Alam, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, and Committee to Prevent the Flood.

Philippines

• Gloria Bouis, Vice Chair, Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Philippines.
  
• Enrique de la Cruz, Professor, Asian - American Studies Department, University of California at Los Angeles, 3232 Campbell Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90024. A native of the Philippines, Dr. de la Cruz will present a case study of the Philippines' experience with international debt, and a proposal for linking a solution to the debt problem with needed land reform in the Philippines.

Puerto Rico

• Luis Nieves Falcon, Puerto Rican sociologist and author of many books and articles on Puerto Rican education and sociology.
  
• Francisco Torres, Psychologist, Puerto Rico.

Go to second workshop in the Summit of the Seven Poorest Peoples.

Go to TOES '90 Program.

Go to TOES '97 Home Page.