Christine

Visions Of Life
2002-09-07 03:21:14 (UTC)

News Clip

Paul Brown, environment correspondent in Johannesburg
Thursday September 5, 2002


The Guardian Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was
jeered, interrupted and slow handclapped during his speech
to the earth summit yesterday - the only delegate to
receive such treatment at the conference.

A wave of anti-American feeling which had been
building up for nine days was unleashed when Mr Powell
blamed the land reforms of Zimbabwe's president,
Robert Mugabe, for pushing millions of people "to thebrink
of starvation".

Mr Powell was unable to continue for more than a
minute as heads of government and non- government
delegates alike shouted protests.

Security guards ejected five US environmental and
anti-poverty protesters holding banners reading
"Betrayed by governments" and "Bush: People and
Planet, Not Big Business". Others left with their
delegate badges confiscated after chanting, "Shame on
Bush". Mr Powell, looking annoyed, replied: "I have now
heard you."

Order was temporarily restored among the 1,500-strong
audience but mention of climate change and criticism
of Zambia for refusing to accept genetically modified
grain to ease its famine brought further interruptions.

Mr Powell inflamed many in the audience by saying
international treaty strictures on climate change were
inappropriate and too costly for the US. He also
repeated the US justification for resisting setting
specific target dates for summit goals, saying
concrete actions were more important than paper
agreements: "Plans are good but actions can put clean
water in the mouths of thirsty young girls and boys,
prevent the transmission of the deadly [Aids] virus
from mother to child and preserve the biodiversity of
a fragile African ecosystem."

Mr Powell was forced to shout above slow clapping as
the South African foreign minister, Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, who was chairing the proceedings, banged
her gavel and demanded order, saying: "This behaviour is
totally unacceptable."

But the minister was partly responsible for Mr Powell's
discomfort.

When he was expecting to be summoned to the podium
earlier Dr Zuma, as chair, instead called the
Palestinian foreign minister, Farouk Kaddoumi, who
subjected Mr Powell to a lecture on the "acts of
terrorism" inflicted by the Israelis with US weapons.
Afterwards Mr Powell's chief spokesman attempted to
shrug off the unprecedented protest.

Richard Boucher said Mr Powell had told him that "this kind
of thing happens".

In contrast to the reception Mr Powell was given a few
minutes later, Mr Kaddoumi received a prolonged ovation.
The order of speakers was a calculated insult by South
Africa to the Americans who have been blamed for
watering down the outcome of the summit and
obstructing progress throughout the preparatory sessions.
It had been widely circulated that Mr Powell was to
speak at 11am. He stood ready, only for Mr Kaddoumi to
be called instead. The Palestinian minister had been
scheduled to speak at 11.30am, giving time for MrPowell to
leave.
Mr Kaddoumi's speech, delivered "on behalf of Yasser
Arafat, whose headquarters are under Israeli siege",
detailed the numbers of Palestinians killed and
injured in the current "illegal occupation".
But sticking to the earth summit's theme of
sustainable development, he went into details about
the numbers of trees uprooted, "bee hives buried
alive" and other alleged "systematic destruction" of
agriculture and infrastructure. He said 250,000
children were suffering malnutrition as a result.
Mr Kaddoumi blamed Israel for stealing Palestinian
water, destroying sewage works, and using depleted
uranium shells fired from US-supplied weapons.
He appealed to heads of state for help. "Oppressed
people need deeds not words," he ended, to prolonged
applause.

Apart from the interruptions and the three subjects of
Zimbabwe, GM and climate change Mr Powell's speech was
otherwise full of the same ringing phrases as many of
the prime ministers, monarchs and presidents who
preceded him in the previous two days.

He declared that the "American soul has always
harboured deep desires to help people build better
lives for themselves and their children".

He insisted that US aid would be tied to good
governance and countries where entrepreneurial spiritwas
allowed to thrive.

Praising the summit's programme of action, he said:
"We have reaffirmed the principle that sound economic
management, investment in people and responsible
stewardship of our environment are crucial for
development."




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