No great expectations... no surprises

While GCAP activists back in her home in Manila protested against the G8, Ana Maria gave us her reaction to the G8:

"I had no great expectations from this summit meeting, but I was willing to be surprised. However, the statements from the G8 ministers on issues of world economy, food security, climate change. etc, only reinforced my greatest fear that they continue to insist on their single-minded focus on pushing through with trade liberalization at any cost. Their commitments on those topics are ambiguous and not real commitments. What comes out most clearly is their bias for pushing the market, opening up economies, and their eagerness to find investment opportunities, even in times of crisis and protecting these investments, at every instance.

I find most disturbing the mention of their urgency of “concluding the DOHA round” to solve the food crisis, as well as to stave off the financial crisis of their economies, and their unequivocal admission that they are going to “resist protectionist pressures against international trade and investments in all its manifestations”, without an equally strong commitment to consider the concerns of developing countries. This poses the clearest and biggest obstacle to the right to development of developing countries."