Globalization News
International Relations Center (IRC) http://www.irc-online.org/
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IIRSA: Integration Custom-Made for International Markets By Zibechi
The project for Integration of South American Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA, by its initials in Spanish), is swiftly but silently moving forward. IIRSA is the most ambitious and encompassing plan to integrate the region for international trade. If completed in full, the project would connect zones containing natural resources (natural gas, water, oil, biodiversity) with metropolitan areas, and both of these with the worldÂ’s largest markets.
The most disturbing prospect of IIRSAÂ’s large network of infrastructure projects is that they may well accomplish the same goals as the FTAA, only without that name, with no debate, and imposed from the top down by global markets and national elites. If this is the case, a few decades from now South America will have quietly completed a gigantic, continent-wide remodeling project that affects every one of its
inhabitants.
Raúl Zibechi, a member of the editorial board of the weekly Brecha de Montevideo, is a professor and researcher on social movements at the Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina and adviser to several grassroots organizations. He is a monthly contributor to the IRC Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org).
See new IRC article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3313
With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/0606iirsa.pdf
South American Ministers Vow to Protect Access to Medicines
By Martin Khor
The Ministers of Health of ten South American countries have issued a joint declaration on intellectual property committing themselves to avoid "TRIPS plus" provisions—clauses that are stricter than the “Trade-Related Intellectual Property” measures stipulated by the World Trade Organization—in bilateral and regional trade agreements. They also agreed to facilitate the use of compulsory licensing and parallel importing and to avoid broadening the scope of patentability and the extension of patentable areas.
Explaining the rationale for their commitments, the Ministers said there was a significant increase in drug prices which affects government programs and consumers. They attributed this to the patent system which affects health products that are essential for the prevention and treatment of serious public health conditions, leading to the worsening of the problem of access to essential drugs.
Martin Khor is an economist and director of the Third World Network, based in Penang, Malaysia. He has been covering trade negotiations in Geneva. The Third World Network can be found on line at:
www.twnside.org.sg.
See new IRC article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3320
With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/0606vow.pdf
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