DIVERSITY IN CUBA

Just thirty years ago, being homosexual, in Cuba, could be enough to incur the punishment of interruption of university study or expulsion from a job that involved contact with \'\'the public\'\', writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into a ten languages. In this article, Padura writes that today, in sharp contrast, various cities on the island held celebrations in observance of the International Day against Homophobia, a sort of gay pride event that included conferences, transvestite shows, book presentations, films, theatre pieces, as well as the growing commentary on upcoming legal and constitutional changes that will open the still restricted path to sex-change operations and civil union for gay couples and even the possibility of adoption, which is very rare in Cuba even for straight couples. Cuba is undergoing a profound change in its collective thinking that is of transcendent importance to the present and future of the island. Now that diversity has been accepted as the norm, it may be that Cuba\'s social system is moving towards greater social complexity and a more open economic model, towards a range of options for individuals that are freer and more satisfying.

IF WE WANT PEACE, WE ALL HAVE TO BUILD IT

\"If you want peace, prepare for war.\" This perverse maxim, a golden goose for the arms dealers, has been used from the beginning of time by the powerful, who had at their disposal the lives of their vassals. So it was, up until the turbulent but hopeful dawn of the new century and millennium, but no longer, because global awareness has grown and the understanding of reality has deepened, writes Federico Mayor Zaragoza, President of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and ex-Director-General of UNESCO. There is no wartime economy without war, the preparation for war, or pretexts for arming to the teeth. The only force capable of opposing the colossal inertia of this machine is \"the people\", citizen power, a civil society that does not allow itself to be fooled, that only supports leaders who boldly decide to put in action the universal principles so lucidly expressed in the UN Charter\'s Declaration of Human Rights. Politics must be based on generally-accepted ethical principles. Incorporating certain religious values is insufficient and dangerous, as is basing political action on strictly economic criteria, which is evident today. It is thus extremely important that the excuse of a \"clash of civilisations\" be definitively barred from political logic and replaced with citizen involvement and general acceptance of responsibility by all members of society. If we unite our hands and our voices, we can correct the current disastrous course.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Discovery to Remove DDT from Soil

Placing trays of carbon on soil contaminated with DDT eliminates up to 60 percent of this insecticide, a persistent organic pollutant, according to a study at the Autonomous University of Mexico.

Lack of Food Is a “Persistent Myth”

Rising fuel and transportation costs could force governments to return to local production of food, scientist Michel Pimbert says in a Tierramérica interview.

The Perverse Patent of the Yellow Bean

A patent for a common bean has been overturned in the United States and the move applauded as the end to a fraud, but is not likely to have much impact in Mexico, where its cultivation and consumption is limited.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Hot Weather Feeds Fires

Honduras is facing an intense heat wave that is causing an average of six forest fires per day and a dense layer of smoke that has meant the temporary closing of the main airport terminals and rescheduling of flights.

Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: Rice Revolution Calls for Improved Varieties

The use of improved rice varieties and better cultivation practices will be at the core of a technological revolution proposed by rice growers in Latin America.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Protest Against Biofuels

Tens of thousands of Argentines have called upon President Cristina Fernández to defend sustainability among the criteria for the production of biofuels.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Genetic Resources Debate Extended

Brazil's Environment Ministry decided for a second time to extend the period for public consultation on a bill about access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and the distribution of related benefits.

BURMA: JUNTA LEADERS POWER-HUNGRY AS PEOPLE STARVE

Rather than lessening the misery wrought by Cyclone Nargis, the Burmese military regime has made things worse. Burma\'s xenophobic military chief continues to hold up issuing visas for UN teams and other foreign aid workers, writes Zin Linn, a former political detainee in Burma and now, in exile, the media and information director of the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma. In this article, Linn writes that because of the unfairness of the May 10 referendum on the new constitution, the political scenario is quickly changing. The people have clearly seen how the junta operates. The regime is attempting to legalise military dictatorship with a sham Constitution and multiparty elections. Further political unrest may be unavoidable due to the military-privileged sham constitution. Burma\'s newer generations learned of the junta\'s inhumane and irresponsible behaviour on the Internet and have made up their mind to overthrow the regime at any cost. Protests are sure to happen before the 2010 elections.

EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE RISKS OF INACTION

(IPS/South Centre) There is much to celebrate in the growth and development of the South in recent years, from the ability of certain Latin American countries to avoid dependence on the North to the growth of the economies of certain Asian countries whose increasing sovereign wealth is now being tapped to bail out distressed banks in the North. While there are signs of growth in Africa too, the continent is worse off than the rest of the South, writes Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre. In this article, Tandon writes that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are not being met, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where at the current rate universal access to a minimum set of social services will only be achieved in 2108, almost a hundred years later than the target date of 2015 set by the MDGs. The risks of not acting are grim. We may witness increasing misallocation of global resources, a growing financialisation of the economy and greater risk of systemic collapse, an increase in what is most accurately described as a recolonisation of Africa by welfare and aid agencies, and increasing migration from the South to the North, and within the South from the poor to the rich countries, as a response to economic distress arising from marginalization and climate change.

Top-Rated Agro-Science Has Achilles Heel

Brazil achieved excellence in agricultural technology as the result of a state network of research centers that played a key role in the country's farming boom.

Food Price Inflation Threatens Children

Breast feeding, enriched foods and monitoring of children's growth are among the basic weapons for fighting a potential new wave of childhood malnutrition in Latin America, say experts.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Citizens Halt Dams in Capital

The withdrawal of a project to build to hydroelectric dams on Chile's Maipo River, planned by the AES Gener company, is a "citizen triumph", according to the Maipo River Citizen Organization.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Native Plants to Clean Up Contaminated Soil

Brazil could recuperate and decontaminate soil poisoned with mercury, lead, nickel and other metals that are dangerous to human health, using native plants. The technique is known as "phytoextraction" and was developed at the University of Sao Paulo.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Funds to Preserve Environmental “Lungs”

Honduras is asking for 50 million dollars in international cooperation to preserve the Plátano River Biosphere Reserve and generate sustainable production projects for the local communities, according to official sources.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Ávila National Park Has New Friends

Biologists, anthropologists, environmentalists, palm gatherers and volunteers last week adopted the "Caracas Manifesto for the Warairarepano", the indigenous name for the Ávila National Park.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Crocs in Danger

Experts are monitoring the potential effects of climate change on the reproductive process of the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer Cuvier), concentrated in the Ciénaga de Zapata, a wetland in the south of the western province of Matanzas.

THE DEMOCRATIC ILLUSION

Democracy is about people choosing leaders who are accountable to the people. So, what kind of leaders do we choose? In the Western democracies, they are not too impressive, writes Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies and founder of TRANSCEND, a global peace and development network. Each country has a \"deep culture and deep structure\" that guides it, sedimented in the collective mind and history. The USA, doomed to lead the Good against the Evil, stopped the time machine at the end of World War II with US hegemony at a peak, intent on eliminating all challengers of the status quo. Take China, a subtle deep culture of good in evil and evil in good, but which stopped the time machine millennia ago with China as the Middle Kingdom surrounded by Barbarians. Add Russia\'s deep culture of the sleeping giant with periodic bursts of energy, or India\'s, the cradle and crossroad of civilisations, and we have four pathologies more dangerous than any individual president. Better a crazy head of state of a country that finds its equitable place in the world as one among others than the normal leader of a crazy nation.

EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK – RECLAIMING SCHOOLS AS ZONES OF PEACE

Amongst the many casualties of conflict, education seldom makes the headlines, but students, teachers, administrators, and education officials are also on the front lines of battle, writes Helene-Marie Gosselin, Director of UNESCO, Office to the United Nations. In this article, Gosselin writes that the right to education is a pillar of development. Prosperity and peace can only be achieved if we commit to ending the injustice of denying this right to the millions of children around the world who can\'t go to school, and who will nonetheless have to make their way in the world as adults. UNESCO estimates that about 37 percent of the 72 million children not in school live in conflict-affected areas. There cannot be peace without upholding the right to education, or without ending the vicious cycle of violence in and against our schools. Can we not open doors to the 72 million children not in school, teach peaceful co-existence, and make all our schools a sacred place?

CURRENT CRISIS HIGHLIGHTS FLAWS IN MARKET ECONOMICS, AND GDP

The credibility of the economics profession and its macroeconomic and risk models has been shattered by the Wall Street-led financial meltdown. Many analysts see this crisis as the beginning of the end of market fundamentalism as the driver of globalisation. Coming into focus is also the fact that the US is no longer the world\'s lone superpower. Military force is giving way to the new weapons of choice in today\'s geopolitics: currency and cyber-attacks, writes Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy (2007) and other books and co-organiser of the Beyond GDP Conference in Brussels, representing the Club of Rome. In this article, Henderson writes that meanwhile, the long-simmering critiques of money-based GDP/GNP national accounts are coming to a head. Even GDP\'s creator, Simon Kuznets, worried about using GDP as an overall indicator of national progress and well-being, saying that \'the welfare of a nation can scarcely be informed from a measure of national income.\' EU Commissioner of Economic Policy Joaquin Almunia noted that GDP \'cannot distinguish between economic activities that have a negative or positive impact on well-being. In fact, war and natural disasters may register as an increase in GDP.\' GDP started as a World War II measure of war production. There are now many new, better indicators, from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), the UN\'s Human Development Index (HDI), to the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators that I created with the Calvert Group of socially-responsible mutual funds, the only private sector effort so far. Real wealth and progress can never be quantified in money alone. The economics textbooks are overdue for revision.