International

The following are the notes of the open talk by Fernando Alberto García at the meeting place of Humanist Rebellion base team of The Community for Human Development (Frías 262, Buenos Aires, Argentina), on Saturday August 28, 2010.
It is based on talks Fernando had with our friends in India during July of the same year.

*Words are not enough to describe the miseries and suffering of helpless and homeless people from Gilgat to Karachi. The flood has affected more than 2 crore people in Pakistan, causing huge loss of life, loss of livestock, breaking the infrastructure, and decimating property, all due to heavy monsoon rains – Pritam Rohila, Association for Communal Harmony in Asia.*

*“It is good you make this appeal – your countrymen are in dire need. However, you have to understand that our way is not humanitarian it is new humanist – we address the individual to change in a radical yet non-violent way his or her attitude to others and to our self – that’s our main aim.” Tony Henderson, chairman, Humanist Association of Hong Kong.*

Whilst tens of millions struggle to survive the flood devastation, 30% of Pakistan’s budget revenue will be sent abroad to foreign creditors for massive loans made to dictators years ago. Rescue efforts for tens of millions of people whose lives have been devastated could be crippled. Avaaz campaign is trying to persuaded creditor governments to drop debt.

President Barack Obama is preparing to officially declare the end of US combat operations in Iraq seven-and-a-half years after the US invasion. Barack Obama will make the announcement in a nationally televised speech tonight from the Oval Office. He gave a preview of his speech in his weekly radio address over the weekend.

“The present technological era has meant an impoverishment of the relationship of human beings with nature”. This is one of the conclusions of the report “Harmony with Nature” that United Nations General Secretary will present to the General Assembly as a Bolivian initiative, that counts with the sponsorship of other 61 countries.

Last month experts published a series of studies indicating that, contrary to previous conclusions, the animal populations are decreasing in the exclusion zone which surrounds the site where the former Soviet nuclear plant functioned, and that the effects of the radioactive contamination following the explosion have been “overwhelming”.

Alicia, Pasqual and Albert were kidnapped by Al Qaeda in Southern Mauritania on the 29th of November 2009. They were travelling in the Solidarity Caravan, organised by the Barcelona Solidarity Action association, transporting support material for projects which are being carried out by 36 Catalan associations in Morocco, Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal. They were freed today.

On 19th August, the last US army combat brigade left Iraq. It was 1:30 on Thursday when soldiers from the Fourth Stryker Brigade of the Second Infantry Division crossed the border with Kuwait. There were 56 thousand soldiers still on Iraqi territory for “stabilisation” tasks, such as training Iraqi armed forces and police.

From the 17th to the 20th of August the XVI São Paulo Forum Meeting, created in 1990 took place in the City of Buenos Aires. Political parties, organizations and representatives from 18 countries in the region participated in the event. Overthrown Honduran President, Manuel Zelaya was present. The Humanist Party from Argentina participated in all workshops.