"My husband's been unemployed for 5 years." "Now to survive, he's selling bottles of mineral water in the streets... for 1 Heal each [$0.50]" "I used to have a job delivering gas... but they started to cut and cut the personnel and staff... now, I'm here making a living any way I can." "In the past we didn't live here." "We lived by the beach." "But because of an accident... my little girl passed away at only 9 months... we had to beg for money to bury her body." "Since he's been unemployed life has been very hard." "We look forward to the time when we're not struggling to bring food home." "If you have children, you have to fight to feed them." "When they're hungry, they have to eat." "I think there is a key date: 1492." "This was the start of an extremely brutal intervention by the Europeans... on what is now known as the People of the Americas." "From that point on we can talk of globalization... because during the 16th century], almost all of the continents... are connected together... by brutal European domination... which will spread progressively towards Asia and Africa." "The construction process of this global colonial system took 500 years." "The capitalist system and modern times started.." "At the moment of the Conquest... the colonization and the submission of the people of the Americas... by the Spanish and the Portuguese." "And at that moment a very systematic and permanent process started... which took 500 years, one of expropriation of resources... and at the same time colonization of the land and people." "When the British came... towards the end of the 19th century... their concern was to justify... expropriation of land which did not belong to them... and the way they did it was to use their own legal system." "They did this, precisely, through an advice... that was given to the colonial government on the 13th of December, 1897... that said that in countries where there is no settled form of government... the land belongs to the Queen of England." "Having declared that there was no settled form of government... they appropriated ultimate title to the land." "They passed laws that said so... and then, they were able to give settlers freehold interests... 999 year leases and other forms of leasehold." "A few families own large quantities of land... which don't produce anything... and in the meantime the indigenous people cannot use their own land." "The reason is that by law, each head of cattle... is allowed between 5 and 50 hectares of land." "For one head they can justify 50 hectares of land." "These are unproductive lands... they are what we call "engrossing"... it's a case where someone can profit from the land... without producing anything." "These are "Latifundios" [large land tenures]... major Latifundios which come from colonial limes... and which have been perpetuated by the system." "We are Maasai people... and our livelihood depends on raising animals." "Livestock like cows, goats, sheep." "We don't know any other way of living." "Even before the colonial power came and ruled Kenya... we were living on this land." "The Maasai were forced out of the Kinango Valley... to the Rift Valley where we now live." "But we came back because this land belongs to us." "But upon independence... our land was given to powerful people in the government." "Two kinds of British came to Kenya... the ones with guns to kill and steal the land... and the ones with a Bible to deceive." "By becoming a British colony... you actually became a properly... both the country and the people." "And, if you look at history... the natives... were not recognized as human beings." "So, all of you are... total properly of the Empire." "In the particular district I come from... the natives refused to work on those plantations." "And if they'd come to work, they'd come on their own lime... sometimes, they wouldn't come." "So, that's why they introduced the labor laws through the Kipenda system." "Kipenda system is a system of registration... where every male the moment you turn 16... you have to have a labor record... and that's the one that is used for ensuring that all males laborers would work... and that's why the colonial labor laws... really were slave laws." "In fact, now in the 21 st century... we still have families that are captive... we call them "captive" or "retained" but in fact they are slaves." "This is the real word, they are slaves... because they don't receive any pay for their work." "They have debts that they transfer from generation to generation." "They can't even leave the farms because they are indebted to their bosses." "And it's not only individuals but whole families." "The children work, they don't go to school because they have to work." "Work in exchange for what?" "Nothing, only food." "The grower sees the worker as a slave." "They haven't rebelled so..." "Today growers have a much easier way... to accumulate wealth than during slavery." "Back then the boss was the slave's owner... he had to take care of the slave's health and food... he had to take care of shelter even if it was the slave's quarters." "Today the boss has no such concerns." "He just has to drive the truck to the outskirts of the city... the truck loads up, he takes them back." "No more worries." "Once the cutting is done, the worker who lives on the outskirts... has to find another way of surviving, selling popsicles or popcorn." "Kids go into prostitution... into drugs... they go find other alternatives in the world of crime." "We were given a lot of promises before we came here." "We would be given everything we need:" "bottles, boots- a complete set." "But when we got here we didn't find anything." "We have to wake up at 1 AM without even a fire." "There are only 4 fire burners for 80 people to cook with." "We need to wake-up at 1 AM to fix breakfast... if not we don't have breakfast." "The water we use has rust in it." "We take a bath today, tomorrow we are sick." "The equipment came bit by bit." "The hat first, then came the boots and even now... some work barefoot because they didn't get the equipment.." "I have been working here for 4 months." "They took my work permit and they have not returned it." "I talked to a lot of managers who kept lying to me without returning my permit." "By the time we get here it's 3:30AM... some get here at 4 but usually we arrive from our sheds at 2:30 or 3." "To get a daily wage, we need to cut 40 bundles... or 32 when the cane is as hard as this." "If we don't do it, we don't get paid." "We make 12 Heales and 34 cents per day [$6.50]" "They don't pay us well here." "They pay us but rob us of half." "What we eat is cornmeal, the meal of the poor... sometimes a cookie when we bring one... buy one... and beans." "I have 6 children." "What I make here... if I eat at all, I go home with nothing." "The problem is as follows:" "whoever gets land, gets a home." "Because these days, the poor who don't have a place to live... are the poor that beg." "Got it?" "These days the poor who have a place to live... a room to sleep in, without rent to pay... can be considered rich." "Working like this is noway to make a living..." "That's why this world is infested with thieves." "That's why we have killing..." "unemployment." "The transfer of resources that happened at that time... was mainly of gold and silver... but also of the so-called "precious vegetables"" "Above all, the sugar cane... was the main reason for the accumulation of wealth... that took place in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom." "Such extraordinary wealth... became the starting point for the English colonial project... and at the same time financed their industrial revolution." "Holland was a country of 1 million people... in a very unfavorable area with no natural resources." "The theory of the neoclassicists and of the neoliberals is... that is an elected people driven by protestantism... in very adverse conditions, can become one of the planets richest... it means that they have adopted an economic system superior to others." "What we are not told is that the Dutch were barbaric... in the way they exploited their Asian colonies... and that they took from Asia everything they could." "It's on the trade of products they were importing from Asia... that they accumulated fabulous wealth." "That's why at some point Amsterdam became the world's financial center... before that status was transferred to London." "There was a law that was imposed back then which was terrible for us... which was called "La Mita"" ""La Mita" forced people to work inside the mine for 6 months... without going outside." "Which means for 6 months they had to sleep and eat... inside the mine without going outside." "It's why so many people died working in the mines." "There is a writer, Eduardo Galeano, who said... that with all the silver that was taken out of Potosi... that was taken out of this hill... it would have been possible to build a bridge... from Potosi to Spain." "So imagine how much silver came out of this mountain." "He also said that another bridge could have been built... from Potosi to Spain... with the bones of the people who died in the mines." "According to history it's more than 8 million people... more than 8 million died here." "Since they didn't have dynamite back then... or much technology... manual labor was very important." "That's why the Spaniards started to bring black slaves from Africa... to work in the mines." "They had huge problems... with the altitude, the cold, hard work and malnutrition." "So the Spaniards decided to move these black slaves... to the plantations around La Paz... where they produced coca leaves... and fruits like bananas, oranges, etc." "As well as rice and coffee." "The Europeans, joined early by the North Americans... and later, during the 2nd half of the 19th century, by the Japanese... who themselves became an important colonial power... that was very destructive in Asia during the 20th century... together became... during the 2nd part of the 19th century... what we call the "Triad"... meaning Occidental Europe, Japan and North America." "They start to dictate to the rest of the planet... the rules of the game... and impose an economic model that is capitalism." "First we inserted ourselves into the context of a world market... and into the expansion of capitalism across the entire planet... as countries that externalize their financial gain." "Because of colonialism, the riches generated... either by human efforts or from natural resources... are not retained in the country, but are externalized... sent to the outside." "Sadly, colonialism is always part of the expansion of capitalism." "Independence didn't bring economic liberation." "We stopped being a Spanish colony to become a British one... and then a colony of the United States." "During the enlire19ﬂ1 century..." "Venezuela continued to be an exporter of coffee and cacao." "At the end of the 19th century... the 2nd worldwide industrial revolution took place." "It was known that oil existed in Venezuela... because when the Conquistadores arrived they saw the natives... using oil as medicine... and to repair their boats." "Venezuela became much more important." "We stopped being an agricultural country and became an oil-mining one." "It means that the natural resources from Brazil... and in fact from every country... should be used to solve the problems of nutrition of their own people... given that in Brazil we have 50 million people... starving everyday." "And we continue to import milk from Europe, rice from Thailand... and other staple food from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile." "It's a shame for the poor people of Brazil." "I'm the head of a family of 8... my wife, 5 children and 3 grandchildren." "The girls needs medical attention..." "very often." "she needs a special school... and where we used to live it became beyond impossible... because my whole life I lived and worked in agriculture." "We were able to get this little piece of land over here... and little by little, I struggled to build this house." "And we started to plant fruit trees around." "I've been working in agriculture for 47 years." "Of these 47 years, I've been persecuted for 40 of them... because indeed, we were persecuted... by the same people in the government who would send... the guards and other groups from the government." "I have a lot of neighbors and colleagues... who work in agriculture and who were thrown in jail like criminals... for up to 48 days... for just working the land." "I'm telling you, we used to have 600 families here... and now on|y6 remain." "[The government] wanted to get rid of everything that we grew here... and replace it with imports." "The Dutch destroyed the Indonesian textile industry... and built a textile industry in Holland." "Same for ceramics." "The textiles and ceramics that we are told are Dutch... are in fact made with techniques they took from Indonesia... and specifically from Java, brought them back to Holland... and built a wealthy industry." "Destruction of political structures, destruction of social structures... and of know-how, as well." "I'm thinking of the destruction of Indian craftsmanship... and Marx's famous statement describing the Gange's plains... whitened by the Indian weavers' bones." "It's very precise, in the 18th century... the Indian textiles were of a much better quality than those of the British." "The British destroyed the Indian textile industry... and prevented merchants within the British Empire... from importing fabrics... and other manufactured products from the colonies." "Therefore, everthing was produced in London using Indian techniques... and such textiles were exported from London and forced upon India." "It's a case of exploitation, a case of plundering... and of destruction of what had existed there." "We destroyed the social structures... and we also destroyed livelihoods." "I spoke earlier of Indian weavers... it's clear that in India, if one looks at the appearance of famine..." "It corresponds... with the destruction of craftsmanship structures... of peasants' land tenure... and with land reforms imposed by the British." "Those challenges are still there." "Some of the [British] settlers, when they moved from this country in 1964-65... up to 1970... now, they benchmarked [reestablished] the operations in Europe... and, therefore, we became the producers of raw materials... and they were now the agents for marketing and processing." "Therefore, all the value-addition of our crops were done... away form Africa." "Because, like roasting of coffee just to pick that particular crop... is done away from Kenya." "In fact, you are aware that Germany, which does not hava a single bush of coffee... is the largest exporter of coffee." "Tea is the same." "The tea that you consume in Sudan;" "you take it first to Europe... then, Lipton brings it back to Sudan... and a number of other countries in northern Africa... and a number of other countries." "Talking about colonialism... to remember this still hurts." "From that point on we forgot our culture... and our language, verbal and written." "The Aymaras existed way before lhe Incas... we had a very different culture... and even our own writing we called Kipus." "And now, all has been lost." "We don't have it anymore." "It was stolen from us." "And for what?" "For what purpose were we robbed?" "To make us submit to their whims... and be their serveants." "The most important consequence... going back to one of the forms of colonization... which was the religious conversion, the work of missionaries, etc." "was the mental colonization, the colonization of the mind... the imposition of a culture... a cultural imperialism... which led to the destruction of psychological frameworks... like the concept of time and space... which, in these societies... resulted in a loss of the sense of self." "The resources of the South are fundamental to development in the North... and, therefore, the manner in which access and control of those resources... are determined... becomes crucial for the North." "That is where the battle has always been." "it has been there for over a century... it continues to be there... and particularly when it comes to subterranean resources..." "Just look around you." "Why did the Angolan war take that long?" "Or the Congo?" "Why aren't we interested in what's going on in Somalia?" "Because there is nothing... to expropriate there... but there's something to expropriate in Sudan and the Congo... in Angola and in other places." "So, the resource war... will continue." "I live in this shed and I need 2,000 Hea|es[1,100] to pay it off." "I'm crippled in one leg." "No lies." "I'm a hard working lady." "Nowadays, I live here..." "like this." "God, wherever you are help me." "I need 2,000 to pay for this shed." "Before I was sleeping in lhe street with my children." "I'm a hard worker, a fighter, and I can't pay." "For my husband to be able to buy her milk... he has to work the whole day in the hot sun." "Some days he goes without food." "We spend 25 Heales a week [$14] to buy milk, diapers... medication and things for the house." "Milk costs 5 Heales [$2.7]." "5 for milk and 5 for dough." "There are a lot of people that don't get their daily bread at home." "I'm a Tapioca maker, I don't look like one but I am." "When it's slow I sell as little as 10 or 7 even 2... sometimes I come back home without having sold anything." "I sell one with coconut for 1 Heal [$0.50]." "Our lives are alway like this." "We don't have real work, earn very little." "And it will continue like this, God willing... and those in power, too." "From lhe end of WWII, we began to abolish empires." "The U.S. which had very few colonies..." "Looked with envy at those of the British, French and Japanese... and supported their independence... thinking that afterward, they would be controlled in other ways." "That's effectively what's going on today." "These countries are practically politically independent... they have their own government... but they are within an institutional system... which introduces a form of neocolonialism." "Because many policies which are forced upon... indebted countries of the South... are dictated from Washington... by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund." "These countries must also submit to rules created... by lhe World Trade Organization based in Geneva." "From the beginning the independent states were born with a debt... which allowed the World Bank to tell them:" ""You owe us, so you'll have to follow our advice... and we'll tell you how to develop."" "Now we are in the 60's and the World Bank tells them:" ""Take more loans... to build large infraslucmres to export your natural resources."" "McNamara who became President of the World Bank in 1968... pushed the concept of fighting poverty." "But at the same time enormous projects had to be supported... like the Inga Dam on Lower Congo... gigantic energy projects which increased the Third World debt." "The only entity that can receive a loan from international organizations... is the Bolivian state... the state." "But when the state takes a loan which will be well or badly utilized... it is not the government who has to pay it back... but lhe Bolivian people..." "the taxpayers." "At a certain point, every child being born... is already carrying a big part of the debt." "Imagine for a country like ours with... an accumulated debt of 7 billion dollars... and with population of8 million... make the calculation." "It almost coincides with the gross domestic product." "Neoliberalism is a project which aims... to profoundly transform these societies." "Neoliberalism in Latin America means a reslrucling... of the manufacturing sector... means a reduction in goods on the national market... means a profound process of de-industrialization." "It reinhegrahes Latin American economies... and returns Latin America to basic production" "This form of reintegration... is characteristic of classic imperialism..." "In need of natural resources." "In the case of railroads... they have practically disappeared... since they were privatized." "In the east we don't have trains anymore." "They have been entirely dismantled." "Last month, if I'm not mistaken... workers went 7 months... 7 months without wages." "The country has been destroyed... and that's the consequence of privatization." "The Bolivian government, following a decision... and an order from the World Bank... decided to privatize the water... and to do so, started the following:" "First, they passed a law concerning drinkable water... and gave a 40-year concession to the international corporation, Bechtel." "Currently, I earn 35.50 per day [$4.50]" "We are paid daily, each day that we work." "So if I have to pay 60 Bolivianos [$7.50]... for water only, I can't make it." "That leaves nothing to buy food or clothes for my family." "it didn't affect only the water cooperatives and water wells... but rain water was included in that as well." "It's why we called all the people to join." "We called them through speakers... and megaphones that we were able to get... and also with these "Potutus" that we have." ""Potutus" always draw the most attention... because the majority of people are farmers... and in lhe country we only use "Potutus", no speakers and so on." "The water war started within the rural population." "It came as a result of the appression of international capital... and of the World Bank and of our neoliberal governments... toward the collective heritage of the people." "It also came from the fact that this privatization... is an aberration to our conception... of the indigenous and farming communities... that water is the blood of "Pachamama" [Mother Earth]" "This war has left many memories for us... because in reality there were deaths and injuries in those moments." "The people were furious... it was live or die." "One or the other." "For me, it was not leaving my children like this... and their children as well... because we all live from water." "The World Bank and the IMF demand a raise in taxes... paid mainly by the poor... demand that lhe poor pay to receive an education... and to receive healthcare." "The result is a privatization of the health and education system." "the result is that in many African countries... someone arrives at a hospital in need of urgent care... and he stays in awaiting room... until the family raises enough money for proper treatment." "And one out of three people dies without having been treated." "The health system where people used to get drugs free of charge... now, they have to go and pay." "Even where I come from, myself..." "I see people who are not able to go to hospital..." "They dfie of simple things like malaria... because they cannot afford to pay... the small fee that is required to run the hospitals." "This used to be run by lhe government... but the World Bank insisted that the health bill is too high... and that the government has to reduce it's expenditure... and reducing expenditure meant ingnoring a majority of the people." "And that's what happened that many people in Kenya... do not have access to health facilities... and do not have access to education." "We are 3 children." "I am Joseph." "This is my sister, she's Helen... but she's disabled, and my other brother... he is called Jos... and he is also disabled." "So, among the 3 of us, I'm the only"." "person who, at least, can do... something." "I'm not at school because..." "I'm supposed to pay 4,000 [$64]... for the exam fees, and... 10,000 [$160] for the school fees, and... my mom is earning 3,000 [$48], so..." "I'm still at home, I cannot get the money." "I can say life in the slum is very hard." "OK, sometimes, we do go without even eating suppper, now." "The small bit that we have, we do share among ourselves." "Some people are eating 3 meals per day... and you can just have 1 meal a day." "And, also, when you go to school you have different types of people... and also, there's some discrimination there because... you're not the same class as the other students." "I do feel discriminated because... you can find the things which they have... compared to what you have... they just laugh at you... because you're just a slum dweller." "Let's say, when someone is sick, even going to the hospital... it's very hard, then, to buy the medicine." "So... maybe, just stay at home and... take some tablets from the shop... for 100 shillings [$1.25] and... you cannot afford to go to the hospital." "These people you see over here, they are pastoralisls... and agriculturalists." "It is livestock farming that they depend on." "They cultivate... maize." "Now, all this... is gone." "Now, come the year 2003..." "They told us that government is coming to invest... here." "Instead of seeing government..." "We saw a very unique company." "This is a company from USA..." "Edmond, Oklahoma, USA..." "The company is called Dominion Group of Companies." "This company is investing here." "it's in collaboration with Kenya government to invest here." "When Dominion arrived here, they didn't ask us anything... thier workers came onto our homesteads, making surveys... even clearing our land." "And Dominion started to build a dam." "It overflowed and flooded all of our homes... and also our prime lands, the ones we use for agriculture." "I was thrown out of my land by Dominion... when they blocked lhe Yala River's flow which flooded everything." "my home was submerged..." "I had to leave and go build another one." "We had maize here and other crops... the water took everything away." "Normally, we have beautiful crops." "But now everything is rotten." "This company is doing aerial spraying." "Now, the airplanes makes a u-turn... right... across our homes." "And this aerial spraying is done especially when people are working... it is done twice a week." "That has affected us very much." "And when you go to nearby public health centers... quite a number of children has been reported... dead..." "I feel very bad because I got a malaria attack... because of all the mosquitoes we have now." "We even have cases of typhoid and many of diarrhea." "Even all my livestock died because of the flooding." "I've lost all hope now." "And it's quite unfortunate that what he [Dominion] produces there... are not sold to us." "They are ferried to America." "They are taken back to America." "So, we, lhe local people... the land is ours, we gain nothing from that land." "It is the American government gaining... and maybe some corrupt government officials." "So, we are now subjected to a life of servitude... in our own ancestral land." "And, we don't feel like moving away form this land." "and, whatsoever, we won't move out of this land." "Before the big corporations amassed lhe huge chunk of lands... that they have there... coming up with the minerals was not that hard... mining was not that difficult... the big corporations... they were given the most productive areas to mine on." "So, had it not been for them coming there... then people would still be mining there... and the situation I believe, would have been different right now." "I started here in 1998" "Then, I got sick, my wife got sick and died." "At the beginning I had 20 people working for me." "Because I have no money to nourish them, to feed them... they went to other mines." "The multinationals prevent us from surviving." "They are hugely mechanized and have a capacity we don't have." "They were given huge pieces of highly productive land... by the government... while we were left with only unproductive land." "On top of that, here the veins interconnect underground... so when a small miner happens to work on the same vein... as the big company, he'll be shot." "When the World Bank and the I.M.F... were really putting pressures on developing nations... they were coming with conditions "You need to do this... you need to do this so that we can give you aid."" ""You have to allow investors... investors to come in and help you people to create jobs."" "And that's actually not giving jobs to the locals... so, that's where the problem is." "What they're trying to do... is to demoralize us... to eradicate us totally from the mining sector." "The mining fields that they're holding right now belong to the locals." "So, once you take something from somebody... then you leave him with nothing." "People have been left..." "people are being impoverished here... severely... by lhe coming of the big companies here." "A lot of money has been siphoned out of the country... as a result of this trade." "So, money that would have been otherwise used for lhe locals here... is being siphoned into some foreign countries." "Two of my sons were killed in this barrio." "One was killed on Friday, eight days ago." "I'm really in pain now..." "And that is just the start." "I've been living in this barrio for so long... raising my children on my own... washing, ironing and cooking empanadas for others... everything I can do for my kids so they can go to school." "The one they killed had just graduated from college." "My son..." "They took him from me on Friday, this past Friday." ""FOR SALE"" "And that one was my hope for the future... to leave this place." "He was going to take me out of here..." "Do you understand?" "He didn't live with me, we lived apart... but he always helped me, he would never fail me." "And I've always been sick and gone through life hungry... so that my kids would always be able to study..." "I always wanted my kids to study." ""FIGHTING FOR LIFE"" "What is presented as a possible future for the Southern Countries... is a fiction... and this fiction prevents people from accepting... that lhe appropriation of resources by lhe part of the planet... which uses these resources in excess of its share... makes it impossible for the living conditions of the majority... to reach a level of dignity." "I'm a father of 5, and in fact, we live in poverty... but we don't know how we can come out of it." "I've got 6 children, 3 are boys and 3 are girls." "I'm working so hard... so that they don't go to bed without food." "You can make between 3,000 [$47] and 5,000 [$79] for two weeks... depending on your energy." "Nowdays in Kenya... whenever a person works a job plucking tea... he is only working a few months..." "Per year." "Per year, he's getting 3 or 4 months of work, at best." "When there is no rain, there is not enough food." "So you must go to lhe shopkeeper and borrow there until the rain comes." "That's why we are so behind that when the rain comes... you must pay back that money fast... so that you can buy something to eat." "Sometimes we do get hungry..." "Our stomachs are very small... because we don't have food everyday." "So our stomachs are very small." "It's now about 20 years that I've been suffering." "It's about exiting growth as much as under-development." "Of course our "de-growth" in the sense of... the reduction of our lifestyles demands on the eco-systems... is the prerequisite... for the under-developed to have an increased share." "Currently if everybody was living like lheAmericans... we would need 6 planets... but if everbody was living like people in Burkina Faso... then one tenth of the planet would be enough." "For the Burkinabe to be able to legitimately consume... a sustainable ecological share, we would have to consume less." "On average, we are already consuming 30% more... than what the biosphere can regenerate." "Therefore, our "de-growth" is a prerequisite... for them to resolve their own problems... and give them a larger share of life." "Either we all emancipate or no one will." "And the ones who think that things are fine... because they have plenty of hot food and water in their house... and think they have "made it" are wrong." "It's only temporary and uncertain." "When a lot of people don't have water to drink... one's stability is fragile." "The stability of each person in your country or mine... can only guarantee their continued well-being... if the other's well-being is guaranteed also." "In fact, "de-growth" is mainly a reduction... reduction of ecological footprints... reduction of toxic-dependency... therefore reduction of work... rediscovery of other aspects of life... reduction of waste, reduction of trash, etc." "If we wanted to be rigorous, we should talk about "a-growth"... like we talk about "a-theism", because that's what it is... exiting the religion of growth, of economy... and rethinking a social organization." "I say often "a-growth" is not one alternative... it's a matrix of alternatives." "It's exiting the economic totalitarianism... to reopen the way to multiple histories... in which each human group, each society would define... its own civilization, its own culture, its own values... re-appropriating or re-imrenting them."