[WSIS CS-Plenary] fyi: US - Millenium Summit+5: washington post

[Robert Guerra]

visto. intentando conseguir copia de texto bolton

regards,

Robert

--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Managing Director, Privaterra <http://www.privaterra.org>





On 25-Aug-05, at 10:24 AM, magaly pazello wrote:

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> Bolton's "work" at UN in NY... how to become the world worst...
>
> The US position about poverty and governance as well are reflected  
> in the WSIS documents on financing...
>
> magaly
> ---------------------------------
> U.S. Wants Changes In U.N. Agreement
>
> By Colum Lynch
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Thursday, August 25, 2005; A01
>
> UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24 -- Less than a month before world leaders  
> arrive in New York for a world summit on poverty and U.N. reform,  
> the Bush administration has thrown the proceedings in turmoil with  
> a call for drastic renegotiation of a draft agreement to be signed  
> by presidents and prime ministers attending the event.
>
> The United States has only recently introduced more than 750  
> amendments that would eliminate new pledges of foreign aid to  
> impoverished nations, scrap provisions that call for action to halt  
> climate change and urge nuclear powers to make greater progress in  
> dismantling their nuclear arms. At the same time, the  
> administration is urging members of the United Nations to  
> strengthen language in the 29-page document that would underscore  
> the importance of taking tougher action against terrorism,  
> promoting human rights and democracy, and halting the spread of the  
> world's deadliest weapons.
>
> Next month's summit, an unusual meeting at the United Nations of  
> heads of state, was called by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to  
> reinvigorate efforts to fight poverty and to take stronger steps in  
> the battles against terrorism and genocide. The leaders of 175  
> nations are expected to attend and sign the agreement, which has  
> been under negotiation for six months.
>
> But Annan's effort to press for changes has been hampered by  
> investigations into fraud in the U.N. oil-for-food program and  
> revelations of sexual misconduct by U.N. peacekeepers.
>
> The United Nations originally scheduled the Sept. 14 summit as a  
> follow-up to the 2000 Millennium Summit, which produced commitments  
> by U.N. members to meet deadlines over the next 15 years aimed at  
> reducing poverty, preventable diseases and other scourges of the  
> world's poor. But the Bush administration is seeking to focus  
> attention on the need to streamline U.N. bureaucracy, establish a  
> democracy fund, strengthen the U.N. human rights office and support  
> a U.S. initiative to halt the trade in weapons of mass destruction.
>
> The U.S. amendments call for striking any mention of the Millennium  
> Development Goals, and the administration has publicly complained  
> that the document's section on poverty is too long. Instead, the  
> United States has sought to underscore the importance of the  
> Monterrey Consensus, a 2002 summit in Mexico that focused on free- 
> market reforms, and required governments to improve accountability  
> in exchange for aid and debt relief.
>
> The proposed U.S. amendments, contained in a confidential 36-page  
> document obtained by The Washington Post, have been presented this  
> week to select envoys. The U.N. General Assembly's president, Jean  
> Ping of Gambia, is organizing a core group of 20 to 30 countries,  
> including the United States and other major powers, to engage in an  
> intensive final round of negotiations in an attempt to strike a deal.
>
> "Now it is maybe time to go on some key issues where we still have  
> controversies and negotiate on these key issues," he said Tuesday.
>
> The proposed changes, submitted by U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton,  
> touch on virtually every aspect of U.N. affairs and provide a  
> detailed look at U.S. concerns about the world body's future. They  
> underscore U.S. efforts to impose greater oversight of U.N.  
> spending and to eliminate any reference to the International  
> Criminal Court. The administration also opposes language that urges  
> the five permanent members of the Security Council not to cast  
> vetoes to halt genocide, war crimes or ethnic cleansing.
>
> Russia, Pakistan and several other developing countries have also  
> introduced plans for changes in the power of some U.N. bodies.
>
> Bolton and a spokesman did not respond to requests to comment  
> Wednesday.
>
> Some delegates were sympathetic with the approach taken by Bolton,  
> who took over as ambassador this month. "I think he just wants to  
> be very cautious," said Canada's U.N. ambassador, Allan Rock. "He's  
> coming into a situation where there's a [29]-page document on the  
> table, and I think he's looking at it very closely and he's  
> concerned that great care be taken before his country's name is put  
> to it, and that's quite natural."
>
> But the proposals face strong resistance from poorer countries,  
> which want the United Nations to focus more on alleviating poverty,  
> criticizing U.S. and Israeli military policies in the Middle East,  
> and scaling back its propensity to intervene in small countries  
> that abuse human rights.
>
> "We are looking at very, very difficult negotiations in the days  
> ahead," said Munir Akram, Pakistan's U.N. ambassador. The United  
> States has "strong positions, and many of us do have very strongly  
> held positions. That's the nature of the game. My only regret is we  
> didn't get into the negotiations early enough."
>
> U.S. and U.N. diplomats say that Bolton has indicated in face-to- 
> face meetings with foreign delegates that he is prepared to pursue  
> other negotiating options if the current process proves cumbersome.
>
> For example, he has suggested that the entire document could be  
> scrapped and replaced with a brief statement. He also has indicated  
> that the document could be split up by themes, and that nations  
> could choose the ones to support, the diplomats said.
>
> In meetings with foreign delegates, Bolton has expressed concern  
> about a provision of the agreement that urges wealthy countries,  
> including the United States, to contribute 0.7 percent of their  
> gross national product in assistance to poor countries. He has also  
> objected to language that urges nations to observe a moratorium on  
> nuclear testing and to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,  
> which the Bush administration opposes.
>
> "There seems to be general agreement that we must now undertake the  
> more difficult process of open and transparent negotiations to  
> reach agreement on those issues," Bolton wrote Wednesday in a  
> confidential letter to U.N. envoys. "Time is short. In order to  
> maximize our chances of success, I suggest we begin the  
> negotiations immediately, this week if possible."
>
> © 2005 The Washington Post Company
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