MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protectionism, social exclusion and terrorism.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva proposed this Sunday in his speech before the leaders of the G 8 (the seven richest countries plus Russia) meeting in Envian, France the creation of a global fund to combat hunger and poverty. Suggestions for the funding are taxing world arms trade and reinvesting part of the interests accruing from loans to developing countries.

"Taxing the arms trade has a double advantage, economic and ethical", said Mr. Lula da Silva.

Host president Jacques Chirac considered the proposal "complex and difficult to implement", but added that "hunger was unacceptable and said the idea must be considered.

Mr. Lula da Silva who was addressing the G8 in the name of the Latinamerican Rio Group said in a simple and direct way that "I've come to propose collective, responsible and solidarity actions to overcome the inhuman conditions in which a great percentage of the world's population lives. We need to confront this issue with emergency and structural measures".

Mr. Lula da Silva added that a new alliance was needed to fight what he described as social exclusion.

"I'm convinced that economic development is not possible without social sustainability, and without them, we'll have an even more insecure world". It's in this space of social desegregation that "resentment, crime and particularly drug trade and terrorism prosper".

Further on the Brazilian president indicated that unemployment, a leading social problem, even in rich countries is worsening.

"We need a new equation that will enable growth to take off and includes developing countries. And the incorporation of developing countries to the global economy must necessarily include non discriminatory access to markets of the rich countries".

Mr. Lula da Silva added it's not possible to compete openly with subsidies and other means of protection imposed by rich countries.

"We've done an enormous effort and sacrifice to conquer competitiveness. But, how do you compete openly in the midst of a war of subsidies and other protection mechanisms that generate a real commercial exclusion? We haven't come here to moan or regret, or simply join the recriminations choir. We know our responsibilities. We're doing our share with balanced and sound economic policies, fighting waste and corruption, strengthening institutions for the better functioning of our economies. We've given proof of our political willingness to combat social misbalances and poverty".

Brazilian president Lula was one of eleven leaders of developing countries invited to the G8 summit, among which India, China, South Africa, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. The G 7 is made up of US, UK, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Germany.

"We demand coherence from our rich partners. The issue of tariffs, of agriculture produce, must advance, there's a growing sensitivity that changes are needed to achieve equal opportunities and a more democratic trade relation".

Mr. Lula encouraged the developing countries "to press the rich nations" for an end to protectionism but also demanded "greater trade among developing countries", so to lessen dependency.

Resistance to changes in the World Trade Organization, WTO, was also a concern of President Lula who pointed that "particularly regarding agriculture, this resistance only enhances skepticism instead of promoting the good intentions and intelligence of the more prosperous".

However Mr. Lula da Silva said he was encouraged with the first signs coming from talks in the WTO, and was looking forward to further progress in the coming WTO ministerial summit scheduled for next September in Mexico.

The Brazilian president also had a fifteen minutes private meeting with US President George Bush in preparation for this month's visit to Washington. Mr. Bush apparently congratulated Mr. Lula for his South American leadership.