The lecture is about the consequences of "free" trade on poor countries.

When talking about the effects of globalisation on the south, protectionism of the west is often considered as a main factor in the unfairness of the system. However, this is exagerated.

The main disadvantages of the south in the so-called free trade system are:

1. unequal exchange

(products from the south have a small valaue and the value is still getting smaller, while the price on the world market of western produced goods is getting more expensive.)

2. disparate exchange

(countries in the south are pushed to have an export-oriented economy; with the money they make they buy weapons in the west)

1. disparate exchange: example: Sudan
The civil war in Sudan (at the moment there is a fragile peace treaty) originates in 1983.
The situation of the country changed in 1999: a pipeline was built from the south to the north. There are large oilfields in the south; before 1999 Sudan was an oil importer, after the pipeline was placed, Sudan became an exporter.

Two areas in the south of Sudan are "depopulated" (people are forced away with violence) to make oil exploitation possible. The sophisticated weapons which are used (attack helicopters, missiles) are bought with oil money.

The organizations ECOS and Amnesty International have published reports criticizing the human rights conditions in Sudan, and the role of the oil exploration.

"disparate exchange" (oil-weapons) is a mechanism which not only is to be seen in Sudan, it also happened in Saudi Arabia and Iran, in the seventies. Currently it also goes for Angola.

2. unequal exchange.

the institutions World Bank and IMF stimulate the production and export of raw materials and in this way, just like in the colonial time, poor countries stay dependent on cheap products for the export market.

before the creation of the WTO 'unequal exchange' was seen as an important issue/problem, addressed for example by UNCTAD. in the neoliberal ideology adapting to the free trade system is emphasized as a way for poor countries to get out of poverty.

countries that are dependent on mineral raw materials and basic agricultural products receive less and less money for it. the prices on the world market for these products have collapsed.
for example cotton, copper.
in countries that are dependent on these products, poverty is increasing.

in the bourgeois press, lots of times it is stated that poor countries have to join the globalisation process, in order to escape from poverty. poor countries are already joining the globalisation process however: although the value of the export in Africa in world figures is negligible, if you look at the percentage of the national product, it is huge.

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a participant from Angola argues the speaker is emphasizing too much the world economic structures, not giving enough attention to national/ethnic/religious problems involved in the poverty question. the speaker admits that this is true. however, he says, in the western media cultural/religious/ethnic factors are always emphasized in explaining poverty. the speaker wanted to get away from this and highlight the consequences of globalisation.

an interview with the speaker in English appears later on the website of PGA radio.