OAS-IACHR, dare opine on a violation of human rights in the economy (and the environment)

The Charter of the Organization of American States establishes among its principles that "the elimination of poverty ... is the common and shared responsibility of the American States (Art: 3f)… And also to “devote their utmost efforts ... to achieve equitable distribution of national income”; (Art. 34.b)

The American Convention on Human Rights (1969) states (Art: 26) that "States parties undertake to ... achieving progressively the full realization of the rights implicit in the economic, social and educational, scientific and cultural standards set forth in the Charter of the OAS ... to the extent of available resources, through legislation or other appropriate means ".

And in the case of "Discharged and Retired Employees of the Comptroller vs. Peru" (2009) case law has been established, when in the judgment we read that the Commission on Human Rights "is competent to decide whether the State has committed a violation or breach ach of any of the rights recognized in the Convention, including with regard to Article 26 of the same ".

OAS has yet to define though what it means with a violation or breach of economic, social and educational, scientific and cultural standards. That is sad. Had it done so, much unnecessary human suffering could have been avoided.

For instance there are some economic policies or economic crimes that causes such harm to so many humans, so as these should classify as punishable violations against human rights.

I can think of corruption; of loony foreign exchange systems; of runaway monetary policies causing hyperinflation… and of course, of Venezuela’s domestic gas prices.

In the international market gas is sold at about $1.60 per gallon, in Norway, another oil country, it is sold domestically at US$ 8.40 per gallon, and in Venezuela, where people are dying because of lack of food and medicines, it is given away, at US$ 1 cent per gallon.

In Venezuela this horror is not discussed. The political price for proposing to correct it is perceived way too high by both those in government as by those in the opposition.

If gas were sold there at the price it could fetch in international markets, the reduction in the demand would allow much more gas to be exported, and much more food and medicines to be imported.

Would the prices be even higher, and all new revenues shared out directly among Venezuelans, then the incentives in the fights against inequality and against climate change would even be aligned.

So, can you imagine how much more sanity could prevail if the Inter American Commission of Human Rights declared gas giveaways to be a violation of human rights; something which could cause anyone directly responsible for such criminal policy to be hauled in front of an International Court of Human Rights… or even just in front of a local judge?

And, can anyone doubt the fact that the regressive fuel subsidies are de facto also a crime against the environment?

I tried to do something about this in 2009. No chance! I denounced this to OAS’ IACHR or OEA’s CIDH in July 2015. I am still waiting for a response.

Can somebody lend me a hand?

PS. December 2017: If gasoline was sold in Venezuela at current world market prices (0% tax) then between eliminating its smuggling and reducing its local demand, one could easily obtain US 10 million a day. At US$2 per day, that would help feed five million people, one sixth of Venezuela’s population.

@PerKurowski

http://petropolitan.blogspot.com

http://theoilcurse.blogspot.com

World Bank, please dare tackle the issue of what could be considered punishable economic crimes against humanity

Could we challenge the World Bank, as the world’s premier development bank, to put on its agenda to try to qualify which economic policies could be so egregious so as to qualify as punishable economic crimes against humanity?

For instance in a country where people are dying for lack of food and medicines, could selling gas at less than US$ 1 cent per gallon be such a crime?

An Executive Director of the World Bank answered me with: “We already name and shame those who engage in outrageous subsidies of fuel”

That is good, but far from enough! That the World Bank names and shames, is sometimes in some shady circles even taken as evidence of good behavior. No, I am referring to the possibility of having an energy minister face charges in the International Court of Justice in Hague.

I have tried to raise this issue elsewhere… but yet no response.

Low interest rates, by inspiring laziness, sometimes also act as a determent to economic activity

I just want to add a factor that I feel has been ignored in all the ongoing debate on how low or even negative interest rates can stimulate economic activity.

During my life as a financial and strategic consultant, I have often seen how the pressure of the interest-costs-clock on projects, have really inspired these to get going, to execute fast. In other words, low interest rates can also inspire laziness.

What a great deal! Take loan at negative interest rates... do nothing... stay in bed... repay... and profit!

Perkins’ Confessions… a rough book tour is not punishment enough!

I just read the Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. It is a repulsive autobiography, I guess about the mother of all mid-life crises, as the author describes his remorse with the active role he played in a conspiracy aimed at inducing developing countries to incur excessive debts so as to subjugate them and control their natural resources. That individuals could on purpose miscalculate in order to gain benefits is a fact of life, but that this would be happening with malice on a worldwide scale and as part of an American conspiracy is just too much to fathom—and then just sit back.

I haven’t the faintest clue whether the book is true or not and in fact I don’t care because, in either case, Mr. Perkins needs to be prosecuted. Either by American or international courts for committing fraud and crimes against humanity, or, by the same courts, for seeding that kind of distrust that makes it so much harder for good people to trust good people—a basic requisite if the world is to stand a chance.

Something should be done, soon, before it gains more credibility. The book is already a New York Times Bestseller and even though it states that the “World Bank doesn’t help them [the poor countries] to defend themselves. In fact, it forces them into this position,” on the back cover we read a former lead economist of The World Bank saying that it “succeeds as a wake up call because the reader cannot help but assess his or her role on a personal level, thus providing impetus for change.” Pearson ends his book with, “Like all confessions, it is the first step toward redemption.” Good for you! But, pal, a rough book tour is not punishment enough!

I have vociferously argued against the Debt Sustainability Analysis of poor developing countries which is currently so much in vogue, basically because I feel that debt should always be contracted if it is productive, not because it might be sustainable. Nonetheless, against Perkins’ Confessions my arguments do sound hollow and naïve though, come to think of it, I much prefer to live out my life with this kind of naïveté than to live with the cynicism otherwise obligatory. Perkins says he wrote so that his daughter could have a future. So do I—for my daughters and for his.