UNCTAD-Algerian leader condemns Western capitalism BANGKOK, Feb 18 (AFP)-Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued a passionate attack on the world’s economic superpowers Friday, accusing them of wiping Africa off the map with a blind pursuit of market capitalism. Bouteflika told a major United Nations trade conference here that the West’s infatuation with global capitalism had “dashed” the hopes of Africans for a life free of poverty. “A new map of the world is being drawn and a continent, Africa, is being scrubbed out, erased,” he said. The West’s desire for economic globalisation, crippling levels of debt and plunging overseas aid granted by developed countries meant Africa would remain locked in misery, he said. “My message is one of deep sadness and frail hopes that I convey to you on behalf of Africa,” said Bouteflika, the current head of the Organisation of African Unity. Indifference to the needs of Africa had prompted concern that the “hopes of developing countries have been dashed,” said Bouteflika who was protected at the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) by a huge security operation. He claimed the new global economy, with its reverence for open markets, had seized an”absolute hold of the financial sphere” to promote production. Capital gain was now prized above employment, he argued in a keynote address delivered in Arabic. Developing nations had been “pretty well excluded” from consultations while powerful countries refused to open their markets while “demanding that the weakest and poorest countries abide by their obligations.” While admitting that Africa was handicapped by “ a somewhat warped public management” system and a wave of conflicts, Bouteflika pleaded for time for the continent to move towards democracy. But he recalled the many ethnic conflicts in the continent were the result of the “trauma” of colonialism and warned that demands for better human rights practice and good governance were hampering efforts to knit stable societies. The week-long UNCTAD conference, which ends Saturday, is meeting with a mandate to shield the world’s poorest people from the possible perils of globalisation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------