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News > Latin America

Evo Morales Closes Climate Change Summit in Bolivia

  • Bolivian President Evo Morales (C) gestures with the presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela during a closing ceremony of the climate change conference in Bolivia, Oct. 12, 2015.

    Bolivian President Evo Morales (C) gestures with the presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela during a closing ceremony of the climate change conference in Bolivia, Oct. 12, 2015. | Photo: Reuters/David Mercado

Published 12 October 2015
Opinion

The Bolivian president reminded Latin Americans that they have a responsibility to continue to fight against imperialism, colonialism and capitalism.

In his closing remarks of a three-day climate change summit near Cochabamba, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that capitalism is to blame for climate change, and that the conclusions made at the summit will be directly taken to the Paris climate change conference later this year.

"For now, we are discussing a problem left to us by capitalism: climate change," said Morales.

The country’s first Indigenous leader took advantage of the occasion of the Day of Indigenous Resistance to declare that more than 500 years after the Spanish colonial conquest, Bolivia was free from imperialism.

“We have liberated ourselves from imperial domination and neoliberal politics,” he said.

He reminded Latin Americans that they have a responsibility to carry on the struggle left by their ancestors against imperialism, colonialism and capitalism.

He said that since Bolivia has recovered control over its resources thanks to the power of social movements, the United States is already planning to invade other countries to “rob their economy” and “loot their natural resources.”

Morales reiterated that “new generations, out of principle for life and humanity, have to be anti-imperialist.”​

RELATED: Bolivia's Climate Summit Opens with Cheers and Calls for Action

Social movements and representatives from more than 40 countries – as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela – attended the conference in Bolivia.

Activists and participants met wherever they could to come up with practical solutions and real plans to address the climate “crisis.”

“Droughts. Fires. Floods. Landslides. Glaciers melting. Oceans turning to acid. Mother Earth is giving us a warning,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the conference on Saturday. “We must listen. And we must act.”

The focus is slowly turning to the next big U.N. climate change conference in Paris, which begins late November.

RELATED: The People's Conference on Climate Change: What to Expect

The personal stories, proposals and practical solutions that emerge from Cochabamba will be submitted for consideration at the event in Paris.

Noting that “a transformative deal in Paris” was in sight, the U.N. leader concluded by saying that developed countries must meet their pledge of US$100 billion a year to fight climate change by 2020.

Before Ban left, President Morales presented the secretary-general with a 10-point plan to defend Mother Earth to be discussed at the U.N. Paris summit.

One of the Bolivian proposals is to create an Environmental International Court of Justice "to make it easier for countries to fulfill their international commitments to climate change.”

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