Morales on Anti-Climate Change Campaign in Finland 
Finland - YLE Uutiset, 22-May-2010
Bolivian President Evo Morales is perhaps the most radical voice raised in opposition to climate change. During a visit to Finland, the Bolivian President continued his anti-climate change campaign.
The socialist president received an extremely warm welcome when he arrived in Finland on Friday. A member of the Aymara indigenous group, he is the first politician of indigenous background to be elected to his country's highest political office.
The Bolivian President held talks with President Tarja Halonen, in which he discussed climate issues and the bilateral transfer of clean technology. He also met with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.
A central theme of the discussions was climate change and its remedies, with 'Pachamama' Mother Earth a recurring figure in the Bolivian's discourses.
"The best way to defend human rights is to defend the rights of Mother Earth. Brothers and sisters, I am convinced that the earth can exist without man, but that man cannot survive without the earth," he declared.
Along with other Latin American socialist countries, Bolivia chose not to underwrite last December's Copenhagen declaration and its watered-down agreement to combat global warming. It doesn't mean that he's not concerned about climate change. On the contrary, Morales is currently among the most radical voices in the struggle to keep the planet healthy.
"Global warming must be limited to one degree, not the two degrees called for by the industrialised countries, or the three or four degrees that our current lifestyles will lead to," he demanded.
At the Copenhagen summit, Morales announced his own parallel conference on climate change, dubbed "The People's Conference", which took place in Bolivia in April. Some 35,000 participants from more than 150 countries attended the event.
Morales' summit declaration was pointed: the conference agreed to set up a global climate justice tribunal and to outline a declaration on the rights of Mother Earth. Next year he is calling for a worldwide referendum against climate change.
According to Morales, Mother Earth's worst enemy is unbridled capitalism.
"There are two alternative routes: we can either save capitalism or we can save Mother Earth," said the Bolivian president, who over the past four years has nationalized some of his country's most important productive sectors, including as gas and oil.
During his visit to Helsinki, Morales also played in a multi-cultural football game as part of a Bolivian team expanded with other immigrants. The side beat a Finnish team 2-0 at the city's Tali sports centre.
YLE
Date: 22-May-2010
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/05/morales_on_anti-climate_change_campaign_in_finland_1703479.html
Bolivian President Evo Morales is perhaps the most radical voice raised in opposition to climate change. During a visit to Finland, the Bolivian President continued his anti-climate change campaign.
The socialist president received an extremely warm welcome when he arrived in Finland on Friday. A member of the Aymara indigenous group, he is the first politician of indigenous background to be elected to his country's highest political office.
The Bolivian President held talks with President Tarja Halonen, in which he discussed climate issues and the bilateral transfer of clean technology. He also met with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.
A central theme of the discussions was climate change and its remedies, with 'Pachamama' Mother Earth a recurring figure in the Bolivian's discourses.
"The best way to defend human rights is to defend the rights of Mother Earth. Brothers and sisters, I am convinced that the earth can exist without man, but that man cannot survive without the earth," he declared.
Along with other Latin American socialist countries, Bolivia chose not to underwrite last December's Copenhagen declaration and its watered-down agreement to combat global warming. It doesn't mean that he's not concerned about climate change. On the contrary, Morales is currently among the most radical voices in the struggle to keep the planet healthy.
"Global warming must be limited to one degree, not the two degrees called for by the industrialised countries, or the three or four degrees that our current lifestyles will lead to," he demanded.
At the Copenhagen summit, Morales announced his own parallel conference on climate change, dubbed "The People's Conference", which took place in Bolivia in April. Some 35,000 participants from more than 150 countries attended the event.
Morales' summit declaration was pointed: the conference agreed to set up a global climate justice tribunal and to outline a declaration on the rights of Mother Earth. Next year he is calling for a worldwide referendum against climate change.
According to Morales, Mother Earth's worst enemy is unbridled capitalism.
"There are two alternative routes: we can either save capitalism or we can save Mother Earth," said the Bolivian president, who over the past four years has nationalized some of his country's most important productive sectors, including as gas and oil.
During his visit to Helsinki, Morales also played in a multi-cultural football game as part of a Bolivian team expanded with other immigrants. The side beat a Finnish team 2-0 at the city's Tali sports centre.
YLE
Date: 22-May-2010
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/05/morales_on_anti-climate_change_campaign_in_finland_1703479.html