Let's Internationalize the World!

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This is the transcript from an article I received by e-mail, that deeply struck me. Not as a Brazilian citizen, but as an citizen of the world. Due to the fact of the importance of such article, I googled it and found an translation into English. I thought it was important to spread the world to all. The article was published by O Globo in October 23, 2000 and was reportedly censored in some countries (according to an internet article), but broadly circulated on the internet.

This took place in a American University in May 2000. Cristovam Buarque, a Brazilian economist, politician (currently a senator) and founder of an NGO dedicated to keeping the world's poor children in school was asked by a young American ecologist about the idea of internationalization of Amazon. The ecologist said that he expected the answer of an humanist and not of a Brazilian.

This was Buarque's answer:

“In fact, as a Brazilian I would simply speak out against the internationalization of the Amazon. However much our governments are not properly caring for this patrimony, it is ours.

As a humanist, assessing the risk of environmental degradation that threatens the Amazon, I can contemplate its internationalization, as well as of everything else that is important to humankind.

If the Amazon, from the point of view of humanist ethics, must be internationalized, the oil reserves of the world should be internationalized as well. Oil is as important to the welfare of humankind as is the Amazon. In spite of that, the owners of the oil reserves feel they have the right to increase or decrease oil production and to raise or lower the price.

In the same way, the financial capital of the rich countries should be internationalized. If the Amazon is a patrimony for all human beings, it should not be burned based on the decision of one landowner, or of one country.

The burning of the Amazon is as serious as unemployment caused by arbitrary decisions of global speculators. We cannot allow financial reserves to be used to burn out entire countries by the whims of speculation.

Before (the internationalization of) the Amazon, I would like to see the internationalization of all the world’s great museums. The Louvre should not belong only to France. Each museum is a guardian of the most beautiful pieces produced by human genius. One should not allow this cultural patrimony, in the same way as the natural patrimony of Amazonia, to be manipulated and destroyed for the pleasure of a sole owner or a country. Not long ago, a Japanese millionaire decided to have a painting of a great master buried with him in the grave. The painting should have been internationalized first.

At present, the United Nations is hosting the Forum of the Millennium but some presidents have had problems participating due to restrictions imposed by immigration authorities of the USA. For this reason, I think that New York, as the location of the United Nations headquarters, should be internationalized. At least Manhattan should belong to all Humanity. The same way as Paris, Venice, Rome, London, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Recife…, each city with its unique beauty, its own world’s history, should belong to the whole world.

If the United States wants to internationalize the Amazon to avoid the risk of leaving it in the Brazilians’ hands, let us also internationalize the nuclear arsenals of the United States. The United States has already shown that they are capable of using nuclear weapons, provoking destruction thousands of times larger than the unfortunate destruction caused by the burning of the forests in Brazil.

During political debates, the current candidates to the presidency of the United States have defended the idea of internationalizing the world forest reserves in exchange for foreign debt. We could begin using this foreign debt to guarantee that every child of the world is allowed to eat and attend school. We should internationalize the children, treating all of them, regardless their country of origin, as a patrimony which deserves the care of the whole world, even more than the Amazon. When the world leaders start treating the poor children of the world as the patrimony of humankind, they will no longer allow these children to work when they should be studying, to die when they should live.

As a humanist, I am willing to defend the internationalization of the world. But as long as the world treats me as a Brazilian, I will fight for the Amazon to remain ours.

Ours alone!"