At
UN,
Sachs Admits
Malawi Unrest
Felt in
Villages,
Soros Says "We
Can't Betray"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 3, updated
-- When George
Soros and
Jeffrey Sachs
came to the
UN on Monday
to talk about
Millennium
Villages, it
began with
only
good news.
When Inner
City Press
asked about
the two
Villages in
Malawi,
where the
forces of
President
Bingu wa
Mutharika have
killed
at least 20
protesters
this year,
Sachs
acknowledged
this was
"felt"
in the
villages, but
emphasized
that "the
Villages are
resilient."
Video here,
from Minute
25:25.
Sachs also
called
Malawi's
government
"erratic,"
among other
things.
Later,
Malawi's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Brian Bowler
pointed out to
Inner City
Press that
Sachs'
economic
advise has, in
fact, injured
many
countries.
Bowler
presented an
alternative
view of Malawi
on which we
intend to
write soon. He
said Africa
was
undercovered
during the
recent UN
General
Debate.
Sachs
speaks at the
Harvard Club,
Bowler said,
and we are not
allowed in to
rebut him.
Soros'
response
to the
question
acknowledged a
tension
between
commitment not
to
leave a
Millennium
Village once
funding
begins, and
the
"governance"
issues posed
by
developments
like those in
Malawi. "We
can't close"
the
Villages,
Soros said, it
would "betray
the trust of
the
villagers."
Video here,
from Minute
28.
Some
consider
these 14
Millennium
Villages in 10
countries akin
to a bandage
on a
cancer. Other
say that when
running
projects in
states where
the
leader killed
protesters
this has to be
acknowledged
and taken into
account.
Soros
and Sachs at
UN Oct 3,
resolution of
band aid
tension not
shown, (c)
MRLee
Soros
recounted
how the "newly
elected
president of
Guinea" --
that would
be Alpha Conde
-- asked for
help with
domestic rice
production,
since
the country
imports half
its rice.
Soros said, "I
turned to the
Millennium
Villages, they
designed" a
rice project.
While
interesting,
it's
noteworthy
that Conde's
Guinea
recently sent
tons of rice
to
Sierra Leone,
a country with
a UN
peacekeeping
mission for
years.
Importing rice
to re-export
it? Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Soros was also
by the UN last
week, at a
soiree for
Global
Witness, which
among other
things has
been critical
of former UK
prime minister
Tony
Blair's double
service for JP
Morgan Chase
and ostensibly
the UN Quartet
in the Middle
East. One
wanted to ask
about this,
and the Open
Society
Foundation's
critique of
policies in
Afghanistan,
but the
moderator said
Millennium
Villages would
be the focus.
To be
continued.
, 
