Clinton Addresses Brazil Students
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Former President Clinton told students at a
university in Brazil that for globalization to be truly successful, it
must include
``positive interdependence'' so both rich and poor nations can benefit.
``Globalization is going to proceed and you can't stop it even if you want
to,''
Clinton told about 400 students and faculty members at Sao Paulo's
Armando Alvares Penteado University on Tuesday.
``But you cannot have a global economy unless you also have a global
economic empowerment policy, a global health care policy, a global
education policy, a global environmental policy and a global security policy,''
Clinton said.
He said these policies must be based on what he called ``a vision of positive
interdependence, which means simply that everyone counts and everyone
has a role to play.''
He called for more debt relief programs to help poor nations overcome
social and economic problems.
``We must help the poor build solid health and education programs, without
which they can never hope to prosper,'' Clinton said.
He suggested that developed countries use technology to push development,
education and health care reform in poorer countries.
The former president said that globalization must also include joining
forces
``against our common security threats,'' such as terrorism, organized crime
and narcotics trafficking.
Clinton defended the Kyoto climate agreement, recently rejected by the
Bush administration. It ``may not be perfect,'' he said, ``but it should
not be
abandoned.''
Clinton visited Rio de Janeiro on Monday, where he endorsed the idea of
a
pact between a South American trade bloc and the United States.