Poverty talks in Mexico seek answers to problem

MONTERREY, Mexico -- After years of squabbling and finger-pointing, leaders from both rich and poor nations have agreed to sit down Monday for a serious talk about how to end poverty.

The meeting of business and government leaders -- including President Bush -- is aimed at improving the lives of more than 1 billion people living on less than $1 a day. Cuban President Fidel Castro is expected to be among the attendees.

The International Conference on Financing for Development has been a longtime goal of poor nations, and its themes -- how to prevent crippling financial crashes and manage debt in the developing world -- have been pushed by anti-globalization protesters worldwide.

Still, two days before the summit officially kicks off, there were already signs of the difficulties ahead.

After both the European Union and the United States promised billions more in aid earlier this week, European anti-globalization activists in Monterrey called the move "cosmetic and inadequate."

On Saturday, wrapping up a three-day side forum on sustainable development, activists called for a complete overhaul of the international finance system. They said developing countries should have more control over their own economies and that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank should stop dictating conditions for aid.

"At the Monterrey summit they should come up with concrete promises," activist Alejandro Villamar said at a news conference.

Government leaders, however, were expected to talk about how to make the current system of economic development better, not how to redesign it completely. And unlike past summits that have often pitted poor nations against rich leaders, they already have agreed on a basic platform.

The document urges developed countries to spend 0.7 percent of their gross national product to help poor nations -- something the European Union has agreed to work toward. The gross national product is the value of all goods and services produced by a country.

Officials also will be talking about how to avoid corruption, prevent financial collapses and deal with debt problems in the developing world, as well as find ways to encourage business leaders to invest in poor nations.

Rich, poor united

The meeting is unprecedented in that it will bring together top world leaders from both rich and poor nations as well as business leaders and international lenders like the World Bank and the IMF.

"This is the most attention that has been given to economic development issues since the Cold War," U.N. spokesman Tim Wall said.

The World Bank has proposed that wealthy nations double their spending on foreign aid to $100 billion a year in order to cut extreme poverty in half by the internationally agreed target date of 2015.

Bush says he believes developing nations that "walk the hard road" should receive grants, rather than loans they have to pay back.