By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 8 -- When the current G20 heads of Mexico came to New York, they tellingly did not meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Inner City Press learned on Thursday. Rather they met only with Ban's official Robert Orr, now being moved to an invented post about public private partnerships.
The Mexican Mission to the UN's able spokesman organized a press conference at the Mission with five journalists, at which Roberto Marino and "Sherpa" representative Gabriel Terres downplayed the obsolescence of the UN.
Then Inner City Press asked Mexico's Permanent Representative to respond to the theory that currently the UN General Assembly is becoming obsolete, or "not fit for purpose" as its President from Qatar has put it. (The PGA's spokeswoman told Inner City Press earlier on Thursday this was "taken out of context," but wouldn't say if any correction had been requested.)
It is "in urgent need of reform," Mexico's ambassador responded, indicting the marginalization of ECOSOC, but saying that somehow the current troika and Singapore could reverse it.
Mexico is a leader of the UFC school of Security Council reform which if enacted, which is unlikely, could help reverse the trend.
The Mission was asked if the Occupy movement will target their G20. I hope not, said Marino. But why not? Already President Obama has moved the G8 from Chicago to Camp David to make it "more intimate" -- that is, less protestable.
Inner City Press asked if it is true that the G20 is against implementation of the US Volcker Rule, not because it is pro deregulation, but only because it would lower the value of non-US goverment bonds. It hadn't been implemented, Magiro agilely answered.
But in fact a Mexico based subprime lending owned by Salinas Pliego, the Grupo Elektra, is now in line to buy controversial US payday lending Advance America. Who is using the G20? Watch this site.
