Apec ‘a tool for oppression,’ says former US legislator

“A tool for your own oppression.”

That’s how former United States Representative Cynthia McKinney described the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), which will hold its 27th summit in Manila next week.

“That is how, I think, how I believe you should look at Apec,” McKinney, formerly elected as a Democrat to the US Congress, told Filipino reporters in Quezon City on Sunday.

McKinney is in the country to join foreign activists in protesting against the Apec.

“Apec, in my estimation, pales in comparison to the mission of other regional organizations,” she said during the international assembly of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS). “Asia now is seeing the rise of these independent, alternative organizations that stress dignity.”

She described the Apec as an organization that espouses “neoliberal policies that continue to divide the world” and steal the resources of other countries.

The Apec was founded to promote economic growth and cooperation among its 21 member economies. Trade and investment liberalization are among its top goals.

Despite being a part of the US government, McKinney criticized the United States for its foreign military policy.

“And I don’t believe that the United States is an exceptional power. I think the United States have become exceptionally bad,” she said. “US foreign policy is destroying whole country, is destroying people.” KS/JE