Los desastres no son naturales

Disasters are not natural.

As I listened this morning to the reports from China of the anguished, now angry, parents who lost their children to the earthquake allege that the buildings were poorly made, my mind went to a book published in 2003 by Equipo Maiz in El Salvador, Los desastres no son naturales: Disasters are not natural. Equipo Maiz (the Corn Collective) is a group of non-profit organisations (Diakonia, Lutherhjälpen, Manos Unidas, Desarrollo y Paz) that publishes challenging books. They tend to be photographic collections and are bilingual.

In the introduction of the book, Uraguyan Eduardo Galeano writes:

'So it has been, so it is, so it shall be: time and time again it is said that nature is a heartless mother, cursing us with catastrophe since time immemorial. But, just how natural are the natural catastrophes lashing the world? Floods and droughts — don't they multiply because of the ravaging of forests and soil, all done in the name of progress? And isn't the climate crazy because of this very civilization that poisons the air?

'As if these manufactures catastrophes that condemn millions to hunger and exodus weren't enough, there are many natural catastrophes that would better be called social catastrophes. Hurricane Mitch left twenty thousand dead in Central America, where the poor are saved only by the grace of God. By comparison, there have barely been any victims when hurricanes of equal or greater strength have struck Florida or Cuba.'

While his words may be provocative regarding Florida or Cuba, I believe his basic premise is correct. Consider the 451 people (some of whose surviving family members I have met and have heard their stories) who died in the 13 January 2001 earthquake in Las Colinas, Santa Tecla, El Salvador. Even though the ridge above the neighbourhood had been proven to be geologically unstable, a developer was building houses for the upperclass without any thought about those who lived below. The ridge had been so deforested such that when the earth shook, the land slid over this tight-knit community and buried them alive on a Saturday morning.

The editors of the book simply say: 'We are convinced that disasters are not natural. They are the product of decisions that place profit above the welfare of the people.' Later on in the book, they write: 'Natural phenomena will become categorised as disasters due to the precarious conditions under which urban and rural communities are growing and becoming more and more impoverished.'

And in the case of Burma, the disaster has been compounded by a power-hungry military dictatorship.



Disasters are not natural.