A finales de mayo, el Senador del PT brasileño Eduardo Suplicy envió un correo electrónico a Philippe Van Parijs, Guy Standing, Karl Widerquist, Daniel Raventós y Paul Davidson en los que adjuntaba una carta curiosa dirigida a Sérgio Vieira de Mello. Este texto del Senador Suplicy fue publicado pocas semanas después en algunos periódicos. El correo electrónico y el escrito del Senador los reproducimos a continuación:

Dear Philippe, Guy, Karl, Daniel and Paul:

Um grande abraço, Senador Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy

Brasília, May 26, 2003

Mr. Sérgio Vieira de Mello
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and
Special Representative of the UN to Iraq
New York

Dear Mr. Sérgio Vieira de Mello:

Congratulations for your nomination as the Special Representative of the UN to Iraq. I am sure that after so many successful missions that you have developed such as that in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in East Timor you will also have a very relevant role in the reconstruction of Iraq and in helping the development of democratic institutions that might mean new hopes for the people of that nation.

It is with respect to the development of the ways of sharing the wealth of Iraq by their people that I would like to call your attention, taking into account a proposal that has its foundations long time ago in the writings of the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible, in the teachings of the Alcoran and the Book of the Hadis as well of the Buddhists, in the teachings of Thomas More and Thomas Paine, and that recently has been so well developed by brilliant economists such as James Edward Meade, James Tobin and Philippe Van Parijs.

In an article published on April 9, 2003, in The New York Times, Sharing, Alaska Style, Steven C. Clemons proposes that the United States and, of course, the United Nations consider the possibility of handling Iraq’s oil not only for the reconstruction of what was ruined by the recent war but also in a way to help to produce a stable democracy expanding the numbers of stakeholders in the nations’ economy.

It would be a promising example for the world if you were to propose to Iraq that they could follow the very successful example of Alaska, especially because they also have huge natural resources in the form of oil, although the same procedure may be followed based on any kind of wealth that is created.

Let us remind how that idea came about. During the early sixties the mayor of a small fishermen’s village, Bristol Bay, in Alaska, observed that a huge amount of wealth came out from there, although many people remained still poor in that village. Then he proposed to create a 3% tax on the value of fish to create a fund that would pertain to everyone. He had much trouble in persuading the people of the idea. It took five years. It was so successful that ten years later he became the governor of the State of Alaska.

In 1976, Governor Jay Hammond told his 300,000 residents of Alaska: we should think not only in our generation but in the future generations. Since oil and other natural resources are non-renewable, let us separate 50% of the royalties coming out of the exploitation of those resources to a fund that will accumulate and that will pertain to all the people. The proposal was approved not only by the State Assembly but also by a popular referendum, 76,000 in favor and 38,000 against it.

Today it is considered political suicide for any leader there to be against the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend system. It has been tremendously successful. Those royalties have been applied in US Bonds, Shares of Alaska, US and International Corporations and Real Estate Investments. Since 1980 the net worth of the Fund has grown from US$ 1 billion to US$ 25 billion today. Everyone living in Alaska for a year or more has the right to receive the annual dividend that has grown from a value of around US$ 300.00 in the early eighties to US$ 1,550.00 last year.

The Alaska Permanent Fund dividend system has made Alaska the most equitable of all the American States. During the period 1989-1999 Alaska distributed equally 6% of its Product to all its citizens, today around 626,000. As a result, during the last decade, while in the United States the average income of the 20% poorest families grew 12% and that of the 20% richest families grew 26%, in Alaska the average income of the 20% poorest families grew 28% whereas the average income of the 20% richest grew 7%.

It is an example for all nations of the world and especially valid for countries like Brazil and South Africa that are in great need to eradicate poverty and to improve their income distribution in the direction of more justice. The economists and social scientists of the Basic Income European Network, BIEN, founded in 1986, as well of the USBIG, have more and more demonstrated its rationality.

Last April 29, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, State Secretary Collin Powell answered very positively to Senator George Allen’s question about the proposal of suggesting the Iraqian people to hold a sort of a referendum or plebiscite on whether to follow the example of the Alaska Permanent Fund:

“I think I would bet on it”.

I would like to confirm the invitation of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Brazilian Senate for you to explain to us about your future mission in Iraq.

Sincerely yours,

Senator Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy (PT/SP)

President of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Brazilian Senate