Roberto Savio
From KeyWiki
Roberto Savio (born in Rome) is an Italian/Argentine citizen.
Radical views
Roberto Savio's antipathy toward Western capitalism has emerged several occasions. For instance, in a 1980 interview he expressed great optimism for Southeast Asia now that the United States had withdrawn and "Iiberated the people from all the horrors of capitalism." On Castro's expulsion of the unwanted from Cuba in the Mariel boatlift, Savio said, "I think to send out 200,000 people is a very brilliant solution to the keeping inside of 100,000 opponents." Savio also feels that when conditions require it, "radicalism and extremism become a very valuable way of political committment for a people who feel politically motivated".[1]
Radical connections
KGB agent and onetime director of the Transnational Institute, Orlando Letelier , was a personal friend of Roberto Savio.
Cuban/KGB agent Philip Agee was connected with Inter Press Service through his friend and anti-CIA collaborator Phil Kelly, who served as Inter Press's London bureau chief. Inter Press, like Institute for Policy Studies/Transnational Institute , was involved in a global effort to create a New International Information Order (NIIO), a sister project to the New International Economic Order (NIEO).[2]
Italian Christian Democratic Party
Savio was responsible for the Italian Christian Democratic Party’s relations with developing countries.[3]
Inter Press Service
In 1964 Savio founded the Inter Press Service. Before founding the IPS, Savio was the international press chief for Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro. At the time, he was Director for News Services for Latin America with RAI, Italy’s national broadcaster.[3]
As at Jan. 9, 2008, Savio was listed as the President Emeritus of the Inter Press Service.[4]
ALASEI
In 1984, Savio founded ALASEI, a Latin American features service in Mexico.
Society for International Development
Savio has served as the Secretary General Emeritus of the Society for International Development.[3]
United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization
In 1997 Savio accepted the A.H. Boerma Award from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on behalf of the Inter Press Service. The IPS and the Association of Food and Agriculture Journalists were co-winners of the award that year. At the time Savio was serving as the Director-General of the IPS. In an interview following the prize-giving, Savio reflected on the IPS's rejection of localized solutions to local problems:
- "For IPS the challenge is to show the meaning of each event in a global context. The solutions to the issues that concern IPS - the environment, women, human rights - aren't local; they're all global."
Savio also stated in the interview that the IPS had sided with the FAO for 34 years.[5]
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Savio has been actively involved with international communication issues, introducing the Development Press Bulletin Service Tariff in the UN's [Scientific and Cultural Organization] International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems.[3]
Technological Information Pilot System
Savio founded and was the managing director of the Technological Information Pilot System, a major UN project to implement and foster technological and economic co-operation between developing countries.[3]
Media Watch International
Savio co-founded and is Secretary General of the Media Watch International which is based in Paris.[4][3]
Alliance for a New Humanity
Savio serves as Chairman of the Board for the New York based Alliance for a New Humanity, a foundation with the stated goal of promoting "the culture of peace".[4]
International Labor Organization
In 1999 Savio was appointed Senior Advisor for Strategies and Communication to the Director General of the International Labor Organization.[6]
Council of Europe
Savio served as a member of the Board of Directors for the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe.[3]
World Food Program
In 2000 Savio was appointed as Consultant for Internal Communications Strategy to Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Program.[6]
World Social Forum
Savio has served on the international committee of the World Social Forum since it was created in 2001, and since 2003 he has been coordinator of the 'media, culture and counter-hegemony' thematic area. He has been cited as being probably among the best informed insiders at the Forum.[4] He was a member of the International Committee of the Porto Alegre World Social Forum, coordinator of the "Media, Culture and Counter-Hegemony" thematic area of the third World Forum in 2003.[3] Describing the nature of the forum in 2008, Savio stated:
- "The WSF is not a movement against globalisation; it is a movement against the kind of globalisation which is based only on the values of market and profit. That is a globalisation spawned by the Washington Consensus, the call for a New International Order made in the late eighties by the International Financial Institutions and the U.S. Treasury Department."[4]
Porto Alegre Manifesto
Savio was one of nineteen authors of the Porto Alegre Manifesto which was released at the 2005 World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The following is a list of the authors of the manifesto:
The manifesto endorses such policies as canceling debt for southern countries, outlawing patents for knowledge on living things, the dismantling of all foreign military bases save those of the UN, and the incorporation of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization into the UN.[7]
Instituto sur
Savio serves as an international adviser of the Spanish Foundation, Instituto sur.[3]
Indoamerica
Savio is President of Indoamerica, an Argentine NGO that promotes education in areas suffering social breakdown, in poor areas of Argentina.[8]
Publications
- Verbo America, deals with the cultural identity of Latin America
- Human Rights: The New Concensus
- Bringing two worlds together: Cooperation between journalism and research
External Links
- Inter Press Service website
- Other News website, founded by Savio; distributes daily analysis on international issues
References
- ↑ Covert Cadre, S. Stephen Powell, page 138/9
- ↑ Covert Cadre, S. Stephen Powell, page 139
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 The World Political Forum website: Roberto Savio biography
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 IPS website: Interview with Roberto Savio, Jan. 9, 2008
- ↑ Food and Agriculture Organization website: FAO gives honours for good work, Dec. 19, 1997
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Alliance for a New Humanity website: Roberto Savio biography
- ↑ Keywiki: Porto Alegre Manifesto
- ↑ IPS website: Roberto Savio biography
