>From: John Clancy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: SIGN-ON demands by IMF, World Bank. Liberia >Status: > >From: Michael Dolan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2000 11:06 AM >Subject: SIGN-ON: Demands to the IMF > > >> This is a call for endorsements of demands that 50 Years Is Enough >Network> is making to the World Bank and IMF in relation to their >semi-annual> meetings in April. We encourage broad circulation and >sign-ons by > ORGANIZATIONS supporting the mobilization and/or who >support global > socio-economic justice. Please return it to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > >> PLEASE DO NOT SEND RESPONSES TO THIS LISTSERV! > > 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice > >> OUR DEMANDS OF THE IMF AND WORLD BANK > March/April 2000 > >> On the occasion of the first meetings of the governing bodies of >the > International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the 21st >century, we call > for the immediate suspension of the policies and >practices that have caused > widespread poverty, inequality and >suffering among the world's peoples and > damage to the world's >environment. We assert the responsibility of these > anti-democratic >institutions, together with the World Trade Organization, > for an >unjust world economic system. We note that these institutions are > >controlled by wealthy governments, and that their policies have >benefited > international private sector financiers, transnational >corporations, and > corrupt officials. > >> We issue this call in the name of global justice, in solidarity >with the > peoples of the Global South and the former "Soviet bloc" >countries who > struggle for survival and dignity in the face of >unjust, imperialistic > economic policies. We stand in solidarity >too with the millions in the > wealthy countries of the Global North >who have borne the burden of > "globalization" policies and been >subjected to policies that mirror those > imposed on the South. > >> Only when the coercive powers of the international financial >institutions > are rescinded shall governments be accountable first >and foremost to the > will of their peoples. Only when a system that >allocates power chiefly to > the wealthiest nations for the purpose >of dictating the policies of the > poorer ones is reversed shall >nations and their peoples be able to forge > bonds - economic and >otherwise - based on mutual respect and the common > needs of the >planet and its inhabitants. Only when integrity is restored to > >economic development, and both the corrupter and the corrupted held > >accountable, shall the people begin to have confidence in the >decisions that > affect their communities. Only when the well-being >of all, including the > most vulnerable people and ecosystems, is >given priority over corporate > profits shall we achieve genuine >sustainable development and create a world > of justice, equality, >and peace where fundamental human rights, including > social and >economic rights, can be respected. > >> With these ends in mind, we make the following demands of those >meeting in > Washington April 16-19, 2000 for the semi-annual >meetings of the World Bank > and the International Monetary Fund: > >> 1. That the IMF and World Bank cancel all debts owed them. Any >funds > required for this purpose should come from positive net >capital and assets > held by those institutions. > >> 2. That the IMF and World Bank immediately cease imposing the >economic > austerity measures known as structural adjustment and/or >other macroeconomic > "reform," which have exacerbated poverty and >inequality, as conditions of > loans, credits, or debt relief. This >requires both the suspension of those > conditions in existing >programs and an abandonment of any version of the > Heavily Indebted >Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative which is founded on the > concept of >debt relief for policy reform. > >> 3. That the IMF and World Bank accept responsibility for the >disastrous > impact of structural adjustment policies by paying >reparations to the > peoples and communities who have borne that >impact. These funds should come > from the institutions' positive >net capital and assets, and should be > distributed through >democratically-determined mechanisms. > >> 4. That the World Bank Group pay reparations to peoples relocated >and > otherwise harmed by its large projects (such as dams) and >compensate > governments for repayments made on projects which World >Bank evaluations > rank as economic failures. A further evaluation >should determine which > World Bank projects have failed on social, >cultural, and environmental > grounds, and appropriate compensation >paid. The funds for these payments > should come from the >institutions' positive net capital and assets, and > should be >distributed through democratically-determined mechanisms. > >> 5. That the World Bank Group immediately cease providing advice >and > resources through its division* devoted to private-sector >investments to > advance the goals associated with corporate >globalization, such as > privatization and liberalization, and that >private-sector investments > currently held be liquidated to provide >funds for the reparations demanded > above. > >> 6. That the agencies and individuals within the World Bank Group >and IMF > complicit in abetting corruption, as well as their >accomplices in borrowing > countries, be prosecuted, and that those >responsible, including the > institutions involved, provide >compensation for resources stolen and damage > done. > >> 7. That the future existence, structure, and policies of >international > institutions such as the World Bank Group and the IMF >be determined through > a democratic, participatory and transparent >process. The process must > accord full consideration of the >interests of the peoples most affected by > the policies and >practices of the institutions, and include a significant > role for >all parts of civil society. > >> The accession to these demands would require the institutions' >directors to > accept and act on the need for fundamental >transformation. It is possible > that the elimination of these >institutions will be required for the > realization of global >economic and political justice. > >> We commit to work towards the defunding of the IMF and World Bank >by > opposing further government allocations to them (in the form of >either > direct contributions or the designation of collateral) and >supporting > campaigns such as a boycott of World Bank bonds until >these demands have > been met. > >> *The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a division of the >World Bank > Group. Also included is the Multilateral Investment >Guaranty Agency (MIGA), > which insures private investments in >Southern countries. > > >> SIGNED: > >> 50 Years Is Enough Network >> Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) - Cape Town, >South> Africa >> Anti Debt Coalition - Indonesia >> Campaign Against Neo-Liberalism in South Africa (CANSA) - > Johannesburg,> South Africa >> Campaign for Labor Rights - Washington, DC >> Ecumenical Support Services - Harare, Zimbabwe >> Focus on the Global South - Bangkok, Thailand >> Food First - Oakland, CA (USA) >> Freedom from Debt Coalition - Manila, Philippines >> Global Exchange - San Francisco, CA (USA) >> Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project - Washington, > DC >> Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign - London, UK >> Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign (USA) - Pittsburgh, PA >> Jubilee 2000 South Africa - Cape Town, South Africa >> Kenya Action Network - Washington, DC (USA) >> Kenya Human Rights Commission - Nairobi, Kenya >> LALIT - Port Louis, Mauritius >> Nicaragua Network - Washington, DC (USA) >> NICCA - Oakland, CA (USA) >> Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt & Development - Harare, Zimbabwe > > --- >Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ >Imperialism NO! Venceremos! >Information and discussion about Cuba. >Discussion of the path of Ernesto Che Guevara. > >--- >The race is on! We've got the most comprehensive elections coverage >for women. Get your election updates at >http://click.egroups.com/1/1877/0/_/30563/_/952882426/ > >-- Talk to your group with your own voice! >-- http://www.egroups.com/VoiceChatPage?listName=cubasi&m=1" JC > > *********** >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Guardian Weekly…March 2 - 8, 2000 > > "Distant points reference that cost Liberians dear." >Monrovia diary. By Victoria Brittain > >On the verandah of the Lebanese-owned hotel the accountant and one of >the owner's innumerable cousins quarrel quietly in Arabic over the >click of backgammon counters. In the courtyard below not-so-young >Americans in cowboy hats and high boots roar in and out on oversized >motorbikes. On the beach across the road a group of small boys comes >out in the cool of every evening to do exercises on the empty beach. >As the sun sinks behind the palm trees into the sea Liberia can feel >just like any other country. > >But this is a country that has just lost half a century of >development in the seven-year civil war, according to an official >report carried out for the government of Liberia. It is not much more >than half a century since Graham Greene wrote his Journey Without >Maps after walking through Liberia, driven by a desire for an Africa >that was not the Europeanised East Africa of Kenya or Rhodesia, and >by an obsession with the continent’s shape... "the shape of a heart". > >Greene found in his remote villages and among his porter’s "only >gentleness, kindness, an honesty that one would not have found or at >least dared to assume was there, in Europe". > > The lost half-century of development has brought back the remoteness >of the interior, as state infrastructure collapsed during the war, >many villages are deserted, and Liberians talk of themselves not as >gentle or kind, but as bewilderingly violent. "We did not know that >Liberians were so bitter, so ready to destroy each other for >nothing," said one. "Why did we do it?" said another, referring less >to the killing of presidents that gave Liberia notoriety abroad, but >to the violent destruction of a factional war of personalities that >had left no family unscathed when it ended three years ago. > > No one has an answer. Certainly not the elected president, Charles >Taylor, once the leader of the feared factional army. > > The whit elephants of failed development and influence-buying are >everywhere in downtown Monrovia: the broken, looted, 10-storey block >built by the Libyans as a business centre, the vast unfinished >ministry of defence built by the Israelis, an unfinished high-rise >ministry of health built by the Chinese. > > In contrast is the large and newly painted prestigious ministry of >foreign affairs. Here Liberia’s foreign policy is made. This week >President Taylor is making a state visit to what Liberia calls the >Republic of China meaning Taiwan. This curious relationship dates >back to the cold war, when Liberia was key to United States policy in >West Africa, when it was the first country in Africa to open >diplomatic relations with Israel, and hosted a vast US listening >station. Firestone, the US Rubber Company, was the backbone of the >economy. > >The US is the first, and in many cases the only, reference point >for Liberians. 'None of us is much interested in other African >countries, we just like to go to the US;' said one man. The freed >slaves from the US who founded the republic 150 years ago came with a >sense of superiority and mission to civilize Africans. It was not a >recipe for harmony. And though Liberia is a deeply religious country, >church leaders did not impose peace on the warlords any more than the >political class did. > >Today’s peace was imposed by neighboring countries in which >Liberians profess so little interest. The West African peacekeeping >force of Nigerians and Ghanaians fought the factions to a standstill. >The Nigerians then removed from circulation in Monrovia to exile in >Nigeria ambitious rival faction leaders who might have chosen not to >accept the election and instead been ready to recruit the child >soldiers again and start another round of senseless civil war." JC > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
