>From: "Ulhas Joglekar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >31 January 2000 > >Cuba is free of IMF, says Castro >HAVANA: Socialist Cuba has survived US pressure and recession because it >stands apart from ``chaotic'' global capitalism and thus escaped the >International Monetary Fund (IMF) ``executioner,'' President Fidel Castro >said. >Castro said that Cuba's freedom from the IMF meant that it could endure 40 >years of hostility from the United States, including a trade embargo and a >severe economic crisis triggered by the collapse of the Soviet bloc after >1990. >Castro gave the speech Friday night but excerpts were published Saturday by >Cuban news agencies. >``We were able to survive because we don't belong to the IMF,'' the >73-year-old Cuban leader told economists at a ''Globalization and >Development Problems'' conference in Havana. >Castro said Cuba, by maintaining state ownership and control of its economy >and a socialist system of distribution, had been better protected against >the financial shocks that have shaken the increasingly globalized world >economic system. >As Cuba has no stock market and all its banks are in state hands, it >suffered none of the capital flight that hit developing nations in the >1998/1999 world financial crisis. >``Not a single dollar escapes in our country,'' he said. >Castro suggested the world could learn from this. >``The ideal thing would be not that Cuba should join the process of >globalization, but that globalization should join Cuba,'' he said. >Castro slammed the Washington-based IMF as ``the executioner which pulls the >string so that the guillotine's blade falls on the heads of Third World >nations.'' He was referring to the IMF's tough economic reform programs for >developing countries. >``We are not dependent in any degree of any international institution,'' >Castro added, noting that Cuba did not belong to the World Bank either. >He described the IMF as the ``backbone'' of the current globalized economic >system, which he said was ``unsustainable''. ''The world is a colossal >madness and chaos reigns,'' he added. >The Cuban leader said that Cuba's economic model had ''worked'' and that 40 >years of socialist revolution had made the country ``extraordinarily >powerful''. >``We've had the privilege of seeing 10 U.S. governments grow old while >waiting for Cuba's revolution to collapse,'' he said. >``We've spent 40 years sharing out our wealth as fairly as possible,'' he >added, referring to a subsidized state rationing system which provides >Cubans with minimum basic foodstuffs with mixed success. >Cuba says its economy is now emerging from recession and announced gross >domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.2 percent for 1999. Cuban officials said >this had been achieved largely through an improved sugar crop and continued >tourism growth. >But some foreign analysts feel the growth figure given is too high and say >the island still faces serious problems. >Castro said Cuba could not live in ``a crystal vase'' and said the country >had made ``openings,'' such as allowing in foreign tourism and investment >over the last decade. >But he made clear this process had clear limits determined by national >interest. ``Our opening is designed by hand and occupies just the space that >most suits the country,'' he said.(Reuters) > >For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service >|Disclaimer| >For comments and feedback send Email >Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 1999. > > __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
