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7 December 2007
Bank of the South
Second open letter to the Presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela
FOR A BANK OF THE SOUTH FOCUSED ON A MATRIX OF SOVEREIGNTY, SOLIDARITY,
SUSTAINABILITY AND INTEGRATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONTINENT
Dear Mr. Presidents,
We are addressing you for the second time to express the high
expectations created in our peoples on the initiative to establish a
Bank of the South. We are also encouraged by the positive response of
other countries of South America who have manifested their wish to
participate in the Bank of the South.
Signatories are from social networks, organizations and movements,
labour unions and professionals who are fighting against the scourge of
illegitimate public debt and the twisted policies and practices of the
existing international financial institutions and the current global
trade system. We are sure that the decision to establish a Bank of the
South can be a significant big step and an opportunity not only for
South America, but for the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean, as
also other regions of the Southern Hemisphere.
We come from a recent history of struggle against dictatorships in
almost the whole continent. This explains our determination to open and
institute new spaces for participation and direct democracy. However,
the not very transparent and non participative way in which the
negotiations on the establishment of the Bank of the South are being
carried forward, without public debate and without consultation with our
societies, can indicate that we are facing something that could turn out
to be more of the same.
It is our conviction that a new South-South financial entity should be
focused not only on going beyond the negative experiences of economic
opening , with always the same consequence of higher indebtedness and
capital drainage, deregulation and privatization of the public patrimony
and basic services suffered by the region; but also beyond the
well-known non-democratic, non-transparent , regressive and discredited
behaviour of multilateral bodies such as the World Bank, the CAF, the
IADB and the IMF. Our recent history has shown that the latter’s choice
of economic, social, and environmental policies imposed on our
governments through conditionalities, have ended in the decapitalization
and deindustrialization of the region’s economies, and have imprisoned
these in the agro-mineral-exporter model that stops their development
and deepens their subordination to the North economies, while worsening
social inequity, ecological damage and the “eternal” financial,
historic, social, cultural, and ecological debts.
Knowing how important it is for the countries involved in the
establishment of the Bank of the South to reach an agreement upon key
issues related to its nature and objectives, and its financial and
operational structure, we think it is essential for us to pose the
following proposals that express the aspirations of ample sectors of our
countries’ societies, according to what was clearly manifested by their
main representatives consulted:
1. That the focus of the Bank of the South should be in promoting a new
development framework whose essential values be the sovereignty of our
peoples on their territory and their own development; a responsible
self-determination on our economic, social, and environmental policies;
on solidarity, sustainability, and ecological justice; that for the Bank
economic and technological development be conceived as a means for the
superior goal which is human and social development.
2. That the action of the Bank of the South be guided by concrete goals
such as full employment with dignity, ensuring food, heath and housing,
universalization of basic public and free education, a redistribution of
riches overcoming inequity, even gender and ethnic ones, reducing
greenhouse effect gases and their effects on the continent’s population
and the other peoples of the south.
3. That the Bank of the South be an integral part of a new
Latin-American and Caribbean financial architecture which includes a
South Fund with the functions of a Continental Central Bank capable of
articulating a great continental payment system with a state of the art
telematics platform; capable of linking the policies which promote
macroeconomic stability with development and reduction of structural
asymmetries policies; and which considers a development in the future of
a common monetary system at the service of a strategy which strengthens
economic and commercial ties within the region, introducing trade
interchange with national currencies, and working towards the
establishment of a regional currency at least for intraregional
interchanges. The building of a space for supranational monetary and
financial sovereignty demands a lot of local flexibility to avoid sub
imperialist temptations, and the victory of monetarist orthodoxy in some
aspects as those in recent the European experience.
.4. That the Bank of the South be useful to recover the values related
to historic, social and ecological debts of which our peoples are
creditors. That its financing be oriented towards going beyond the
social asymmetries and inequities, and the ecological damage perpetrated
in the continent for more the five centuries.
5. That the Bank of the South consider the participation of citizen
organizations and social movements, no only in the development of its
original architecture but also in financial and operational decision
making, and in the monitoring of the use given to the funds awarded.
6. That the Bank of the South implements its management in an
egalitarian way among its member countries, instituting and keeping the
egalitarian principle of “one associate one vote” in all levels of
collegiate decisions, and that it aspires to channel regional savings in
the region.
7. That capital subscriptions of the Bank of the South be proportional
to the capability of the economy of its member countries; that other
sources of capitalization may include part of international reserves and
loans from member countries, global taxes and donations. Financial
resources from the present multilateral financial institutions and from
states that have plundered our continent should be excluded. That these
dispositions of the Bank of the South may allow an increasing growth in
putting member countries’ reserves out of the sphere of the dollar and
the euro, and encourage the return of national capitals deposited abroad.
8. That the Bank of the South be committed to transparency in its
administration, settling public account for its functioning and
activities, submitting to permanent external audits of its loans and its
internal functioning with social participation.
9. For the Bank of the South not to become “more of the same”, the
quality, austerity and management efficiency must be permanently
evaluated, forbidding any kind of immunity privileges to its officials,
and based on the maximum in time transparent reporting, and the
democratic and social control of its management. To avoid excessive
expenditures and bureaucratic deviations a small body of simultaneously
diversified, efficient, effective and managerially polyvalent officials
must be designated.
.10. That the loans be destined to the promotion of a genuinely
cooperative regional integration, based on principles such as active
subsidiarity, proportionality and complementarities; financing of public
investment projects; paying attention to self-managing local
development, and promoting equitable and solidarity commercial exchanges
between family farmers, small producers, the cooperative sector and
social solidarity economy, indigenous and traditional communities and
women’s, fishermen’s, workers’, identity etc. socioeconomic organizations.
11. That the Bank of the South adopts as investment priority those
projects oriented towards food and energy sovereignty; research and
development of appropriate technologies for an endogenous and
sustainable development of the region, including free software; the
programmed and complementary production of generic medicines; the
recovery of ancestral wisdom, systematized and accepted as an agro
ecologic science; the promotion of environmental justice; the
improvement of public services: support to victims of forced
displacements; promotion of communications and intraregional culture;
the creation of a University of the South and an equivalence system for
diplomas issued in all the region: infrastructure starting from other
logics of space organization instrumented by communities for local
solidarity and self-management development. That the bank should not
reproduce the financing model of present day international financial
institutions with the construction of mega-projects that damage the
environment and biodiversity.
12. The Bank of the South must be considered an essential tool for the
custody and channelling of savings, breaking the repeated cycles of
collection of the national and regional efforts through manoeuvres and
suspicious deals with indebtedness and public titles, subsidies to
privileged and/or corrupted private local and international economic and
financial groups, and a permanent guarantee to the speculative movements
of capital entry and outflow.
We understand that all the above is in keeping with what was emphasized
in the Ministerial Statement of Quito, on May 8, pointing that: “The
peoples have given their governments the mandate to provide the region
with new instruments of integration for development which must be based
on a democratic, transparent, participative, and accountable to their
citizens’ design”.
We are worried about the postponements in the signature of the founding
act, which could indicate the existence of significant unresolved
issues. We hope that in the negotiations to overcome these unresolved
issues, the proposals presented in this setter will be taken into account.
The current regional and international economic and financial situation
is still favourable to give concrete steps in this direction, but it may
not last. We trust in that you will take advantage of this historic
possibility to create what could turn into a real Solidarity Bank of the
peoples of the South.
Yours sincerely,
November 2007
Sign up writing to Jubilé Sud - Américas : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
and Jorge Marchini : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
FIRST SIGNATORIE’S ORGANISATIONS:
LATIN AMERICA AND CARAIBS
Regionals :
Alianza Social Continental (ASC)
Consejo Latinoamericano de las Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO)
Convergencia de Movimientos Populares de América (COMPA)
Grito de los Excluidos/as Mesoamericano.
Jubileo Sur/Américas
Justicia, Paz e Integridad de la Creación (JUPIC)
Observatorio Internacional de la Deuda en América Latina (OID)
Organización Caribeña y Latinoamericana de Estudiantes (OCLAE)
Programa de Incidencia sobre Deuda Externa Ilegítima, Federación
Luterana Mundial
Red latinoamericana sobre Deuda, Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo (LATINDADD)
Red Solidaria por los Derechos Humanos REDH
Servicio Paz y Justicia en América Latina (SERPAJ-AL)
Sociedad Latinoamericana de Economía Política (SEPLA)
Nationals:
Argentina
ATTAC
Convocatoria No al CIADI, Sí a la Soberanía
Diálogo 2000
Espacio No-Deuda; Federación Judicial Argentina (FJA)
Mate Amargo
Museo Che Guevara
Movimiento por la Paz, la Soberanía y la Solidaridad (MOPASSOL)
Multisectorial de Solidaridad con Cuba
Movimiento por la Soberanía y la Integración de los Pueblos (MoSIP)
MoSIP- Lanús; Periódico El Espejo
Bolivia:
Red de Mujeres y Minería
El grito de los excluidos
Movimiento Boliviano por la Soberanía y la Integración Solidaria de los
Pueblos
Brazil :
PACS
Red Jubileu Sul Brasil
Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos
Rede Brasil sobre Instituciones Financieras Multilaterales
Esplar, Centro de Pesquisa e Assessoria
Sodireitos - Sociedade de Defesa dos Direitos Sexuais na Amazônia
Enquanto E-Changer/Brasil
Fórum de Mulheres da Amazônia Paraense – FMAP
FASE/AM (Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional)
Fórum da Amazônia Oriental – FAOR
Cáritas
Centro Acadêmico Josué de Castro
Canada:
Common Frontiers
Colombia:
Federación de Prosumidores Agroecológicos "agrosolidaria”; Kihili zafra
kunturpillku khamaqshiani
REMTE- Red Latino-americana de Mujeres Trasnfomrando la Economia
Cuba:
Centro Memorial Martin Luther King Jr.
Equateur:
OCLAE; Jubileo 2000-Red Guayaquil
Grupo Nacional de la Deuda
Andres Mendoza Reynoso Proyecto Comunitario Bastion Popular
El Salvador:
Red de Acción Ciudadana frente al Comercio e Inversión, SINTI TECHAN
Guatemala:
Mesa Global
Haití:
PAPDA-Haití
Honduras:
Bloque Popular
Coordinadora Nacional de Resistencia Popular
Nicaragua:
Centro de Estudios Internacionales
Paraguay:
Iniciativa Paraguaya por la Integración de los Pueblos - Capítulo
Paraguayo de la ASC
SOBREVIVENCIA/Amigos de la Tierra
Perou:
Marcha Mundial de Mujeres
Venezuela:
Cátedra sobre Desarrollo Humano Hernán Méndez Castellano, de la UCV
FSBT, Fuerza Socialista Bolivariana de los Trabajadores/as; Movimiento
de Trabajadores "Alfredo Maneiro”
Nuevo Sur SUDACA
Coalición de Tendencias Clasistas
Manuelita Sáenz (MOMUMAS)
FETRAELEC
FEDEPETROL
SINUTRAPETROL
FETRAHIDROCARBUROS
FENASIRTRASALUD
FENTRASEP
FETRATEL
FENATRABEA
FETRAHARINA
FETRAUVE
FENATRAU
FENASINPRES
SINAFUM
FENACS
SINASOICA
SUTIC
SOVICA
SINTRAT
SUTRADIMECA
SUNEP-ME
SUNEP-IPASME
SUNEP-INAM
SUNTRASANAF
SINTRADELI
SINTRAVISEP
SINTRAPEL
VENECARTOREN
SINTRAGALLETA
SIPROPASTA
SINSBOLTRAPROEFE
SUNTRASAVIR
SITRAMECA
HOSPITALES Y CLINICAS
SINTRAHARINA
MANPA
SINTRAEM
SINTRAPLASTICO
SITRALACASA
OSPROTRABODIGAS
SINTRAFERROMINERA
OUSINTRAEXTRUTEX
USINTRAEMBUTIDOS
SIUT-MINFRA
SUNTRAUNELLEZ
ATAUSIBO SITRAUNERG
SINTRABECO
SINBOTRAEMELEC
SINTRAVALORES
SUNTRABMERCAL
SINATRACIBI
Other parts of the world signatures:
Comité por la Abolición de la Deuda del Tercer Mundo (CADTM)
Jubilee South
Noviolencia International, Washington, DC, Estados Unidos
International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development
Migrant CARE Jakarta Indonesia
FODEX, República Democrática del Gongo
Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), India
Alianza Internacional de los Habitantes
Asociación A Sud – ITALIA
India - World Bank Tribunal’ network., India
CADTM Senegal
CADTM Francia
CADTM Suiza
CADTM Lubumbashi (RD Congo)
APASH Congo Brazzaville
RNDD Níger
VAK India
CADTM Pakistan
ATTAC Morocco
KENGO Kenia
AGAS Siria
CAD Mali
Individuals signatures:
Laura Interlandi, Argentina
Pedro Peretti, Secretario adj coprofam, Secretario RRII FAA, Argentina
Cristina Castello Poeta y periodista, Argentina
Antognazzi Irma. Directora del Grupo de Trabajo Hacer la Historia. Argentina
Raquel Abourachid, Argentina
Rev. Fred Morris, Presidente [EMAIL PROTECTED] da Fe das Americas, Chile
Marta Harnecker, escritora, Chile
Jesuita Pedro Marchetti, Honduras
Andrés Thomas Conteris - Director, Programa de las Américas
Noviolencia International, Washington, DC
Julio Escalona, cordinador Cátedra sobre Desarrollo Humano Hernán Méndez
Castellano, de la UCV , Venezuela
Luis Guilhermo Pérez - FIDH (Federação Internacional de Direitos Humanos)
Socorro Damasceno - Sindsaúde (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Saúde) –
Brasil
Walter Baior – Transtorm, Brasil
Joana P. E. - FEPS/PA (Fórum de Economia Popular Solidária, Brasil.
Socorro Pereira – ASWOP, Brasil
Maria Luisa Mendonça - Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos. Brasil
Nasir Mansoor - CADTM (Comitê pela Anulação da Dívida do Terceiro Mundo)
Pakistan
Bonfond Olivier - CADTM (Comité por Anulaión de la Deuda del Tercer
Mundo) Bélgica
Jean Michel Aupoint - UTG (União dos Trabalhadores Guianenses) y OGDH
(Organisation Guinéenne des Droits de l’Homme) Brasil
Joel Suárez - CMMLK (Centro Memorial Martin Luther King Jr.) Cuba
Cândido Grzybowski, Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais Económicas,
Brasil
Hector de la Cueva - RMALC/ASC
Dário Bossi -Missionários Colombianos, Colombia
Roseli Macedo Silva - CMP (Central dos Movimentos Populares) Brasil José
Paulo Guedes Pinto - ATTAC Brasil
Antonia Soares Salgado - Marcha Mundial das Mulheres – Brasil
Maria Luiza de Carvalho Nunes - Centro de Estudos e Defesa do Negro no
Pará-Brasil
Atilio A. Boron, , Argentina
Dr. Carlos Marichal, Mejico
Eduardo Letelier, Cetsur, Chile
Andres Mendoza Reynoso Proyecto Comunitario Bastion Popular, Ecuador
Jorge Castañeda Zavala, Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. J. M. Luís
Mora, México D.F.
Pedro Marchetti, S.J.Instituto Centroamericano de Espiritualidad
Juan A. Krzanowski, Argentina
Eduardo Letelier Economista CETSUR, Chile
Diego Castellanos (Venezuela) ex- Presidente del Banco Central de Venezuela
Eric Toussaint (Bélgica) Doctor en Historia. Presidente del Comité por
la Abolición de la Deuda Externa (CADTM)
Jorge Marchini ( Argentina) Profesor Titular de Economía (UBA),
Coordinador del Observatorio Internacional de la Deuda (OID)
François Houtart, prof. em. d l´Universite Catholique de Louvain
Maria Alice de Paula Santos (Brasil)– Fórum Estadual de Educação de
Jovens e Adultos
Meriem Choukroun ( Argentina)- periodista
Eduardo Lucita (Argentina). EDI-Economistas de Izquierda, Revista
Cuadernos del Sur
Daniel Baigorria (Argentina) Docente de Economía (UBA)
Eric Berr, economista, Francia
Alexander Buzgalin, prof universidad Moscu, Alternativy
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