-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Soren" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 6:17 AM Subject: (50 Years) PRAGUE DECLARATION - 28 Sep 2000 > PRAGUE DECLARATION > 28 September 2000 > > We, the members of non-governmental and community-based organizations from > different parts of the world, gathered in Prague and signing this statement, > note the unprecedented early suspension of the 2000 annual general meeting > of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Given the > number of scheduled sessions, including meetings with non-governmental > organizations, that will evidently be canceled, the claim that they have > simply finished their business rings hollow. > > We believe that the cancellation of the final day of meetings reflects the > institutions' recognition of their own lack of credibility. Confronted with > vigorous protests from organizations like ours and a refusal to accept the > empty rhetoric of "poverty reduction" and "debt relief" offered in response > to assertions of their responsibility for decades of economic malfeasance, > they have, at last, wisely chosen silence over more lies. > > Our challenge to the right of these institutions and those who control them > to dictate economic policy, largely through the leverage gained through > illegitimate debts, has gone unanswered. Our call for a wholly new global > economic structure, one which mandates not a single model but many choices > for the many peoples of the world, is one that these institutions cannot > accept, or even comprehend. > > We gathered in Prague for an exceptionally broad, inclusive, international > protest against the discriminatory and unjust policies of the IMF and the > World Bank. We oppose the undemocratic and elitist character of both the > institutions and the meetings they hold. > > Our numbers include a great many young activists as well as people from > Central and Eastern Europe who have now inaugurated the movement against > corporate globalization in this region. Our numbers also include protesters > in over 30 other countries, including Bangladesh, South Africa, Argentina, > the United States, France, and India, who staged solidarity actions this > week. > > We came to Prague to act in solidarity with the millions who could not be in > Prague: the impoverished women farmers of Africa, the workers laid off in > Asia, the Pacific and Caribbean islanders denied credit for their > livelihoods, the young women working in Latin American sweatshops. > > We have spent our time in Prague not only protesting, but also discussing > positive, people-centered alternatives to the debt crisis, structural > adjustment programs, corrupt and environmentally devastating infrastructure > projects, and the economic philosophy of development through exploitation of > both the ecology and large majorities of the people in the South and in the > East. > > At the same time we denounce the psychological terror and physical > repression executed by the Czech police forces before and during the > conference of the IMF and World Bank. Their actions, notwithstanding > instances of provocative behavior by a few protesters, have injured dozens > of innocent people and resulted in hundreds of unjustified arrests during > and after the essentially peaceful demonstrations. We express our > solidarity with the hundreds who remain imprisoned, and call for humane > treatment and speedy release of all those detained. We particularly express > our grave concern over reports of brutalization of those held in Czech > prisons. > > We note that the World Bank itself has acknowledged this month that its > policies are failing. Its World Development Report, although subjected to > censorship within the institution, offers a revealing critique of the > growth-centered development philosophy that has long been the Bank's adamant > answer to every question. And its report on the transition economies of the > former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has revealed a tenfold increase in > poverty, from 2% to 21%, a clear indication that the neo-liberal recipe > peddled by the IMF and World Bank has failed yet another entire region of > the globe. > > Given the evidence supplied by the World Bank itself, we would suggest that > it and the IMF, and the commentators who continue to support them, consider > that their calls for more of the same medicine, more of the same > conditionalities, are inadequate. A revolution in economics is called for, > one that returns control of economies to the people who live in them. The > time has come to put economics at the service of the people, rather than > entire societies at the service of economic models that have failed for over > 20 years. > > Our protests in Prague, following those in Melbourne, Okinawa, Geneva, > Chiang Mai, Washington, Seattle, and countless other cities, have again > exposed to the world the contradictions and inadequacies of corporate > globalization, and of the IMF and World Bank. Our protests also echo the > struggles going on today in Bolivia, one of the many places where people > from many sectors have risen up against the local manifestations of the > globalized economy. So long as that model continues to be imposed by the > rich and the powerful, organizations like ours shall continue to protest and > to do everything in our power to expose the plain failures of the system. > Wherever those who have taken upon themselves the power to make decisions > for the global economy will gather, we will be there to witness, to expose, > and to protest. > > Signed*: > > Focus on the Global South - Thailand (Nicola Bullard) > Initiative Against Economic Globalization (INPEG) - Czech Republic (Alice > Dvorska) > 50 Years Is Enough Network - USA (Soren Ambrose) > EuroMarches Against Unemployment - Austria (Leo Gabriel) > ATTAC France (Christophe Aguiton) > Jubilee 2000 South Africa/Jubilee South - South Africa (Dennis Brutus) > Center for Economic & Policy Research - USA (Mark Weisbrot) > Rights Action - USA (Annie Bird) > National Free Union of Students - Germany (Stefan Bienefeld) > Zashita Trade Union / Alternativy Association - Russia (Boris Kagarlitsky) > > > > > *Because of the pressures of time and distance, not all organizations listed > could complete their approval process before issuance of this statement. > Although final approval is expected, the individual(s) present in Prague and > taking part in drafting the statement are listed as provisional signatories. > This statement has been issued rapidly because of its importance and will > remain open to additional endorsements for several days. > > =========================================================== > 50 Years Is Enough Network http://www.50years.org > To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > unsubscribe > in the body of the message. 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