265 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
265 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
BURY THE DEBT
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NOT THE DEAD!
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Against The International Monetary Fund
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INTRODUCTION
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The International Monetary Fund & the World Bank are two
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of the most powerful organisations in the world today.
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Their role is to regulate the worlds economy and in this
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are seen to "generously" provide loans to "developing"
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countries. What this document is intended to do is expose
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the world-wide exploitation these 2 organisations, as a
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mechanism of imperialism, are responsible for.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMF
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Shortly after the second world war, plans for a new world
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trade & world monetary order were prepared in the US.
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These plans were designed to prevent a world economic crisis
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such as in the 1920s, & also to develop the international expansion
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of US capitalism (which as a result of WWII emerged in a strong
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position to ensure this).
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Founded by 44 countries, the IMF & World Bank are complimentary
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organisations; the former responsible for short term balance of
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payment aid, the latter for long term project related aid.
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Without membership in the IMF (which means integration into the
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capitalist system), no admission to the World Bank.
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Without playing by IMF rules, no development aid from the
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World Bank. A classic example of the carrot & stick principle.
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Today, there are 151 member-countries of the IMF. The vast
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majority are located in the Three Continents (Asia, Africa,
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South & Central America), yet these countries have no real
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influence on IMF policies. Instead, to ensure the power of the
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advanced industrial countries (US, Canada, Japan, etc), a quota
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system was devised which, contrary to the usual
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"one vote, one country" system as in UN organisations, grants
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a percentage of votes according to a country's national income,
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gold & foreign exchange reserves, size & fluctuations of
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foreign trade & export dependence. The US share of the total
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quota is 19.9%, followed by the UK with 6.9%. Any change in
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quotas requires an 85% majority!
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IMPACT OF IMF POLICIES
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The main function of the IMF is to provide its members with
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financial aid to cover short-term gaps in their balance of
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payments. Essentially, it is an international organisation
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through which countries of the capitalist north can impose
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their financial & monetary interests, & sometimes other
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interests, on the countries of the Three continents.
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No-where is this clearer than in the IMFs "stabilisation
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programmes" which it forces on countries as a condition
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of repayment. Standard parts of this are ;
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devaluation of national currency, abolition of liberalisation
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of controls on foreign trade (intended to set an export boom
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in motion & bring i foreign exchange), wage cuts, & cuts in
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social programmes (ie health, schools). There is often a
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marked deterioration in the supply of basic materials of the
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poor.
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In historical colonial times, developing countries were
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forced to develop one-sided monocultural export structures.
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The colonies provided agricultural & mineral raw materials
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which were essential for the industrialisation process of the
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metropoles, often under armed force.
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This basic pattern continues today, with the IMF replacing
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the gun-boats. This one-sided orientation towards the
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interests of the imperialist countries has prevented the
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development of food production for domestic requirements.
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The abolition of foreign trade controls creates an opportunity
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for multi-national corporations to gain access to the raw
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materials. The traditional agriculture of countries such as
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Guatemala, El Salvador, Ethiopia, etc. has been destroyed &
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replaced by the growing of cotton, sisal, coffee, cocoa,
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bananas, sugar; all for export. The ecological destruction
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we are seeing of the rainforests in the Three continents
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is directly related to the situation of imperialism. The
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de-forestation also produces dangers for the indigenous
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peoples who live in these areas. Due to land clearing for
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cattle-ranching, cash-crops, mining, dams, & road-building,
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thousands of people are displaced, their traditional live-
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lihoods destroyed & ultimately their very cultures.
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With this comes intensified repression by police, army, and
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paramilitary forces against any resistance, from ecologists
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and indigenous peoples. An even more blatant example of
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what the IMFs function is, is seen in the "debt for exports"
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concept, in which export goods are traded to companies
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who'll take over the balance of payment debts. In 1988 Fiat
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sought permission to accept Brazilian debt in payment for
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cars.
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POLITICS OF THE IMF
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The IMF attaches great importance to its supposedly
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non-political character, arguing that the principle of
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non-discrimination ensures all countries are treated equally
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in the granting and conditions of loans. The IMF states it is
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purely economic. However, not only does it ignore the often
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devastating social & political impacts of its economic policies,
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but its practise tells another story. Chile, during the time
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of socialist president Allende, was refused a stand-by
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agreement after the country was plunged into difficulties by a
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US destabilisation programme.
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After the military coup in 1973, the IMF quickly came to
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agreement with the new fascist Pinochet regime. After the
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Soweto uprising, the IMF gave South Africa a loan of
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US$ 464 million in 1976, a sum almost equal to the increase
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in military expenditure that year. In Nov.1982 the IMF again
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granted S.Africa a loan totalling US$1.1 thousand million,
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even though the UN General Assembly just voted 121 votes
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to 3 aginst IMF aid for Apartheid. With the help of Canada &
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most W.European countries, the US forced the loan through
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with 53% of the vote in the IMF. In 1982 El Salvador received loans
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which caused a sensation because of the generous terms attached;
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no interest rates, subsidies or changes in prices of agricultural
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goods. As late as May 1979, nine weeks before Somozas overthrow,
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the Nicaraguan regime received an IMF credit.
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The forcing through of IMF stabilisation programmes has also
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determined the fate of many gov't.s, leading to their downfall
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because they implement these programmes. With remarkable frequency,
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IMF interventions coincide with military coups; the military
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take-over in Argentina in March 1976- as in 1962- was closely
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connected with negotiations for an IMF stand-by credit. The
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civilian gov't. couldn't force through the IMF demands because
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resistance was too strong. The military took advantage of the
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crisis & took power. It proceeded to crush popular resistance,
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the "dirty war" between 1976-78, & soon reached agreement with the IMF.
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Similiar situations occured in Brazil 1964, Chile & Uruguay 1973,
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Turkey in 1960,71, & 80.
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The unrest following the implementation of IMF policies is well
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known; massive riots, "bread riots", demonstrations, & strikes.
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These are forms of popular resistance against the attempts of
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imperialism to force the poor to pay for the "Debt crisis".
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As we can see, the results of IMF & World Bank, & essentially
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imperialist politics, is millions of people deprived of the
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basis of their subsistence.
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Wimmin are often in the centre of this attack. With the payment
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of a wage to a man, or higher wages for a man, the sexist
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interpretation of what capital recognises as wage-earning
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work shows the patriarchal structuring of society, right
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down to the family unit. This includes the sexuality, the
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birth & raising of children, relationships, cooking, cleaning,
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laundry, shopping. This "housework" is seen as a labour done
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out of love.
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The head of the house, the man, is legally & ideologically
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given control over the family. In this way the power & work
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relations within the family make up the basis of the gender &
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class division. So the exploitation of wimmins work forms an
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integral part of capitalism. But wimmin also face attacks in
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reproduction rights, & on a world scale this is seen as
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"population policy". Abortion restrictions here, & forced
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sterilisation in the Three continents are connected; to
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capital there is "surplus" population in the Three continents,
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where wimmin are frequently used as test cases for new birth-
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control devises, forced sterilisation, & as markets for
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(often defective) pharmaceutical products. We see this in Nestle
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infant formulas (which have thus far caused 3 million infant
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deaths), Ciba-Geigys' preparations Mexaform & Enterofrom
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(for acute diarrhea, both products contain Clioquinol, which
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leads to a serious nerve ailment called Smon), as well as
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birth control pills 20 times stronger than those on the
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market in N.America.
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Gene technology is increasingly being applied to the
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Three continents, & not only in the agribusiness.
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There are also measures to reduce the population; forced
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sterilisation programmes, birth control injections effective
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for 3 months at a time. Here, they call abortion
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"murder of an unborn life", in the Three continents they talk
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of "overpopulation".
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This "overpopulaton", as defined by capital, means
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"too many mouths to feed", "smaller profits", & a greater
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potential for unrest. This "overpopulation" is directly connected
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to such institutions as the IMF & World Bank. The family,
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in the Three continents becomes a means of survival, & when
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one in four children die before age five, you produce
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more children to work in the fields, to gather food.
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Neither famine nor poverty are natural. On the contrary,
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they are the result of world imperialist policies, in which
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the IMF & World Bank have a key function.
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CANADA
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Canadian involvement in the IMF & World Bank seems small
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in comparison to the United States, but this has more to do
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with economic status. Canada has contributed to the development
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of the IMF since day one. It has a vote quota of 3.2%, the
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6th largest. All its major banking institutions; Canadian Imperial
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Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion, Bank of Montreal, National Bank
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of Canada, & Bank of Nova Scotia, are engaged in the business of
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the IMF & World Bank. Last year, 1988, most of these banks were
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selling off their loans to corporations & investors. The Toronto-
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Dominion sold $780 million of loans to less developed countries,
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& swapped $308 million of Mexican loans for bonds in that country.
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The Bank of Montreal did not participate in this swap citing the
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pricing wasn't "adequate". These banks have billions of dollars
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loaned to countries in the Three continents.
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CONCLUSION
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The response from most groups opposed to the IMF policies has been
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a call for 'debt cancellation' or re-negotiation of payments.
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This may mean a temporary breathing space, but new mechanisms will
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replace the old ones. Recent statements made by bankers, such as at
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last years congress in W.Berlin, show that negotiations on
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re-payment, or partial cancellations, are quite compatible with
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IMF & World Bank policies in the long term.
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As can be seen, the interests of many seemingly diverse groups
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(ecological, anti-racist/anti-apartheid, anti-patriarchal,
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anti-capitalist, Central American solidarity groups, indigenous
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peoples, etc) are present in the struggle against imperialism,
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embodied in two of the most powerful organisations in the
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capitalist world; the IMF and World Bank. The real challenge
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aginst the IMF & World Bank lies in these movements, & the
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liberation struggles of many of the countries in the Three
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continents where revolutionary struggles are now being fought;
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but only if we develop strong anti-imperialist politics.
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Because the structures & methods of imperialism are international,
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our resistance must also be international.
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MAKE THE STRUGGLE AGAINST CAPITALISM
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AUTONOMOUS!
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THE STRUCTURES OF IMPERIALISM ARE
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INTERNATIONAL- MAKE THE RESISTANCE
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WORLDWIDE!
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SOURCE
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REFERENCES:
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----------
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IMF & The Debt Crisis, Zed Books.
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Autonomous Groups Days of Action
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Against the IMF & World Bank Congress in
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West Berlin 1988
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Globe & Mail Sept. 1988, Business
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Vancouver Sun, Sept. 14 1989
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Turning The Tide, Noam Chomsky
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Dollars & Dictators Grove Press
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We have copies of the Autonomous Groups in West
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Berlin Anti-IMF document, for a copy
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send $3ppd to; Autonomedia
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A-5 1720 Douglas
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Victoria, BC V8W 2G7
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Canada
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This document was written in 1989 by Endless Struggle.
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