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Earlier this week at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jubilee South held an International People’s Tribunal on the Debt, where the judges found that the $1.8 trillion in debt is illegitimate and should be unconditionally cancelled. They also found the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other lenders guilty of genocide. Jubilee South calls on developing countries to repudiate this illegitimate debt, and simply not repay it. In fact, they argue it is the global North that owes the South an enormous debt for centuries of economic, social and environmental exploitation.
The UN’s 1997 Human Development Report estimates that if the debts of the twenty poorest countries had been cancelled in 1997, the money released for basic healthcare could have saved the lives of about 21 million children by the year 2000, the equivalent of 19,000 children a day.
Recent events in Argentina demonstrate clearly that the IMF forces bad economic advice on struggling countries. Former World Bank chief economist Joseph Steiglitz has publicized internal World Bank documents showing that they know that their policies will lead to social and economic chaos. Beverly Keene of Argentina tells how domestic economic policies in developing countries are sent via fax from Washington, DC, and sometimes never even translated into local languages.
What can you do? The World Bank Bonds Boycott seeks to cut public funding for this genocidal agency. Support the work of organizations in the global South like the Alternative Information & Development Centre and INSAAF International.
"Life and Debt," Stephanie Black's film about the impact of debt and globalization on Jamaica, is at the Nuart for a one-week run, Feb 8-14. If you missed the Indymedia benefit showing, be sure to catch it at the Nuart, and tune in to Radio IMC-LA on Monday at 4pm to hear an interview with panelist Hanna Petros. | Life & Debt film info | World Bank Bonds Boycott ]
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