Prepared by Eric Toussaint, Committee for the Cancellation of the Third World Debt (CADTM/COCAD), at the invitation of "Fondation France Libertés" Campaign "In Defence A coalition of left parties, trade unions, civic and church groups has launched a campaign against the neoliberal policies of the Cardoso government and the IMF. Mark Johnson The campaign is a response to the severe economic current crisis. "Inflation is rocketing, the exchange rate out of control, national and international capital is fleeing from Brazil, unemployment at an all-time high, and interest rates higher than for a decade," reports Linha Direta, newspaper of the Workers Party (PT) in Rio Grande do Sul state. "During the last elections, [President] Fernando Cardoso said this 24 International Viewpoint #312 June 1999
The repayment of external debts and their linked adjustment policies undermine people's economic, social and political rights. Measures going to the root of the problem are required.
1. It was in 1982 that the debt crisis of the developing countries (to which could be added the former Soviet block countries) first became apparent. Since then, the indebted countries have repaid in full several times over what they owed in the early 80s to their various creditors: private financial institutions, governments of the leading industrialized countries and multilateral financial of Brazil" would be the future, if [PT leader] Lula da Silva was elected. Less than one month after Cardoso's reelection, this catastrophic scenario has become reality." "This is our country"
Launching the "Defending Brazil" campaign in Porto Allegre on 25 March, PT president Lula da Silva denounced the fact that "the Brazilian economy is no longer in the hands of the Brazilian government. The new president of the Banco do Brasil is a French-born specialist in preparing companies for privatisation! In the last month we've had two changes at the head of the Central Bank. The new President, Armino Fraga, is a former employee of the global speculator George Soros!
de re pu cO in pei the
Sa
An
Bu gro ar institutions (the World Bank and the the
IMF). The figures are common dur knowledge. To put them into perspective:
ear between 1982, when the Third World ap!
debt crisis first appeared, and 1998, the pol indebted countries repaid over four times pro lon what they had owed at the beginning of the crisis.
Nevertheless, by the end of that period, their debts too had been multiplied by four. Rather than allow the debt crisis to bring about the cessation repayments, with the resulting difficult for creditors, the World Bank and
IMF, with the support of the leadin industrialized countries, imposed str tural adjustment programmes.