Source:
CADTM
Mon Oct 02 2006
The First International Symposium on "Public Debt, Citizen Auditing and Investment and Savings Alternatives for Latin American Peoples" was held in Caracas on 22-24 September 2006 with the participation of lecturers from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Peru and Venezuela. It gave rise to an analysis of the new economic and financial conditions of Latin America, to the presentation of reports on the progress of initiatives and instances of citizen audits, and to a debate and reflection on the historical experiences of social movements in the mobilization and actions against payment of a huge illegitimate debt that jeopardizes the future of the region.
Southern peoples are not debtors but creditors holding immensurable historical, social, economic and ecological debts owed by the North. This is the reason for the repudiation of external and internal debts and the mechanisms of their perverse dynamics which thus subjugate public policies to private privileges, budgetary exemptions, siphoning and handing out of national assets, whose burden in terms of payments and adjustments result in the postponement of social demands and public investment in basic infrastructure.
In recent decades, Latin American and Caribbean countries have gone through repeated cycles of financial boom and subsequent disaster, which have strongly marked the regressive evolution of peoples’ living standards, labor and development. Every financial surge has been accompanied by assertions that are similar to those currently heard about the "strength" of "key" indicators (rising GDP, influx of overseas capital, investor confidence, rising central bank reserves, etc.) to end up, following a wave of speculation, with economic and financial disasters.
Beyond a circumstancial prosperity in some countries, the regional financial outlook is strongly influenced by the dynamics of a very fluid and fragile international context. New trends should be meticulously analyzed and answered to. The lack of results, uncertainties and reactionary anti-popular pressures should bring about consistent and unified responses to major challenges and dilemmas.
For the time being, it is possible to acknowledge an increasing awareness among Latin American peoples about the results of the extraction of resources, public indebtedness, fiscal adjustments and the application of liberalization recipes, such as opening up without restrictions and privatizations that evidence the need to break with the dynamics of capitalism. Furthermore, the recent recovery process entails not only outstanding economic inequalities but inequalities that are essentially of a social nature. Structural unemployment, precarious jobs and the feeling of being doomed to hopelessness as a result of marginalization reach unsuspected levels, in spite of improved indicators.
It is time for a new economic and financial integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries, giving priority to the improvement of peoples’ living standards, productive complementarities and the defense of labor and wealth in the region.
Within this framework, the international meeting confirmed that the proposal of a Southern Bank put forward by Venezuela is more than plausible, in the belief that its objectives should be in particular, to break the dependence of peripheric countries on the international financial market, to channel their own savings capacity, to put an end to the flight of capital, and to support the allocation of resources to the priorities of an independent social and economic development, thus changing investment priorities.
Delegations considered that a Southern solidary bank should represent an alternative not only to private banking but also to the existing multilateral institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Differences should not be merely of an enunciative nature but should be reflected in terms of regulations and operations, such as in:
a) the capitalization sources and mechanisms to capture savings;
b) the integration and cooperative and equal management by its member countries;
c) the transparent governance and democratic and social oversight of its administration, in line with that which is claimed by the groups in favor of Debt Audit.
The people and governments of the so-called developing countries are presented with a historical opportunity to take an emancipating initiative of international scope. The present economic and financial situation seems favorable to take this step and might not last long. It is time to redouble efforts and get down to work.
In view of this, the International Symposium has discussed and agreed the following:
1) To firmly ratify the denounce of debt illegitimacy and the need for a bloc of countries in favor of non-payment of debt.
2) To continue to support mobilization campaigns and actions aimed at auditing debts and multilateral credit institutions.
3) To strengthen the work of analysis carried out by the International Debt Observatory (IDO).
4) To convene a meeting to be held in Venezuela on next November 15-16 to prepare a proposal for the political/technical materialization of the Southern Bank and Southern Monetary Fund initiatives.
Caracas, Venezuela - 24 September 2006.
International participants:
* Marcos Arruda - Brazil
* Hugo Arias - Ecuador
* Rodrigo Avila - Brazil
* Carlos Bedoya - Peru
* Camille Chalmers - Haiti
* María Fattorelli - Brazil
* William Gaviria - Colombia
* Gladys Hernández - Cuba
* Claudio Katz - Argentina
* Beverly Keene - Argentina
* Daniel Libreros - Colombia
* Jorge Marchini - Argentina
* Raúl Moreno - El Salvador
* Paulo Nakatani - Brazil
* Lebowiz Michael - Canada
* Theotonio Dos Santos - Brazil
* Eric Toussaint - Brussels
Related Information:
Papers for the event at IDO (Spanish language)
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