Source:
Jubileo Peru
Fri Oct 20 2006
Jubileo Peru welcomes the recent decision by the Norwegian government to stop collecting 80 million dollars in debt it claimed from Ecuador, Peru, Jamaica, Egypt and Sierra Leone.
Norway has publicly acknowledged its responsibility for granting illegitimate credits which, under the cloak of "developmen aid", really sought to favor businesspeople in the Norwegian shipbuilding industry that was facing difficulties more than 30 years ago.
In the case of Ecuador, the amount cancelled reaches 37 million dollars, having Ecuador already paid 100 million on the original amount of 59 million lent. This loan was shockingly harmful to Ecuadorian people: along with the high interest accrued, the whereabouts of the ships supposedly financed with such money, remains still unknown. Notwithstanding this, no compensation measures have been proposed in view of the huge damage caused.
The amount cancelled in favor of Peru reaches only 7.8 million dollars which account for the so-called illegitimate loans currently defined by Norway as "failed development policy". Until now, the debt owed by Peru to this Nordic country amounts to 38 million dollars; therefore, by means of this cancellation it will be reduced to approximately 30 million.
Beyond the quantitative aspects, this bold initiative by the Norwegian government is of major importance given the fact that it sets a precedent in the long struggle of our nations in terms of the illegitimate facts of external debt.
We urge the rest of Paris Club member countries and multilateral institutions to follow the example set by Norway and to take justice-related measures with regards to the corrupt and illegitimately incurred debt that weighs on Southern countries, thus preventing their development. This step would not have been taken without the persistent work on debt of citizen movements, particularly in Norway and Ecuador.
Faced with the news, we, Peruvians should:
* Ensure that released funds are entirely and efficiently allocated to address the "social debt".
* Promote a thorough auditing of the Peruvian debt that would determine the illegitimate facts within it and the corresponding responsibilities, in order to repudiate the corrupt debt.
* Demand the government to adopt a coordination strategy with "middle income" countries in order to adequately and jointly deal with the external debt.
* Continue with our active participation in the citizen movement in order to find a fair and final solution to the debt problem, which this year was allocated over 8 billion nuevos soles from our budget.
Jubileo Peru, Lima - October, 2006
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