Throughout its existence the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has constructed and reconstructed a complex mythology around the notions of development, sustainable development, transparency and participation.
Anthropologists maintain that myths are invisible. The programmes that the IDB is implementing in Latin America (with the serious consequences that they imply for the continent's inhabitants) are legitimized through mechanisms that are not perceived as such by the public at large. The NGO coalition Alliance against the IDB aims to deconstruct these myths. In this panel representatives of member organizations of the Alliance (Bank Information Center, Censat, Equipo Pueblo, Ilsa and Public Services International, Washington Office on Latin America, CDES, RedBancos - see links below) analyzed some of the myths.
According to the panelists, this mythology constitutes the ideological framework for the IDB's actions. And these actions are designed to give free rein to transnational corporations. The tool to achieve this end: the false banner of regional integration.
