                         BURY THE DEBT
                         NOT THE DEAD!
    
             Against The International Monetary Fund
    
    
    INTRODUCTION
    
     The International Monetary Fund & the World Bank are two
    of the most powerful organisations in the world today.
    Their role is to regulate the worlds economy and in this
    are seen to "generously" provide loans to "developing"
    countries. What this document is intended to do is expose
    the world-wide exploitation these 2 organisations, as a 
    mechanism of imperialism, are responsible for.
    
    DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMF
    
     Shortly after the second world war, plans for a new world
    trade & world monetary order were prepared in the US.
    These plans were designed to prevent a world economic crisis
    such as in the 1920s, & also to develop the international expansion
    of US capitalism (which as a result of WWII emerged in a strong
    position to ensure this).
     Founded by 44 countries, the IMF & World Bank are complimentary 
    organisations; the former responsible for short term balance of
    payment aid, the latter for long term project related aid.
    Without membership in the IMF (which means integration into the
    capitalist system), no admission to the World Bank.
    Without playing by IMF rules, no development aid from the 
    World Bank. A classic example of the carrot & stick principle.
      
     Today, there are 151 member-countries of the IMF. The vast
    majority are located in the Three Continents (Asia, Africa,
    South & Central America), yet these countries have no real 
    influence on IMF policies. Instead, to ensure the power of the
    advanced industrial countries (US, Canada, Japan, etc), a quota
    system was devised which, contrary to the usual 
    "one vote, one country" system as in UN organisations, grants
    a percentage of votes according to a country's national income,
    gold & foreign exchange reserves, size & fluctuations of 
    foreign trade & export dependence. The US share of the total
    quota is 19.9%, followed by the UK with 6.9%. Any change in
    quotas requires an 85% majority!
    
    IMPACT OF IMF POLICIES
    
      The main function of the IMF is to provide its members with
    financial aid to cover short-term gaps in their balance of
    payments. Essentially, it is an international organisation
    through which countries of the capitalist north can impose
    their financial & monetary interests, & sometimes other
    interests, on the countries of the Three continents.
    No-where is this clearer than in the IMFs "stabilisation
    programmes" which it forces on countries as a condition 
    of repayment. Standard parts of this are ;
    devaluation of national currency, abolition of liberalisation
    of controls on foreign trade (intended to set an export boom
    in motion & bring i foreign exchange), wage cuts, & cuts in
    social programmes (ie health, schools). There is often a
    marked deterioration in the supply of basic materials of the
    poor.
    
      In historical colonial times, developing countries were 
    forced to develop one-sided monocultural export structures.
    The colonies provided agricultural & mineral raw materials
    which were essential for the industrialisation process of the
    metropoles, often under armed force.
    This basic pattern continues today, with the IMF replacing
    the gun-boats. This one-sided orientation towards the 
    interests of the imperialist countries has prevented the
    development of food production for domestic requirements.
    The abolition of foreign trade controls creates an opportunity
    for multi-national corporations to gain access to the raw
    materials. The traditional agriculture of countries such as
    Guatemala, El Salvador, Ethiopia, etc. has been destroyed &
    replaced by the growing of cotton, sisal, coffee, cocoa, 
    bananas, sugar; all for export. The ecological destruction
    we are seeing of the rainforests in the Three continents
    is directly related to the situation of imperialism. The
    de-forestation also produces dangers for the indigenous
    peoples who live in these areas. Due to land clearing for
    cattle-ranching, cash-crops, mining, dams, & road-building,
    thousands of people are displaced, their traditional live-
    lihoods destroyed & ultimately their very cultures.
    With this comes intensified repression by police, army, and
    paramilitary forces against any resistance, from ecologists
    and indigenous peoples. An even more blatant example of
    what the IMFs function is, is seen in the "debt for exports"
    concept, in which export goods are traded to companies
    who'll take over the balance of payment debts. In 1988 Fiat
    sought permission to accept Brazilian debt in payment for
    cars.
    
    POLITICS OF THE IMF
    
      The IMF attaches great importance to its supposedly
    non-political character, arguing that the principle of
    non-discrimination ensures all countries are treated equally
    in the granting and conditions of loans. The IMF states it is
    purely economic. However, not only does it ignore the often
    devastating social & political impacts of its economic policies,
    but its practise tells another story. Chile, during the time
    of socialist president Allende, was refused a stand-by 
    agreement after the country was plunged into difficulties by a
    US destabilisation programme.
    After the military coup in 1973, the IMF quickly came to
    agreement with the new fascist Pinochet regime. After the 
    Soweto uprising, the IMF gave South Africa a loan of 
    US$ 464 million in 1976, a sum almost equal to the increase
    in military expenditure that year. In Nov.1982 the IMF again 
    granted S.Africa a loan totalling US$1.1 thousand million,
    even though the UN General Assembly just voted 121 votes
    to 3 aginst IMF aid for Apartheid. With the help of Canada &
    most W.European countries, the US forced the loan through
    with 53% of the vote in the IMF. In 1982 El Salvador received loans
    which caused a sensation because of the generous terms attached; 
    no interest rates, subsidies or changes in prices of agricultural
    goods. As late as May 1979, nine weeks before Somozas overthrow, 
    the Nicaraguan regime received an IMF credit.
    
     The forcing through of IMF stabilisation programmes has also
    determined the fate of many gov't.s, leading to their downfall
    because they implement these programmes. With remarkable frequency,
    IMF interventions coincide with military coups; the military
    take-over in Argentina in March 1976- as in 1962- was closely 
    connected with negotiations for an IMF stand-by credit. The
    civilian gov't. couldn't force through the IMF demands because
    resistance was too strong. The military took advantage of the
    crisis & took power. It proceeded to crush popular resistance, 
    the "dirty war" between 1976-78, & soon reached agreement with the IMF.
    Similiar situations occured in Brazil 1964, Chile & Uruguay 1973,
    Turkey in 1960,71, & 80.
    
     The unrest following the implementation of IMF policies is well
    known; massive riots, "bread riots", demonstrations, & strikes.
    These are forms of popular resistance against the attempts of
    imperialism to force the poor to pay for the "Debt crisis".
    
      As we can see, the results of IMF & World Bank, & essentially
    imperialist politics, is millions of people deprived of the
    basis of their subsistence.
    Wimmin are often in the centre of this attack. With the payment
    of a wage to a man, or higher wages for a man, the sexist
    interpretation of what capital recognises as wage-earning
    work shows the patriarchal structuring of society, right
    down to the family unit. This includes the sexuality, the
    birth & raising of children, relationships, cooking, cleaning,
    laundry, shopping. This "housework" is seen as a labour done
    out of love.
    The head of the house, the man, is legally & ideologically
    given control over the family. In this way the power & work
    relations within the family make up the basis of the gender & 
    class division. So the exploitation of wimmins work forms an
    integral part of capitalism. But wimmin also face attacks in
    reproduction rights, & on a world scale this is seen as 
    "population policy". Abortion restrictions here, & forced 
    sterilisation in the Three continents are connected; to
    capital there is "surplus" population in the Three continents,
    where wimmin are frequently used as test cases for new birth-
    control devises, forced sterilisation, & as markets for
    (often defective) pharmaceutical products. We see this in Nestle
    infant formulas (which have thus far caused 3 million infant
    deaths), Ciba-Geigys' preparations Mexaform & Enterofrom
    (for acute diarrhea, both products contain Clioquinol, which
    leads to a serious nerve ailment called Smon), as well as
    birth control pills 20 times stronger than those on the 
    market in N.America.
    Gene technology is increasingly being applied to the 
    Three continents, & not only in the agribusiness.
    There are also measures to reduce the population; forced
    sterilisation programmes, birth control injections effective
    for 3 months at a time.  Here, they call abortion
    "murder of an unborn life", in the Three continents they talk
    of "overpopulation". 
    This "overpopulaton", as defined by capital, means
    "too many mouths to feed", "smaller profits", & a greater 
    potential for unrest. This "overpopulation" is directly connected
    to such institutions as the IMF & World Bank. The family,
    in the Three continents becomes a means of survival, & when
    one in four children die before age five, you produce
    more children to work in the fields, to gather food.
    Neither famine nor poverty are natural. On the contrary,
    they are the result of world imperialist policies, in which
    the IMF & World Bank have a key function.
    
    CANADA
    
     Canadian involvement in the IMF & World Bank seems small
    in comparison to the United States, but this has more to do
    with economic status. Canada has contributed to the development
    of the IMF since day one. It has a vote quota of 3.2%, the
    6th largest. All its major banking institutions; Canadian Imperial
    Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion, Bank of Montreal, National Bank
    of Canada, & Bank of Nova Scotia, are engaged in the business of
    the IMF & World Bank. Last year, 1988, most of these banks were
    selling off their loans to corporations & investors. The Toronto-
    Dominion sold $780 million of loans to less developed countries,
    & swapped $308 million of Mexican loans for bonds in that country.
    The Bank of Montreal did not participate in this swap citing the
    pricing wasn't "adequate". These banks have billions of dollars
    loaned to countries in the Three continents.
    
    CONCLUSION
    
     The response from most groups opposed to the IMF policies has been
    a call for 'debt cancellation' or re-negotiation of payments.
    This may mean a temporary breathing space, but new mechanisms will
    replace the old ones. Recent statements made by bankers, such as at
    last years congress in W.Berlin, show that negotiations on
    re-payment, or partial cancellations, are quite compatible with 
    IMF & World Bank policies in the long term.
    As can be seen, the interests of many seemingly diverse groups
    (ecological, anti-racist/anti-apartheid, anti-patriarchal,
    anti-capitalist, Central American solidarity groups, indigenous
    peoples, etc) are present in the struggle against imperialism,
    embodied in two of the most powerful organisations in the
    capitalist world; the IMF and World Bank.  The real challenge
    aginst the IMF & World Bank lies in these movements, & the
    liberation struggles of many of the countries in the Three
    continents where revolutionary struggles are now being fought;
    but only if we develop strong anti-imperialist politics. 
    Because the structures & methods of imperialism are international,
    our resistance must also be international.
    
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    MAKE THE STRUGGLE AGAINST CAPITALISM
    AUTONOMOUS!
    THE STRUCTURES OF IMPERIALISM ARE 
    INTERNATIONAL- MAKE THE RESISTANCE
    WORLDWIDE!
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    SOURCE
    REFERENCES:
    ----------
    IMF & The Debt Crisis,  Zed Books.
    
    Autonomous Groups Days of Action 
    Against the IMF & World Bank Congress in
    West Berlin 1988
    
    Globe & Mail  Sept. 1988, Business
    
    Vancouver Sun, Sept. 14 1989
    
    Turning The Tide,  Noam Chomsky
    
    Dollars & Dictators        Grove Press
    
    
    
    We have copies of the Autonomous Groups in West
    Berlin Anti-IMF document, for a copy 
    send $3ppd to;  Autonomedia
                    A-5  1720 Douglas
                    Victoria, BC     V8W 2G7
                    Canada
    
    
    
    
    This document was written in 1989 by Endless Struggle.
