Resist
International Campaign news
Resist! is a new section of International
Viewpoint. It reports on some of the campaigns our readers are involved in. If you have an update on one of these campaigns, or you want us to start monitoring a new initiative, get in touch!
© (+33) 1/43792960, fax (+33) 1/43792961
E-mail <100666.1443@compuserve.com> which will leave various points in Spain so as to arrive in
Madrid on December 16. This
*
ANTISEMESTRE march, which started as an
9 initiative of the CGT [anarchist
* and radical left-dominated trade union], Baladre, and the
Civic Platforms (in which
Izquierda Unida (United Left) is present), was called in protest against unemployment and
A range of alternative activities marginalisation.
have been organised during
The [official] Eurothe Spanish presidency of the
Mediterranean Conference will
European Union, which be matched by the Conference expires at the end of this for an Alternative month. "Practically every
Mediterranean, (CMA) which meeting of ministers will be will take place in the same replicated in an alternative place, Barcelona, at the same activity or demonstration, time, 24-28 November. The writes Isabel Galí in El Viejo
Madrid Summit of Heads of
Topo. "The results of the '50
State and Heads of
Years is Enough" campaign
Government will spark a whole against the economic policies range of activities between 11 and 16 December."
Bank, culminating in the
For more information contact: AEDENAT,
Alternative Forum organised in
+34.1.541.1071, CMA +34.3.217.9527
Madrid last autumn were an
Source: El Viejo Topo, no 88.
invitation to organise a similar initiative for the six months of
Presidency. Co-ordinated from
Madrid by the AEDENAT group, this new campaign
"Contra la Europa del Capital"
(Against the Europe of Capital)
parallel acts to the meetings of
Ship for Bosnia have been taking place in different Spanish cities. The common thread of all these
A flotilla of sailboats crewed by activities is the need to give a local high school students met the Ship for Bosnia in Antwerp pose questions about how we harbour on 16 November. A live in Europe, and the larger than expected quantity solutions we need. This is a of aid was loaded, the result of decentralised campaign, which weekly collections organised will culminate with a march by trade unionists, mainly from the public service and teaching unions. Students and teachers worked together in a number of high schools to collect, pack and transport the aid, destined for trade union and school aid projects in the multi-ethnic Bosnian town of Tuzla. The campaign was also supported by a range of social and political associations, including the Antwerp-based Alternative Social Movement (BSV - Forum) where local Fourth International supporters are active. Boat for Bosnia is one of the largest Bosnia solidarity initiatives ever organised in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking northern half of Belgium. Antwerp port authorities waived all docking fees, while the town hall helped organise a reception in the town that evening. Organisers were, however, disappointed that the national press gave such little coverage to the campaign. Despite this, the arrival of the boat gave a real boost to the whole solidarity network, which is already planning a range of solidarity actions for Tuzla, the Bosnian region where democratic and multi-ethnic forces are strongest. For example, students and teachers in 25 Belgian schools are now twinned with Tuzla high schools. Boat for Bosnia was on its way to Barcelona as International Viewpoint went to press. After loading 30 containers of aid from trade unions and solidarity movements in Catalonia and the rest of the Spanish state, it will sail directly to the Croatian port of Makarska, where it will be unloaded. Contributions towards the campaign can still be sent to: Account 70100, Banco Exterior de España, Oficina institucional no. 1, Madrid, Spain. Mark all contributions "Barco para Bosnia - Paz ahora" For more information contact: Sweden: Radvaldsgaten 14, 118 46 Stockholm. Tel. 84620532, or Gotenberg tel. 31121327, fax 31141311 Belgium: 03.366.4800 (Jos) Spain: Paz Ahora association, C/Tudescos 4 - 3.D, 28004 Madrid. Tel./fax 91.5329692
IMF World Bank WTO
Enough
The October 1995 Annual Meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Madrid resolved to abolish 67% of the debt of seven of the world's poorer countries! Or so the Belgian Finance Minister (and President of the IMF Interim Committee) Philippe Maystadt told 500 participants in a recent public debate in Belgium. Apparently, Mr. Maystadt was not as well informed as "WB/IMF/WTO: Enough!" coordinator Eric Toussaint, who informed the audience that the real figure is in fact 2.7%. A symbolic sum, "which will not modify the poverty of the populations of these seven countries." Minister Maystadt chose not to challenge this statement. In a written response to Pierre Galand, president of the National Centre for Development Co-operation (an association representing some 90% of NGOs in Frenchspeaking Belgium), Maystadt admitted that "in fact, no new means of alleviation has been engaged to reduce the weight of multi-lateral debt n the poorest countries". Confusion? Or just more example of the cynicism with which North-South relations are treated by those in power? One discourse in public, another in private... The public discourse, of course, is more and more a matter of creating the illusion that the IMF and the World Bank have changed and an attempt to present their new "human" face.
Resist
International Campaign news
32 International Viewpoint December 1995
This means we must be even more clear and penetrating in our own analysis. That we must make use of all the channels for distributing alterative information. And that we must strive to build the widest possible "Refusal front, in the South, North, and East. The Belgian group of the Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (COCAD) is the world co-ordinator of the "WB/IMF/TO: Enough!" campaign. The appeal which forms the base of the campaign already circulates in 55 countries. The committee in western Sierra Leone has sent in a list of 299 signatures. The last on this preliminary list is that of the Episcopal Commission for Christian Education in Kinshasa. There is clearly significant interest in the campaign to collect signatures for the appeal. But not enough is being done. Most of the signatures so far have been sent in individually, as the result of a chance or passing contact with the initiative or its literature. What we badly need is more ocal committees which can be relays for the appeal Wherever such campaigns have been set up, the result is astounding. In Sardinia, two hundred signatures have been sent in only a short time after establishing the local committee. But collecting signatures is not enough! What this campaign ought to be about is the direct activities of associations and individuals, among their work mates and friends, in public meetings, in the milieu of solidarity activities in the widest possible sense. It is worth thinking hard about what opportunities exist. If need be, public activities can be planned using "50 Years: Enough!" materials and speakers. And we should always bear in mind that a signature given as the result of a clear presentation of the theme multiplies the potential for further activity. This campaign should also be about establishing the link between third world debt and social demands in the industrialised countries. For example, austerity plans, made necessary by the convergence criteria of the Maastricht Treaty result in attacks on public service, pay freezes, redundancies and privatisation. In Canada and the USA severe cuts have been made in social programmes. All these measures are versions of the same recipes applied in the poorer countries to make sure that debt payments are Global understanding is an important strand of this campaign. This is not, campaign. It is about uniting against our common enemies. The role of the IMF in managing Third World Debt is very similar to the role of the Belgian government in managing the public deficit. The public is receptive to this kind of argument. They see the parallel, and are interested in hearing more about our There is lots of work to do. The next big challenge is the Summit of the G7 (seven richest countries) in Lyon, For more information contact: "WB/IMF/WTO: Enough!", c/o COCAD, 29 Plantinstraat, 1070 Brussels, Belgium. Tel. +32.2.523 4023, fax +522 6127