Monday, October 7, 2019
‘Mexico would’ve been Canada’: US does NOT help Latin America, it’s high time its leaders realized it – Brazil’s ex-president Lula
Russia Today. October 5, 2019
Latin American countries must unite and pursue independent policies instead of trading their sovereignty for empty promises of US aid, former Brazilian president Lula da Silva told RT in an exclusive interview from jail.
Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva, who was Brazil’s leader from 2003 to 2010, is now serving a 12-year prison term on charges of corruption and money laundering. He vigorously denies the accusations, saying that his sentencing was politically motivated. In late September, the 73-year-old rejected the offer of semi-open prison conditions and insisted that he would only leave his cell after being fully acquitted.
“Every president, who won an election in Latin America, is expecting help from the US now. It’s just unprecedented,” Lula said in the extensive interview.
If the US were really helping Mexico [like they say] it would’ve been Canada, not Mexico. The only assistance that the Americans are providing for Mexico is building the wall, which would prevent poor Mexicans and Latin Americans from making it to the US. The rich ones just fly above this wall on their planes anyway.
The US doesn’t care about other nations and “help themselves, in the first place,” the leftist icon pointed out. “The Americans already made a custom of occupying every country that proclaims its own sovereign interests.”
Lula’s political nemesis and Brazil’s current president, Jair Bolsonaro, “keeps licking the American boots,” he said. To Lula, this means he has “no respect for himself and his country.”
Bolsonaro speaks of Brazilian sovereignty, but at the same time sends his son [Eduardo Bolsonaro] to the US as an ambassador to give the Amazon to the Americans for further exploitation. That’s definitely wrong.
Just a few weeks ago, the US and Brazil agreed to promote the private-sector development in the Amazon and established a special biodiversity conservation fund for this purpose. They claimed that opening the region for business was the only way to preserve the rainforests, which were recently hit by massive fires – but have faced man-made deforestation for years.
Lula believes that “Brazil shouldn’t depend on the US. Brazil should only count on its own intellectual resources: its own scientists, universities and hardworking people.”
Our internal market has 210 million consumers and the market of Latin America is 450 million. If we find common ground and establish closer ties, we’ll be able to form a very powerful political bloc on the international level. The governments should understand that the only way forward for South and Latin America is having sovereignty in developing its own policies.
The former president of Brazil also blasted Washington for pushing for regime change in another Latin American nation, Venezuela.
“I object to any attempts of manipulating a sovereign state… when fake candidates like Guaido are being appointed,” Lula said, referring to opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself an “interim president” with the full backing and support from the US, to challenge the rule of Venezuela’s democratically elected president, Nicolas Maduro.
“The world shouldn’t be a hostage to US policies; to the madness of Donald Trump, who thinks he can intervene in any country; kill any president,” Lula added.
IMF accused of 'reckless lending' to debt-troubled states
Larry Elliott. The Guardian. October 6, 2019
Debt campaigners have accused the International Monetary Fund of encouraging reckless lending by extending $93bn (£75bn) of loans to 18 financially troubled countries without a debt restructuring programme first.
In advance of the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington next week, the Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC) said the the Fund was breaking its own rules by providing financial support without ensuring that the debt burden was sustainable.
The JDC said the IMF was creating a moral hazard because lenders knew that they would be bailed out no matter how risky their loans might be.
Debt sustainability has come into the spotlight over the past year after the IMF controversially lent a record $56bn to Argentina even though its annual debt repayments far exceeded the Fund’s own limit. The IMF said Argentina, the second biggest economy in South America, was a special case.
But the JDC said Argentina was merely the most acute example of a wider problem, with the IMF also encouraging reckless lending in 17 other countries: Afghanistan; Angola; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Ecuador; Egypt; Ghana; Jordan; Mauritania; Mongolia; Pakistan; São Tomé and Príncipe; Sierra Leone; Sri Lanka; Tunisia; and Ukraine. The campaign group said that credit agencies had rated Egypt, Pakistan and Ecuador to be high risk.
Sarah-Jayne Clifton, director of Jubilee Debt Campaign, said: “The IMF has a policy not to lend into an unsustainable debt situation, but we are seeing it breach this policy far too often, bailing out reckless lenders. This creates a moral hazard in the sovereign debt system. Lenders and borrowers are jointly responsible for ensuring debt crises are prevented.
“By constantly bailing out countries in debt crisis without requiring debt restructuring, the IMF is placing the burden of a crisis squarely on the shoulders of the citizens of a debtor country, letting lenders off the hook and ensuring the cycle of debt crises continues.”
The IMF defended its approach. A spokesman said: “The methodology used in the Jubilee report is flawed, starting with the misleading headline number of $93bn. More than half that amount is accounted for by one programme – Argentina, which has unique circumstances.
“The claim that the IMF’s own rules are being breached is not true. We have clear guidelines about not lending into unsustainable debt situations and all programmes require approval by the IMF’s executive board, representing 189 countries.
“The Jubilee report also shows a lack of understanding of the IMF’s lending policies. Our decisions to lend to countries are not simply based on numerical thresholds, but on comprehensive debt sustainability analyses and policies needed to address economic imbalances and debt burdens.”
The JDC said its argument that the IMF should have required a debt restructuring before agreeing to the loan had been supported by the factthat Argentina was now having to restructure the debt a year later. “[The IMF] have a policy not to lend into unsustainable debt situations, and we have presented 18 cases where they are doing exactly that.”
Last year’s IMF loan came only two years after Argentina agreed to repay a proportion of the loans left over from its bankruptcy in 2002, which left $82bn of debts unpaid.
The deal with a group of “vulture” hedge funds led by Paul Singer’s Elliott Management landed Argentina with a $4.6bn bill. The move was expected to clear the way for Argentina to access global debt markets after being excluded for 14 years, but a recovery in the nation’s finances failed to materialise and it was quickly forced again to the edge of bankruptcy.
As part of the IMF deal, Argentina agreed to reduce its fiscal deficit to 1.3% of GDP this year, down from 2.2% previously and a balanced budget next year. However, concerns that a general election later this month will oust incumbent president, Mauricio Macri, in favour of the populist Alberto Fernández and his running mate, the former president Cristina de Kirchner, triggered a flight of investors, a run on the currency and sent the interest rate on the country’s publicly traded debts soaring.
Barricades burn as Haiti enters 4th week of deadly protests
DÁNICA COTO. AP. October 7, 2019
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Stones flew and barricades burned in Haiti’s capital on Monday as the country entered its fourth week of protests that have paralyzed the economy.
Opposition leaders asked supporters to gather in front of the National Palace to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse, who had been scheduled to attend a government ceremony nearby. The call came after thousands of Haitians marched in front of the United Nations’ headquarters on Friday in one of the largest demonstrations in weeks.
A small crowd gathered shortly after dawn and threw stones at police, continuing demonstrations in which at least 17 people have been killed and nearly 200 injured, including the son of Dominique Grillon, whose son was hit by a car as he set up barricade last week.
“There will never be any change in Haiti,” Grillon said, adding that protests don’t necessarily lead to better things. “It happened before in 2004, and it didn’t do any good.”
The U.N.’s Mission for Justice Support in Haiti issued a statement late Sunday saying it was deeply concerned about the effect of what it called a protracted political crisis and urged the government to ensure the normal functioning of schools, hospitals and emergency services and allow aid to reach the most vulnerable people.
“The mission stands ready to support peaceful solutions, which only Haitian actors can devise, to resolve the current situation and alleviate the suffering of the population, in accordance with democratic standards and human rights principles,” it said.
Opposition leader André Michel tweeted a message to supporters on Sunday and asked them to stay in the streets until Moïse resigns. The protests have been fueled by anger over corruption, rising inflation and the dwindling of basic supplies including food and gasoline.
Many are demanding a more in-depth investigation into corruption after Haiti’s senate found that at least 14 former government officials under the administration of former President Michel Martelly — an ally of Moïse — allegedly misused $3.8 billion from a Venezuelan subsidized oil program. The investigation also named a company once owned by Moïse, who has denied corruption allegations.
A government spokesman said the Organization of American States has granted Moïse’s administration $17 million to strengthen anti-corruption institutions in Haiti.
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