-----Original Message-----
From: Campaign for Labor Rights <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Monday, 7 December 1998 16:47
Subject: sweatshops and debt cancellation
>Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
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>
>CENTRAL AMERICA DEBT CANCELLATION
>posted December 7, 1998
>
>[Information provided by the Nicaragua Network: (202) 544-9355,
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]; and 50 Years Is Enough: (202) 463-2265, [EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
>**********************************
>See ACTION REQUEST at end of alert
>**********************************
>
>When we organize against sweatshop abuses, we sometimes hear: "Yes,
>sweatshops may not pay much and may not be pleasant to work in, but what
>other options do these workers have?"
>
>We should ask why there are no better options.
>
>International lenders - such as the World Bank, the International Monetary
>Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, various foreign governments and
>private foreign banks - have loaned billions for projects in underdeveloped
>countries. While many of those loans ostensibly were for development, all
>too often they have proved to be the prime reason that so much of the world
>remains "underdeveloped," a cruel euphemism for economic desperation.
>
>Loans negotiated in secret were frequently managed by governments known to
>be headed by the corrupt and the despotic. Profits from the projects
>financed by such loans went to corporations in the global north and elites
>in the global south. But, while the profits were privatized, the obligation
>to pay back those loans has been socialized. And it is those least able to
>pay and who gained the least from the projects who have borne the cost of
>repayment: workers and the poor.
>
>Burdened with impossible debts, impoverished nations have been forced by
>their international creditors to undergo structural adjustment programs as
a
>condition for rescheduling debt payments. Among the effects of structural
>adjustment are:
>* Ending credit to small businesses, causing massive bankruptcies,
throwing millions of workers into unemployment and creating a job force
for
sweatshop industries
>* Ending credit to small farmers, with the same result as above
>* Establishing tax-free, low-wage free trade zones for sweatshop operations
>
>If we want to end sweatshop abuses, we need to end the basis for sweatshops.
>Supporting cancellation of international debt for the Central America
>nations devastated by Hurricane Mitch is a good step in that direction.
>
>On December 10-11, governmental delegations led by the presidents of five
>Central American countries -- Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala,
>and Costa Rica -- will be in Washington, DC to meet with representatives of
>donor nations and multilateral financial institutions to discuss assistance
>in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. This meeting, called a "Consultative Group"
>meeting, can be expected to result in pledges of relief aid and supplies
for
>the countries affected. Such pledges, although extremely important for the
>hurricane victims, will be rendered meaningless unless accompanied by
>complete and unconditional cancellation of these countries' foreign debts.
>This alert requests that you put immediate pressure on the head of the U.S.
>delegation to the meeting, asking that the U.S., as the host of the meeting
>and the most influential player in making such decisions, take the lead in
>urging cancellation of these debts.
>
>To date, the international financial institutions (the IMF, World Bank and
>Inter-American Development Bank) have made some vague promises of debt
>relief. What they are promising is quite insufficient, but at least they
are
>talking about the right issues. The U.S. government needs to be pushed to
>get into the game, particularly since only if it takes the lead will these
>institutions be emboldened actually to cancel debts.
>
>******************
>ACTION REQUEST
>******************
>
>Please send the attached letter to Brian Atwood, the head of the U.S.
Agency
>for International Development, who will chair the U.S. delegation at the
>Consultative Group meeting, December 10-11. Ask him to take the lead in
>advocating for complete cancellation for Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and
>El Salvador. Debt cancellation is the only medicine that can save these
>desperate economies.
>
>Please note that letters should reach Atwood by the end of Wednesday,
>December 9. If you can fax them, please do. If you use regular mail, please
>send your letters as soon as possible.
>
>Please also send the SIGNATURE PORTION of your letter (with your name and
>address) to Campaign for Labor Rights via fax (541) 431-0523 or email
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> so that we can gauge the extent of the response to this
alert.
>Thank you!!!
>
>====================================
>
>Brian Atwood, Executive Director
>U.S. Agency for International Development
>1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Room 6.9
>Washington, DC 20523
>Fax (202) 216-3455
>
>Dear Mr. Atwood:
>
>With Hurricane Mitch, Central America has been hit by what may be the worst
>disaster it has ever faced. On the eve of the meeting of the Consultative
>Group of Donors for Central America, I call for the immediate and
>unconditional cancellation of the external debt repayment obligations of
>Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. I understand that you will
>be leading the U.S. delegation to this meeting, and that in that position
>you are uniquely placed to shape the U.S. response to this catastrophe.
>Moreover, I understand that the U.S. response is key to determining the
>response of the rest of the international community.
>
>The disaster has ended the ability of these countries to repay external
>debt. All available resources must be used to address the needs of the
>population in this crisis. Recent press reports indicate that the
>reconstruction effort will cost billions and take many years. Given these
>circumstances, I believe that to give aid with one hand while taking more
>with the other through debt service is nonsensical and immoral.
>
>The bilateral debt of these countries owed to the United States should be
>canceled immediately. Former Presidents Bush and Carter have both called
for
>immediate action on the debt issue in the wake of the crisis. Both France
>and Cuba have already erased the debts owed them by these countries, and
>other creditor nations are supporting debt cancellation. But the U.S. has
>made no commitments for debt cancellation. This must change at the
>Consultative Group meeting.
>
>I strongly believe also that debt cancellation must not be conditioned on
>compliance with IMF structural adjustment programs or similar demands.
>Demands for government austerity are surely inappropriate in the face of
>sudden and massive homelessness, disease and hunger. The current structural
>adjustment programs in effect in Honduras and Nicaragua must also be
>re-negotiated in light of the hurricane's impact.
>
>This disaster will take the affected nations, already among the poorest
>countries in Latin America, decades to overcome. Broad coalitions of social
>organizations in Central America have called for cancellation of debt.
>Half-measures such as debt re-scheduling or a "debt moratorium" would be
>grossly insufficient. Anything less than cancellation of the monumental,
>unpayable debt burden would extend and deepen the suffering of the victims.
>
>It is disgraceful that the United States, the richest and most powerful
>country in the world, and the most influential in terms of economic
policies
>such as debt relief, has made no commitment to cancel the Central American
>debt in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. It is astounding that we could be
>mounting international relief efforts while still insisting that these
>countries pay back interminable debts. Please do what is necessary at the
>upcoming Consultative Group meeting to make the United States a true leader
>in making recovery possible for the people of Central America.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>NAME:
>ADDRESS:
=============================
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