Louis,
Just in case you have not noticed, I am not
a fan of rapid privatizations or ones that emphasize
foreign takeovers. I have been in favor of the Slovenian
model on privatization, from workers' management
to workers' ownership, although I understand that you
are ultimately not a fan of that.
Are you denying the widespread reports that there
were corrupt privatizations under Milosevic? I know that
you want to turn him into a great socialist hero. But it
just is not going to fly very far, although if the folks in
Serbia now really mess things up, he may end up as that,
sort of.
BTW, the kind of thing going on under him resembled
what went on under Tudjman in Croatia, corrupt privatizations
for cronies. The Tudjman crowd is now out also. I have
long argued that the similarities between Tudjman and
Milosevic far outweighed their apparent differences.
Barkley Rosser
----- Original Message -----
From: "Louis Proyect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 1:52 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:9750] Re: Re: Re: Once again history is stranger than
fiction
> >Louis,
> > You are right that the article does not provide
> >much evidence of thievery by Milosevic personally.
> >But it certainly provides quite a bit of it regarding
> >his cronies. To say that most of those millions
> >abroad were strictly for getting around the embargo
> >is naivete at the worst.
>
> There is no evidence, just assertions. In the one instance where there is
> something substantial, it amounts to this:
>
> "Mladjan Dinkic, the new central bank governor who is on a crusade to
> recover the cash, estimates the overall sum at $4bn. The bulk was
> used not for personal gain, but to keep Serbia trading through a decade of
> United Nations economic sanctions."
>
> I have done a thorough Lexis-Nexis search on Milosevic and corruption. The
> one thing that kept getting mentioned was that there was patronage. Big
> deal, I say. No reason to make the country and its leaders a pariah.
>
> > The issue of corrupt privatizations by his cronies
> >was discussed at length.
>
> Sure, it did get discussed.
>
> >One of the more bizarre
> >remarks you made in connection with all this was your
> >complaint about "illegal" seizures by workers of enterprises
> >in Serbia. Once again, most of those were to undo the
> >corrupt privatizations carried out by Milosevic's cronies.
> >The reporting of this has been extensive.
>
> I have no idea what you are referring to. The only thing being "undone" in
> Serbia today is state ownership. What else would you expect from a
> government that begs for imperialist dollars like a dog at a dining table.
>
>
> Louis Proyect
> Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
>
>
