-Caveat Lector-
"Thanks to a push by the Clinton dministration, the list of countries
that benefit from the IMF's debt-relief program would be expanded to include
HONDURAS ...
"[Some] have leveled criticism at the debt-relief push because of its
requirement that countries must prove they are carrying out IMF-prescribed
reforms -- reforms which force governments to cut back on health, education,
and other social programs."
"Authorities have discovered mass graves at a military base in Honduras.
"Sandra Ponce, Honduras' attorney general for human rights, said the
base contained metal cells apparently used to torture and kill political
prisoners.
"The base was built by the United States for Contra rebels in 1983 "
_______________________________________________________
IMF Weighs Plan to Broaden Debt Relief for Poorest Countries
Washington, Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund is
weighing a plan that would make it easier for the world's poorest countries
to qualify for debt relief.
Under the proposal discussed by the fund's directors, the IMF would set less
stringent benchmarks for countries to meet, a move that could increase by a
quarter the number of eligible countries.
Changes under consideration also would reward countries for overhauling their
finances. ``This would put the countries themselves in the driver's seat in
determining the timing of debt relief,'' said Stanley Fischer, the IMF's
first deputy managing director.
The list of countries that could benefit under the effort, now 29, would
expand to include Honduras in Central America, Laos in Asia, and in Africa,
Central African Republic, Ghana, Senegal, Benin,and Togo.
In 1998 the program covered $12.5 billion in debt, a number that would
increase to $27.4 billion per year if the changes under discussion are
adopted.
A country whose debt-to-export ratio was as low as 150 percent annually would
qualify, compared with up to 250 percent now. The ratio of debt to government
revenue could be as low as 250 percent from the current 280 percent, the fund
said.
The changes come as a part of the IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries Initiative, or HIPC. The program is designed to reduce the
countries' cost of paying off their debt - - payments that in some cases
amount to more than 30 percent of their gross domestic product -- to allow
governments to focus on social spending.
U.S. Push
Last month, the U.S. said it wants aid to the world's poorest countries tied
to poverty reduction and economic reform. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers
said the Clinton administration will seek to reach an accord on debt relief
and reforms by the time the IMF and World Bank hold their annual meetings in
Washington in late September.
In today's assessment, the IMF board said changes to the debt-relief effort
``need to proceed in parallel'' with agreement on the fund's contribution to
its financing, a reference to resistance to a proposal to sell some of the
IMF's gold to raise money.
The IMF said this week it will try to avoid selling up to 10 million ounces
of gold as part of its plan to raise money for poor countries to avoid
pushing prices below 20-year lows. The shift followed opposition from members
of Congress, gold-mining companies and gold-producing nations.
The IMF, World Bank and rich nations started HIPC in September 1996 to
provide the world's poorest countries ``with a way out of the debt trap.''
Civic groups and churches have leveled criticism at the debt- relief push
because of its requirement that countries must prove they are carrying out
IMF-prescribed reforms -- a process that usually takes six years -- and
because those reforms force governments to cut back on health, education and
other social programs, they say.
Honduras Finds Torture Cells at Base
By FREDDY CUEVAS
.c The Associated Press
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Authorities have discovered dozens of possible
graves at a military base in Honduras, and a senior official said Thursday
that the victims might have been political prisoners killed by the Honduran
army in the 1980s.
The suspected sites were located this week at El Aguacate air base in eastern
Honduras, Sandra Ponce, Honduras' attorney general for human rights, told The
Associated Press in a telephone interview from the base.
``In the middle of overgrown brush at El Aguacate, we found six sites with
tombs and metal cells where we believe the army tortured, killed and buried
its victims,'' she said.
She said the base contained several cramped metal cells apparently used to
torture and kill political prisoners, a discovery appears to further
challenge claims by Honduran army officials that ``nothing is hidden'' at the
base, 80 miles east of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
``We suspect there are more than 48 graves in the area, holding the remains
of an undetermined number of people buried there in the 1980s by the
military,'' Ponce said.
She said authorities have linked the military to the graves based on
testimony from witnesses and nearby residents.
Human Rights Commissioner Leo Valladares has blamed the Honduran armed forces
for operating a death squad against leftists in the 1980s.
Reporters will not be given access to the site until forensic experts from
the United States and Germany have examined it. Authorities had announced the
discovery of the first grave site containing unidentified human remains
earlier this month.
The base was built by the United States for Contra rebels in 1983 battling
Nicaragua's government. It was later taken over by Honduran army troops.
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman did not have immediate comment, saying he
was not aware of the Honduran official's statement.
Ponce said her investigation is focusing on the disappearances of 184 people
- most of them Honduran leftists - attributed to the Honduran army.
``Starting next week, we'll dig there to look for more evidence,'' Ponce
said. ``In other areas of the base, it looks like dirt has been moved by the
army, possibly to destroy evidence.''
Among the graves could be the remains of American priest-turned-guerrilla
James Francis Carney, who disappeared in 1982, Valladares said. Authorities
had announced the discovery of Carney's remains in May, but later said they
had been mistaken.
In July, provincial military chief Col. Leonel Pavon denied reports of
clandestine graves at the base, saying ``nothing is hidden in El Aguacate ...
and any authority can prove what I say.''
The armed forces governed Honduras for almost 20 years after ousting three
civilian presidents in 1957, 1963 and 1972. They abandoned power in 1982,
although they still hold great influence in the country.
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