Call for a South-North Consultation: Resistances and Alternatives to Debt Domination

The majority of countries in Africa and the rest of the South are hamstrung by debt, by the IMF. It is a heavy burden, a trap. The conditions and policies of the World Bank and the IMF are to enable countries to pay debt not to develop. That is all! Let us argue the moral case. Let us create a new liberation movement to free us from immoral debt and neo-colonialism. This is one way forward. The other way is through Pan-African unity.

Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania, interview published in January 1999.

Twenty years have passed since the holding, in Havana, of a series of multisectoral conferences aimed at dealing with the external debt problems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Those gatherings helped to generate greater global consciousness about the real nature of the problem as well as to strengthen the struggle against the payment of a debt that enslaves. Fidel Castro echoed what had been expressed by the enormous diversity of participants, when he declared that the debt of the countries of the South of the world is unpayable not only mathematically and financially but also morally and politically.

Since then many advances have been made in this struggle and the world scenario and possibilities for action have changed substantially. But the challenge of securing truly just and equitable alternatives to the dominant policies of indebtedness and globalization remains valid and increasingly urgent. The recent proposals of the G7 governments that offer to cancel a minuscule amount of debt claimed from a handful of countries without offering any essential changes are a clear manifestation of the fact that the debt problem is still intact and that the proposals of the lenders will not provide a solution.

In order to remember and celebrate the 20 years of struggle since those first gatherings in Havana, paying homage to their many protagonists, analyzing the changes which have occurred, and discussing among us the next steps, we propose the holding of a SOUTH-NORTH CONSULTATION ON RESISTANCE AND ALTERNATIVES TO DEBT DOMINATION, in Havana, Cuba, September 28-30, 2005.

We call for the participation of all movements, institutions, networks, and campaigns against the debt and the International Financial Institutions, in both the South and the North, grassroots activists, union members, academics, lawyers, indigenous peoples, parliamentarians, women and men of culture, of the various religions, of political spheres, of rural regions, defenders of human, environmental, educational, healthcare, and housing rights, indeed of all who defend a world of equity, solidarity, and peace.

Plenary debate and working groups will treat diverse aspects of the debt problem, including:
 Strategies to achieve recognition and repudiation of the illegitimate external debt along with the recognition and restitution of ecological, social and historical debts, including comprehensive debt audits and judicial action;
 Strategies for the defense of human rights and resistance to the accumulation of new social, ecological and financial debts, including opposition to privatizations and trade liberalization;
 Strategies of struggle against the International Financial Institutions, including their interconnectedness to the WTO and military and corporate power;
 Building of alternatives to the current global economic-financial-commercial disorder.

It will be particularly important for this South-North Consultation to incorporate an intense cultural dimension, reflecting on some of the common perceptions with regard to the debt that we need to transform and seeking to involve in every aspect of our struggle against the debt, the cultural and artistic expression of the many peoples and languages whose survival is at stake as a consequence of debt domination and globalization.

We extend a special invitation to all those who have been part of these 20 years of anti-debt struggle, to share something of their experiences with the Organizing Committee, through whatever medium is possible, to help in the process of building our collective memory.

Immediately prior to the South-North Consultation (September 26 to 28), the JUBILEE SOUTH network of peoples’ organizations, coalitions and debt campaigns from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean, will also hold in Havana its 2ND SOUTH-SOUTH SUMMIT. The aim of this Assembly will be to take stock and consolidate the political and organizational advancements achieved during our first five years, and to further develop future strategies and initiatives. Participation is open to those organizations and movements in the South that are interested in joining our network or collaborating in joint initiatives.

FOR A WORLD FREE FROM DEBT AND DOMINATION

“The idea is not only to abolish the debt; this is associated to a new order...and to the idea of integration, because even if the abolition of the debt is achieved, if a new economic order is reached, without integration we would always continue to be dependent countries”.

Fidel Castro, Havana, August 1985.

CO-CONVENERS:
Jubilee South / Cuban Chapter of the Hemispheric Social Alliance / Southern Peoples’ Ecological Debt Creditor Alliance / Afrodad / KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Initiative for Justice / Observatory on Debt and Globalization (Barcelona) / SLUG Norway / Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt / 50 years is enough / Christian Aid / World Council of Churches Program on Globalization and Economic Justice / Lutheran World Federation Program on Debt / Eurodad / ActionAid International / Debt and Development Coalition (Ireland)

Registration is open through September 15. For details, to adhere, or participate, please contact:
Jubilee South,

Piedras 730 (1070) Buenos Aires, Argentina

Telefax: (54-11) 4307-1867

jubileosur@wamani.apc.org
secretariat@jubileesouth.org

www.jubileesouth.org/sp