Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Seminar “Women, Debt and Microcredit”

The seminar (online summary, so far in French only) opened with a public lecture that attracted an audience of about 250 people, mostly women. The way public and private debt are two sides of a same coin linked to Structural Adjustment Structural Adjustment Economic policies imposed by the IMF in exchange of new loans or the rescheduling of old loans.

Structural Adjustments policies were enforced in the early 1980 to qualify countries for new loans or for debt rescheduling by the IMF and the World Bank. The requested kind of adjustment aims at ensuring that the country can again service its external debt. Structural adjustment usually combines the following elements : devaluation of the national currency (in order to bring down the prices of exported goods and attract strong currencies), rise in interest rates (in order to attract international capital), reduction of public expenditure (’streamlining’ of public services staff, reduction of budgets devoted to education and the health sector, etc.), massive privatisations, reduction of public subsidies to some companies or products, freezing of salaries (to avoid inflation as a consequence of deflation). These SAPs have not only substantially contributed to higher and higher levels of indebtedness in the affected countries ; they have simultaneously led to higher prices (because of a high VAT rate and of the free market prices) and to a dramatic fall in the income of local populations (as a consequence of rising unemployment and of the dismantling of public services, among other factors).

IMF : http://www.worldbank.org/ Programmes (SAP) and the development of microcredit producing entrapment in debt was clearly explained. Other matters covered were the role played by microfinance in aggravating indebtedness and impoverishment, particularly where women are concerned.

These situations were then discussed in detail by the participants. An environment of free expression was created, where women could tell of their different experiences and actions against the effects of illegitimate debt in their own countries. These tangible experiences confirm the observation that microfinance is never a means of emancipation for women, on the contrary, it has aggravated the subordinate position of women in capitalist and patriarchal society.

Alternatives were presented and examined. Nevertheless, the fight against poverty is larger than the question of access to finance, but implies rights and access to health care Care Le concept de « care work » (travail de soin) fait référence à un ensemble de pratiques matérielles et psychologiques destinées à apporter une réponse concrète aux besoins des autres et d’une communauté (dont des écosystèmes). On préfère le concept de care à celui de travail « domestique » ou de « reproduction » car il intègre les dimensions émotionnelles et psychologiques (charge mentale, affection, soutien), et il ne se limite pas aux aspects « privés » et gratuit en englobant également les activités rémunérées nécessaires à la reproduction de la vie humaine. , education, housing, employment, good nutrition and a healthy ecological environment. In fact, the struggle against poverty is part and parcel of the global struggle for human dignity and decent living conditions.

The seminar, which the participants consider to have been very successful, was well relayed by Mali media and closed with a public meeting that attracted about 400 people. A final declaration was made linking capitalism, Structural Adjustment Programmes and microcredit to the oppression women have to bear.

Afterwards many of the female participants took part in the training scheme organised by the CADTM International.

The CADTM: the story

Because numerous participants were newcomers to the CADTM network it was considered appropriate to tell the story of the CADTM, from its origins in Belgium, through the development of the network throughout the World, the evolution of the call for the abolition of Third World debt to the abolition of all illegitimate debt, whether public or private. The history of the association was presented by Eric Toussaint, a co-founder of the CADTM in Belgium in 1990, and enriched by further accounts by activists from West Africa, Morocco, Argentina and India.

The CADTM originated from the “Bastille Appeal” that was announced during the big demonstrations in Paris in 1989 against the G7. The cry was “Debt, Apartheid, Colonialism: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” These words echoed the issues of capitalism and colonialism highlighted by the 1982 Mexican default on payments and the third World debt crisis, and the public finance crisis in the North that followed in its wake, whilst Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1985 and Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso in 1987, had called on countries that were victims of debt to stop paying.

From counter-summit to counter-summit all along the 1990s groups and activists, including from the CADTM, met and evolved into what came to be called the “Alterglobalist” movement: demonstrations against the 50 years meetings of the IMF IMF
International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.

When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.

As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).

The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.

http://imf.org and the World Bank World Bank
WB The World Bank was founded as part of the new international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944. Its capital is provided by member states’ contributions and loans on the international money markets. It financed public and private projects in Third World and East European countries.

It consists of several closely associated institutions, among which :

1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 189 members in 2017), which provides loans in productive sectors such as farming or energy ;

2. The International Development Association (IDA, 159 members in 1997), which provides less advanced countries with long-term loans (35-40 years) at very low interest (1%) ;

3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provides both loan and equity finance for business ventures in developing countries.

As Third World Debt gets worse, the World Bank (along with the IMF) tends to adopt a macro-economic perspective. For instance, it enforces adjustment policies that are intended to balance heavily indebted countries’ payments. The World Bank advises those countries that have to undergo the IMF’s therapy on such matters as how to reduce budget deficits, round up savings, enduce foreign investors to settle within their borders, or free prices and exchange rates.

in Madrid in 1994; meetings with the Zapatistas struggling in the Mexican Chiapas; demonstrations and counter-summit against the G7 and G8 G8 Group composed of the most powerful countries of the planet: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA, with Russia a full member since June 2002. Their heads of state meet annually, usually in June or July. meetings, and many more. In 1999 a petition calling for the abolition of third world debt, with 17 million signatures collected by Jubilee 2000 was presented to the G7 meeting in Cologne. Not satisfied with the soothing announcements of the abolition of $100 billion of Third World (HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
HIPC In 1996 the IMF and the World Bank launched an initiative aimed at reducing the debt burden for some 41 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC), whose total debts amount to about 10% of the Third World Debt. The list includes 33 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The idea at the back of the initiative is as follows: a country on the HIPC list can start an SAP programme of twice three years. At the end of the first stage (first three years) IMF experts assess the ’sustainability’ of the country’s debt (from medium term projections of the country’s balance of payments and of the net present value (NPV) of debt to exports ratio.
If the country’s debt is considered “unsustainable”, it is eligible for a second stage of reforms at the end of which its debt is made ’sustainable’ (that it it is given the financial means necessary to pay back the amounts due). Three years after the beginning of the initiative, only four countries had been deemed eligible for a very slight debt relief (Uganda, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique). Confronted with such poor results and with the Jubilee 2000 campaign (which brought in a petition with over 17 million signatures to the G7 meeting in Cologne in June 1999), the G7 (group of 7 most industrialised countries) and international financial institutions launched an enhanced initiative: “sustainability” criteria have been revised (for instance the value of the debt must only amount to 150% of export revenues instead of 200-250% as was the case before), the second stage in the reforms is not fixed any more: an assiduous pupil can anticipate and be granted debt relief earlier, and thirdly some interim relief can be granted after the first three years of reform.

Simultaneously the IMF and the World Bank change their vocabulary : their loans, which so far had been called, “enhanced structural adjustment facilities” (ESAF), are now called “Growth and Poverty Reduction Facilities” (GPRF) while “Structural Adjustment Policies” are now called “Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper”. This paper is drafted by the country requesting assistance with the help of the IMF and the World Bank and the participation of representatives from the civil society.
This enhanced initiative has been largely publicised: the international media announced a 90%, even a 100% cancellation after the Euro-African summit in Cairo (April 2000). Yet on closer examination the HIPC initiative turns out to be yet another delusive manoeuvre which suggests but in no way implements a cancellation of the debt.

List of the 42 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries: Angola, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoro Islands, Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia. ) debt by the World leaders in response to the petition, the CADTM and organisations from southern countries created “Jubilee South” and held a first meeting in Dakar in December 2000, where it was decided to continue the struggle against the debt and the Structural Adjustment Programmes imposed by the IMF and the World Bank.

The CADTM network expanded through cooperation with already existing organisations and the creation of new national sections in different countries. In 2003, at a meeting held in India, it was decided to officially create a worldwide network that would maintain relations between the different member organisations located in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. The first general assembly of the network took place in Belgium in 2008. A political charter and organisational principles were established as complements to the “Bastille Appeal”: every network member organisation takes its positions and decides its objectives independently within the boundaries fixed by these documents. In 2013 it was decided that the role of the International Secretariat would be shared by CADTM Belgium and ATTAC CADTM Morocco.

The extension of the fields of struggle

The participants discussed the CADTM’s widening field of struggle, whose ambitious goal, shared by all who sincerely fight combat exploitation and oppression, is to change the course of history. To do this the CADTM has chosen, principally, to resist and struggle against debt, acting against a deadly economic system imposed by the International Financial Institutions (IFI), complicit governments and local dominant classes. From its creation certain radical CADTM positions gave rise to debates with other organisations that are part of the global anti-debt movement, which in their turn permitted the development of stronger positions and understanding: unconditional abolition of Third World debt; rejection of international arbitration and restructuring, in favour of popular auditing of sovereign debt Sovereign debt Government debts or debts guaranteed by the government. leading to unilateral suspension of payments and repudiation. This objective has brought international success, in particularly in Ecuador where an integral audit was carried out between 2007 and 2009 leading to large scale debt reduction.

The CADTM evolved its positions along with the financial crisis that began in 2007-2008 and became the European sovereign debt crisis of 2009-2010. In the Northern countries where it is present the CADTM denounces the bank bail-outs by the governments who oblige the tax payers to foot the bill and impoverish the population through austerity policies and measures that increase the burden of public debt. In Greece (May 2010, March 2012, July 2015), Ireland (December 2010), Portugal (June 2011) and Cyprus (April 2013), the IMF imposed Structural Adjustment Policies that are thoroughly identical to those experimented on the economies of the South over previous decades. The CADTM calls for audits of public debt and has taken part in creating public audit committees in several European countries. In 2015, the CADTM took an active part in the audit committee called by the President of the Greek Parliament and the demonstrations in support of the Greek people against the coercion of the Troika Troika Troika: IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank, which together impose austerity measures through the conditions tied to loans to countries in difficulty.

IMF : https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html . Today, the debt crisis is no longer in the headlines. However, the public debt is still used as an excuse to introduce anti-social policies whereas the way private banks, the biggest culprits of the crises, are run, has not been fundamentally changed, so the CADTM continues to warn of the dangers of new crises and ardently supports the creation of alternative possibilities.

In addition, the CADTM has spread its struggle to private debts, that have sharply increased since capitalism has entered its neoliberal phase. At the very beginning of the series of meetings the question of microcredit was broached, this system, under the pretext of giving access to the market and to globalisation, turns out to result in a greater burden for the most marginalized sectors of the population, particularly women. It was pointed out that it was no coincidence that microcredit developed alongside Structural Adjustment Policies. It was a logical consequence of greater poverty, unemployment and the withdrawing of the State from public services.

Other forms of personal debt were also brought up, such as the massive phenomenon of student debt that has been greatly increased by the liberalisation and continual increase of higher education inscription fees and costs, particularly in the US, the UK and Japan. Mortgage Mortgage A loan made against property collateral. There are two sorts of mortgages:
1) the most common form where the property that the loan is used to purchase is used as the collateral;
2) a broader use of property to guarantee any loan: it is sufficient that the borrower possesses and engages the property as collateral. debts – which sparked off the subprime crisis from which we have not yet recovered – are a violation of the right to housing and highlight capitalism’s predatory nature which does not hesitate to speculate on four walls and a tin roof to make a profit Profit The positive gain yielded from a company’s activity. Net profit is profit after tax. Distributable profit is the part of the net profit which can be distributed to the shareholders. .

The African dominant classes

Jean Nanga, from the Congo (Brazzaville), spoke of the arrival and role of the African dominant classes. Understanding their place in African society is essential seeing that the IFIs and the dominant classes of the imperialist countries are not the only culprits of Africa’s subordination, lack of productive investment and unfair distribution of its wealth. This is not to excuse the IFI’s and their imperialist cronies, but to build an analysis that takes into account the mechanisms of African capitalism in order to build a guiding theory which will enable the African forces for emancipation to identify the strategy and tactics necessary to confront the African dominant classes.

Over the last decade we no longer hear only of African poverty, much mention is also made of emerging ‘lion’ states with high economic growth and African billionaires who are said to be the symbols of the African economic “take-off”.

Fifty years ago, Frantz Fanon, author of The Wretched of the Earth, showed the limits of African bourgeoisie: “The national bourgeoisie of underdeveloped countries is not engaged in production, nor invention; nor in building, nor labour, it is completely canalized into activities of the intermediary type. Its innermost vocation seems to be to keep in the running and to be part of the racket” (Chapter Three). For Frantz Fanon, it is a class that will be forever subjugated and will never be an actor of radical change in favour of the peoples.

The debate that raged about African social classes in the 1960s is dead. Kwame Nkrumah, who theorized “consciencism” suggesting that social classes did not exist in African society, finally published , after having been ousted by a military coup, a work entitled The class struggle in Africa.

So, there is a dominant class in Africa having “high value” individuals and this is not a new phenomenon.

A historical look at the creation of the local dominant classes

Since the arrival of the first Europeans, there has always been a native African minority who identified their interests with those of the Europeans who practised the slave trade – particularly the African Kings. This minority took an active part, right up to the 19^th century, in capturing slaves and transporting them to the shipping docks. After the abolition of slavery the same dominant class continued to trade slaves and other commodities Commodities The goods exchanged on the commodities market, traditionally raw materials such as metals and fuels, and cereals. with the colonizers. It was this activity that laid the ground for the birth of an African dominant class from which many of today’s wealthiest Africans are descendants.

These dominant classes have also profited, since the 1960s, from post-colonial policies of “indigenisation”. African governments have expropriated the foreign capitalists and handed the riches to their own local capitalists. These companies, run for the profit of a minority little inclined to respect even its own rules, have received, from public banks, loans they have never repaid, thus contributing to the 1980s debt crises. This is the crisis that produced the SAPs, imposing privatisations and the liberalisation of the markets. Foreign investors were not alone in benefiting from these measures; the local dominant classes were right in there with them, at the expense of the poorest sectors of the population. The local dominant classes do not have the weight of foreign investors but their powers are far from negligible.

Since the PAS were imposed the accumulation process advances with the support of the IFIs. They are the guides who encourage the States to support private initiative. Those who lag behind are badly noted in the World Bank’s Doing Business report.

Crony capitalism and integration into global capitalism

Jean Nanga developed the idea that the local dominant classes are very often close to a country’s leaders, some of whom are themselves seriously dabbling in business. He gave the example of Olusegun Obasanjo, who was President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007 and helped himself to thousands of shares in an oil company and distributed more to retired generals. Another example is the accrued wealth of Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of José Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola between 1979 and 2017. Over a dozen years, she, who is called “The Princess”, became a billionaire thanks to privatizations in her favour, decided by her father. Today she is a shareholder in telecommunications and fossil fuels companies as well as in commercial banks.

When business men grant loans that turn out to be non-performing the debt burden falls to the State and the popular classes. What is more, the dominant classes often practice tax evasion, thus increasing public deficits which in turn push the country deeper into debt, thereby further straining resources necessary for social spending. Of course, they are never bothered by tax inspectors !

At the 2014 Africa CEO forum (an annual gathering of African employers and investors to discuss African economic affairs, organised by Jeune Afrique and Rainbow unlimited , and sponsored by the African Development Bank) it was announced that African companies would provide 23% of the continent’s investments, whilst they only provided 8% in 2007. This group claims to be Africa’s second biggest investor, led only by West European companies; and second biggest employer. In fact, these companies are principally run by expatriates from other countries leaving the locals in only a few highly placed jobs. We must not be under the illusion that the local dominant class shows solidarity with African labour. Local employees are paid less than their colleagues who work in other African countries and much less than what foreign companies pay their employees.

African investors also invest outside of Africa, i.e. in the Netherlands, South Korea, Russia and even Brazil. They have entered the international dominant class.

A bit of competition between different capitalist groups (foreigners or locals who denounce foreigners’ monopolies) may arise, as it may do so anywhere. African capitalists are sometimes worried that they are suffocated by foreign capital. So, the African Industrial Association has taken position against Economic Partnership Agreements but the local dominant class is not fundamentally opposed to Foreign investment, they are a part of it. Capital interests are interconnected. Whatever their origins they follow the same logic of profiteering.

Local dominant classes and debt policies

Eric Toussaint explained the interests of the local dominant classes not to disrupt neither domestic nor foreign cycles of indebtedness. Concerning domestic debt, it is easy to understand that the local dominant class seeks to lend to the State for a good rate of return. This tendency could already be noticed in the 19^th century and has continually increased over the last decades. This results in a transfer of State revenues that have been levied on the popular classes towards the dominant classes whose income from loans to the State may be considered to be unearned incomes. The local bourgeoisie also have interest Interest An amount paid in remuneration of an investment or received by a lender. Interest is calculated on the amount of the capital invested or borrowed, the duration of the operation and the rate that has been set. in their State’s foreign debt. The comprador bourgeoisie (the merchant bourgeoisie of the dominated countries) being big importers use the foreign currency gained through external debt to pay its imports. What is more, States finance their debts by renewed debt and so reduce the level of taxes on capital. Reducing public debt must necessarily be accompanied with tax increases on capital.

Moroccan capitalism as an illustration of the capitalist dynamic in Africa

Omar Aziki, member of ATTAC-CADTM Morocco, illustrated Jean Nanga’s presentation by the example of Morocco. Although under the subordination of the Northern States Morocco reproduces, for its own account, the same aggressive exportation of capital to the other African States and through the interconnection of world capital it has become another path of entry into Africa for the neo-colonial conquests of the multi-national corporations. The SAPs, particularly the privatisation and laissez faire chapters have allowed great accumulations of capital into the sphere of a small group of local capitalists and multi-national corporations. These policies have enjoyed great public sector support that has found the massive investments necessary to create the networks that capitalism needs. These expenses have increased the weight of public debt and will be paid by the Moroccan population. The expanding crony capitalism is largely orchestrated by the Moroccan monarchy that maintains a monopoly on political power and continually extends its grip on the economy through its National Investment Society. Hindered by the restricted possibilities of their internal market Moroccan capitalists seek to expand their possibilities of investment into the rest of the African continent.

Morocco is assisted in its expansion by the Western Imperialists who have made it a privileged ally as it is considered to be a strong and stable State. The Moroccan monarchy, which is a springboard for neo-colonialism, also polices the flow of migrants. The Moroccan authorities do not blindly obey European demands. Their policies on migration (and so their treatment of migrants) are bargaining chips in their negotiations with European Imperialists.

In Africa, the big Moroccan corporations are investing in telecommunications, the banking sector, fossil and renewable energy, housing and infrastructures. Moroccan corporations have made the most of the telecom privatizations throughout the African continent. It is to be noted that the use of cell phones accelerates the process of financial inclusion of the local populations through the development of mobile payment systems which also integrate into the micro-finance systems. In 2014, 34% of the African population had a bank account, but 12% have a cell phone account (World average is 2%). Moroccan banks maintain 45 subsidiaries in Africa. Their total assets are equal to 107% of Moroccan GNP Gross National Product
GNP The GNP represents the wealth produced by a nation, as opposed to a given territory. It includes the revenue of citizens of the nation living abroad. , usually as universal banks, they offer deposit, investment, insurance and offshore services. Transport is an important sector that Moroccan capital seeks vigorously to develop, particularly through public-private partnerships where the private sector gains control of important infrastructure networks. Moroccan capital is also involved in construction on the African continent, through joint holdings between the National Investment Society cement production and the Franco-Swiss group Lafarge-Holcim (Lafarge-Holcim is currently accused by the French judiciary of giving financial support to Daesh in Iraq and Syria). Moroccan investors are also involved in oil drilling and in the extraction of mineral ores. Finally Moroccan capital takes part in land grabbing in order to develop a food industry that will in no way benefit the local populations.

With the help of the IFIs and of Western and Chinese imperialism Moroccan capital is in the horde of multi-national corporations chasing neo-colonial domination in Africa. Moroccan capitalism grabs its share Share A unit of ownership interest in a corporation or financial asset, representing one part of the total capital stock. Its owner (a shareholder) is entitled to receive an equal distribution of any profits distributed (a dividend) and to attend shareholder meetings. of the cake. In most of the mentioned sectors the Moroccan monarchy is a heavy-weight investor maintaining an authoritarian power that serves its own wealth. The Moroccan monarchy is a hindrance to the development of the country’s productive forces.

Odious debt Odious Debt According to the doctrine, for a debt to be odious it must meet two conditions:
1) It must have been contracted against the interests of the Nation, or against the interests of the People, or against the interests of the State.
2) Creditors cannot prove they they were unaware of how the borrowed money would be used.

We must underline that according to the doctrine of odious debt, the nature of the borrowing regime or government does not signify, since what matters is what the debt is used for. If a democratic government gets into debt against the interests of its population, the contracted debt can be called odious if it also meets the second condition. Consequently, contrary to a misleading version of the doctrine, odious debt is not only about dictatorial regimes.

(See Éric Toussaint, The Doctrine of Odious Debt : from Alexander Sack to the CADTM).

The father of the odious debt doctrine, Alexander Nahum Sack, clearly says that odious debts can be contracted by any regular government. Sack considers that a debt that is regularly incurred by a regular government can be branded as odious if the two above-mentioned conditions are met.
He adds, “once these two points are established, the burden of proof that the funds were used for the general or special needs of the State and were not of an odious character, would be upon the creditors.”

Sack defines a regular government as follows: “By a regular government is to be understood the supreme power that effectively exists within the limits of a given territory. Whether that government be monarchical (absolute or limited) or republican; whether it functions by “the grace of God” or “the will of the people”; whether it express “the will of the people” or not, of all the people or only of some; whether it be legally established or not, etc., none of that is relevant to the problem we are concerned with.”

So clearly for Sack, all regular governments, whether despotic or democratic, in one guise or another, can incur odious debts. and other illegitimate public debts, vulture funds Vulture funds
Vulture fund Investment funds who buy, on the secondary markets and at a significant discount, bonds once emitted by countries that are having repayment difficulties, from investors who prefer to cut their losses and take what price they can get in order to unload the risk from their books. The Vulture Funds then pursue the issuing country for the full amount of the debt they have purchased, not hesitating to seek decisions before, usually, British or US courts where the law is favourable to creditors. , revolutionary transformation of society

The seminar programme was enriched by discussions to define the concepts and the use of the concepts of odious debt, illegitimate debt, illegal debt and unsustainable debt [1]. Eric Toussaint presented Alexander Nahum Sack’s doctrine of odious debt – a debt is odious if the use it is put to is against the interests of the population and the lenders were aware of this, or could have been aware of it – which is based on fundamental legal principles and the study of many historical cases of debt repudiation. These principles may support legitimate legal arguments in favour of repudiation of debt, in contrast to the dominant discourse saying that debts must always be honoured.

The preying behaviour of investment funds Investment fund
Investment funds Private equity investment funds (sometimes called ’mutual funds’ seek to invest in companies according to certain criteria; of which they most often are specialized: capital-risk, capital development funds, leveraged buy-out (LBO), which reflect the different levels of the company’s maturity. , sometimes called “Vulture Funds”, who speculate on the high returns on debt bonds of States facing default is well documented and denounced. The case of Argentina, presented by Maria Elena Saludas, who follows this question, illustrates these practises. Vulture Funds purchased a large amount of Argentine debt and then refused to take part in the restructuring after the payment default that occurred in December 2000. Then, when Mauricio Macri was elected President in December 2015 he rapidly took measures to satisfy the Vulture Funds and resume borrowing, even though Argentina had shown that a country can have good growth without the financial markets.

Debt auditing was also very much considered. It would be useful to audit debts in several sub-Saharan countries where the debt shows signs of being odious or the result of SAPs that have been disastrous for the populations. Audits would bring to light not only the nature and conditions (i.e. sum borrowed and interest rates Interest rates When A lends money to B, B repays the amount lent by A (the capital) as well as a supplementary sum known as interest, so that A has an interest in agreeing to this financial operation. The interest is determined by the interest rate, which may be high or low. To take a very simple example: if A borrows 100 million dollars for 10 years at a fixed interest rate of 5%, the first year he will repay a tenth of the capital initially borrowed (10 million dollars) plus 5% of the capital owed, i.e. 5 million dollars, that is a total of 15 million dollars. In the second year, he will again repay 10% of the capital borrowed, but the 5% now only applies to the remaining 90 million dollars still due, i.e. 4.5 million dollars, or a total of 14.5 million dollars. And so on, until the tenth year when he will repay the last 10 million dollars, plus 5% of that remaining 10 million dollars, i.e. 0.5 million dollars, giving a total of 10.5 million dollars. Over 10 years, the total amount repaid will come to 127.5 million dollars. The repayment of the capital is not usually made in equal instalments. In the initial years, the repayment concerns mainly the interest, and the proportion of capital repaid increases over the years. In this case, if repayments are stopped, the capital still due is higher…

The nominal interest rate is the rate at which the loan is contracted. The real interest rate is the nominal rate reduced by the rate of inflation. ) of the borrowing but also the identities of the borrowers and the social and environmental consequences suffered by the populations, as did the audit carried out by Ecuador with very positive results.

A general audit of the debt would give the social movements that we take part in and seek to develop the opportunity to inspect public debts and to convince their public opinion of the necessity of unilateral repudiation. This measure, which would liberate vast resources for social programmes and the creation of jobs, must also be accompanied with other strong political measures in order to ensure that the cycle of indebtedness is smashed and create the basis for a world that has more sense than the one we are currently subjected too.

These last thoughts were developed during the presentation of the history of Soviet debt repudiation after the October revolution in Russia in 1917. Debt had been inherited from the tsarist regime and from the provisional government in place in Russia between February and October 1917. The perspectives of revolutionary social change were assessed in regard to recent events in Maghreb, Mackrech and the ousting of Blaise Compaore in Burkina Faso. The Stalinist counter-revolution in Russia, the current ones in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the absence of change in Burkina Faso reinforce the idea that the oppressed and exploited must create strong long-term democratic movements to establish favourable and permanent balances of power. The experience gained by the mobilised sectors of the population, particularly the young, in recent struggles that have shaken totalitarian regimes serving the exploiters, is undeniably one of the peoples assets in the coming struggles.

Meeting of the CADTM International Council

The CADTM held its annual International council meeting to assess the network’s recent actions and to schedule future actions. The activities since the precedent meeting of the International Council that was held in Tunis in April 2016 were presented by ATTAC-CADTM Morocco. The Council considered the realisations and activities favourably.

Through ATTAC-CADTM Morocco and the International Secretariat contacts have been established in Egypt where, despite the repressive nature of the current regime a CADTM chapter is being created. ATTAC-CADTM Morocco continues to develop numerous activities in a repressive situation where the authorities refuse to recognize the association. A new study of micro-credit has been published (a summary, in French, is available; meetings of activists, both national and international have been organised, A meeting of Maghreb countries to discuss free-trade agreements and food self-sufficiency in December 2017. Participants are expected from Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Palestine.

The agenda of upcoming events in sub-Saharan Africa was presented. Over the next few years African countries where a CADTM network member is present will organize the CADTM’s African summer schools, the next seminar “Women, debt and microcredit” as well as a regular programme of training schemes and seminars in all the countries concerned. After Egypt, an activist group in Kenya has requested adhesion to the CADTM International network.

In Europe, the CADTM maintains its contacts with the alter-globalist network and takes good note of its recent relative successes by supporting common constructive actions on the challenges in the euro zone. The CADTM actively supported the creation of a united front against illegitimate municipal debt in Spain and a CADTM chapter has recently been launched in Italy.

The date and place of the next regional CADTM workshop in Asia was decided – 6 to 8 April in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and will probably be followed by a public meeting in Delhi, India, to present the English version of the latest book The debt System which is due to appear soon.

In Latin America the CADTM is very much involved in the counter-summit “WTO Enough” that will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December as the contradiction to the WTO WTO
World Trade Organisation The WTO, founded on 1^st January 1995, replaced the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). The main innovation is that the WTO enjoys the status of an international organization. Its role is to ensure that no member States adopt any kind of protectionism whatsoever, in order to accelerate the liberalization global trading and to facilitate the strategies of the multinationals. It has an international court (the Dispute Settlement Body) which judges any alleged violations of its founding text drawn up in Marrakesh.

meeting that is to take place at the same time and place. In 2018, the CADTM in Latin America will mobilize against the G20 G20 The Group of Twenty (G20 or G-20) is a group made up of nineteen countries and the European Union whose ministers, central-bank directors and heads of state meet regularly. It was created in 1999 after the series of financial crises in the 1990s. Its aim is to encourage international consultation on the principle of broadening dialogue in keeping with the growing economic importance of a certain number of countries. Its members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, USA, UK and the European Union (represented by the presidents of the Council and of the European Central Bank). which will also take place in Argentina.

The International council also discussed the CADTM’s part in the upcoming World Social Forum, to be held in March 2018 in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, as well as in the process of convergence among social movements that originated in the landless peasants movement and will be held in Caracas, Venezuela, during the first six months of 2018.

A debate on the subject of the three socialist governments in South America, under threat from imperialist meddling in their internal affairs, permitted to develop an attitude of solidarity that did not exclude critical observation.

The various meetings and exchanges strengthened the realization among activists that since capitalism does not have frontiers so our struggles must be strengthened on the international level, against policies of indebtedness pandering to imperialism and against all forms of exploitation and oppression.
HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!!!

Translated by Mike Krolikowski, Vicki Briault and Christine Pagnoulle.