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TechnoratiVenezuela Pulling Out of IMF, World Bank
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez announced Monday he would pull Venezuela out of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a largely symbolic move because the nation has already paid off its debts to the lending institutions."We will no longer have to go to Washington nor to the IMF nor to the World Bank, not to anyone," said the leftist leader, who has long railed against the Washington-based lending institutions.
Venezuela, one of the world's top oil exporters, recently repaid its debts to the World Bank five years ahead of schedule, saving $8 million. It paid off all its debts to the IMF shortly after Chavez first took office in 1999. The IMF closed its offices in Venezuela late last year.
Chavez, who says he wants to steer Venezuela toward socialism, made the announcement a day after telling a meeting of allied leaders that Latin America would be better off without the U.S.-backed World Bank or IMF. He has often blamed their lending policies for perpetuating poverty.
Chavez wants to set up a new lender run by Latin American nations and has pledged to support it with Venezuela's booming oil revenues. The regional lender, which he has called "Bank of the South," would dole out financing for state projects across Latin America.
Chavez has criticized past Venezuelan governments for signing agreements with the IMF to restructure the economy - plans blamed for contributing to racing inflation.
Under former President Carlos Andres Perez in 1989, violent protests broke out in Caracas in response to IMF austerity measures that brought a hike in subsidized gasoline prices and public transport fares.
Enraged people took the streets in violence that killed at least 300 people - and possibly many more. The riots came to be known as the "Caracazo," and Chavez often refers to it as a rebellion against the status quo.
During Sunday's talks with leaders from Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, Chavez predicted that "sooner or later, those institutions will fall due to their own weight."
"They will wear away - the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and all those institutions," Chavez said.
Bolivian President Evo Morales raised complaints about a World Bank body that mediates disputes between governments and foreign investors. He said governments never seem to win their disputes against transnational companies at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Chavez suggested that Latin countries could instead create their own arbitration body for disputes with big companies.
Venezuela is not the only country in the region distancing itself from international lenders.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Sunday that he hopes to "get out of that prison" of IMF debt and that "we are negotiating with the Fund to leave the Fund."
Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa, recently asked the World Bank's representative there to leave and said the country paid off its debt to the IMF. Argentina also has paid back billions of dollars to the IMF.
© 2007 The Associated Press.
46 Comments so far
Show AllOne must note that America has become toothless lion, and there is no need to be afraid of. The entire planning of America is exposed in the book: Confession of an Economic Hit Person, by John Perkinson. America is most cruel and charecterless country in the world. Now other countries must unite together and form the seperate "currency". If it is not possible then every country must deal in its own curency so that the dollor power will go away. Chavez has done a excellent job by way of taking a decision of being pulling out of the IMF and WB. All countries which are harrased by these two toothless tigers, should also now come out of IMF and WB and levy "N" no. of sanctions on USA.
Hugo for President 2008. Whoops, he's not a natural born citizen of the US. He probably wouldn't want the job anyway. Who cares, I'm going to vote for him anyway.
There is an exitement in your messages, something I haven't seen accumulated like this for a long while. That exposes our yearning for justice, our disgust with corruption and the hope, that a trend will emerge, strengthening the independence and resolve of a people... yep, we can live differently.
Now we have to look closely what story has 'freed' peoples minds and left them with a smile for the future, seeing a nation freed itself from the burden of debt, from being exploited... being free from us!
Now we have to work on ourselves...
It's a pity that so many vulgar lies are being told about Hugo Chavez. Many more honest and benevolent politicians will come into power in the coming years. The time for imperialism and barbarism has past. Social Democracy is going to become the global norm, regardless of the selfish opposition.
Read about what's going on in Venezuela:
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php
----------------------------
"The time for war has past...
Man must change or die.
There is no other course."
The World Teacher
http://www.Share-International.org
Concerning the IMF and World Bank, you might want to read Joseph Stiglitz's writings. He was an insider, economic advisor to Clinton, VP at the WB, until he spoke out against faulty policies at the World Bank. After that, the neocons and corporatists aka neo-facists shunned him. A Nobel laureat in economics, Stiglitz is worth paying attention to. His latest statement is a projection of present and future costs from the "war" in Iraq at this point of $1.5 trillion.
SALUD, COMANDANTE!!!!!
A very wise move on the part of Chavez and I do hope the rest of the world is paying attention. The IMF and World Bank are happy to loan money, but it always comes with strings attached and benefits the rich multinational stockholders and management at the expense of the people. South Americans as a whole seem much more aware of this and also much more comfortable with socialist practices. The U.S. and the world has a lot to learn from their example. I think the tide has turned here in the U.S. in terms of public opinion but the powers that be will not let go easily.
We recently purchased the documentary "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil", a wonderful and inspiring film about how Cuba dealt with the significant challenges it faced after it lost over half its oil imports after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990. It was very hard on everyone and required major changes in lifestyle but it also brought them together, made them more independent and stronger.
There are big changes coming for our society, for our entire world. Climate change, Peak Oil, social and economic inequality crises, ecological failures, and more. If we the poeple, and I mean that in a global sense, begin to see that we really need each other and we can put aside our differences and begin to work together to deal with the challenges we all face, we can begin to build a new world together. This movie really inspired me to feel that it is not only possible, but it can be better - simpler, more connected, more peaceful, and more deeply satisfying. I highly recommend the movie if you haven't seen - here is the website:
http://www.communitysolution.org/cuba.html
My favorite quote from the movie is this:
"To be free, you must be economically independent. To be economically independent you must be energy independent". I would modify it to "independent of capitalist organizations like the IMF, World Bank, Multinational Corporations, etc. Lets vote for that by all means, but lets also vote with our dollars.
I am filled with gratitude once again to have found the community here at common dreams. May it's philosophy and wisdom spread and unite with others of similar thinking and action all across the globe.
si si!!!!!
my heart is excited at the coming prospects......at the changes which will be set in motion
viva la gente!
The bright side of Bush's disastrous policies is that a few nations can wiggle out of the corporate grasp enforced by our military and intelligence spending.
I hope the best for the Venezuelan people, but outside pressure and human nature may cause Hugo to fail to keep all the people foremost in his mind. He must also allow the orderly transfer of power through a process that promotes worthy successors.
The ruling class fears Chavez for the same reason they hate and fear Castro -- their example of resistance and civilized behavior threatens corporate hegemony and demostrates to the world that there are other, better, ways of doing things. Let them tremble at the power of the People.
What Chavez is doing is showing the rest of the world how to take the money that OIL provides and use it for the people to get out of poverty! I do think they hate Chavez only because of that, period. They do not want the people really involved, they just want to use them so they can get rich. If they can keep a large number of people poor then they can use them to make their own ends. They buy you by the hour, and if they can get you for a few hours for free all the better for them!
I personally am very excited about the direction South and Central America are going. Why is it that every time a country decides to nationalize thier own resources, the United States government tries to portray them evil? Viva Chavez, Viva Morales, Viva Ortega, and Viva the San Danistas
This is just the beginning, the rest of the world is watching... and will follow.
A must read to discover details of the relationship of these funding institutions and the countries envolved is Perkin's CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN. It sounds like the countries mentioned above are working on finding their own funding mechanism. Maybe there's a lesson for the US there.
Let's not overlook the biased reporting in this AP article. Just one example:
"Enraged people took the streets in violence that killed at least 300 people - and possibly many more. "
Because AP failed to attribute who did the killing, note they said "violence that killed," the implication is that the enraged people (i.e., the citizens) were the ones committing the violence when the truth is that the people were the victims of the government which fired on unarmed citizens.
Chavez' courage and leadership in moving his country out from under the heavy, killing hands of the IMF and WB is inspiring. Hopefully other countries will follow his lead, but those of us who follow international dynamics know that the heavy killing hand has its body and the body of the global-cons will pull out all its heavy hands to attempt to destroy Chavez and any others who show such leadership.
As a citizen of the United States I know that I have an obligation to be speaking politically now in support of the economic self-agency of developing countries. Our elected officials and our public need to hear this message from inside, from us, not only from the outside. If we don't speak, we are complicit in the continuing economic subjugation to our wealth.
Hugo Chavez is right to dump the WB and IMF, but he should also dump Bank of the South. Credit is simply not the best approach. We can live better without credit. If you want to build a house you can live in your parents' house while you build your own. At age 20 you start working to buy the land. After five years, you own it, straight and clear. Then you work another three years to buy the materials. Then after you spend a year building it, you have a house, bought and paid for at age 29. You may argue that with credit you could have lived in it for eight years and had it halfway paid off by then. But this is trading off your self-determination, and your influence on public policy. Will the public policy uphold the public interest? Or will public policy uphold the banker's interest? You see, where there is no banker, there is no banker's interest to uphold.
Ezerfly, the 2002 coup supported by the US succeeded briefly in removing the democratically-elected Chavez government, but democracy was restored within days. The Iraq fiasco has strained the US military-intel apparatus to the point that TV evangelist Pat Roberts' approach of direct military intervention for now remains impossible. The best they can do is to manage public perceptions by continually referring to Chavez as an extremist, Castro Jr., crazed anti-American, and most Americans probably believe something like that. Just read most US newspaper articles that mentions him. Latin American perceptions are more difficult to control.
Chavez is truly honoring the memory of Simon Bolivar. He is emancipating the southern hemisphere from slavery to the north. He is also showing us the way to the future. His enemies are the enemies of all of humanity.
"He has often blamed their (IMF/World Bank) lending policies for perpetuating poverty."
.......And with good reason!
It's nice to see a government taking "monetary policy" into its own hands. Our "bank-ridden society" was created by Congress through the National Banking Acts of 1863-4 and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. They essentially gave their Constitutional authority of our monetary system to the private banking industry.
"The system was created by historical forces, but if we want to, we can identify these forces and change the system. What we have lacked is the understanding of our possible choices, along with the discernment and moral courage to act on our understanding." - Richard C. Cook
Monetary Reform! Viva Chavez!
Paid off Venezuela's debts ahead of time? Pulled out of the IMF & World Bank? Ran the oil pigs out of the Orinoco basin???
CHAVEZ '08!!!!!
The World Bank and IMF are a front for US corporate interests in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and Asia. These are tools used by economic hitmen. http://www.economichitman.com/
Go Chavez!!
Viva! Chavez!
Viva! Zapata! - Who said: It's better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees.
The IMF, formerly the BIS (Bank for International Settlements), Is nothing more the money laundering front, a pinato for the Oligarchy.
Maat, Best Wishes and Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk1vEuhBuEU
Chomsky wrote about "the threat of a good example". Anybody know how the conservatives here plan to destroy Chavez?
Another example of American international influence and reputation speeding headlong down the TOILET thanks to Bush and his sycophantic enabling cronies....
Chavez has his faults, but he is the inspirational political leader of our times. He knows that many in Washington would love to assassinate him, and he knowingly puts his life in danger because he wants to be a hero.
I sometimes think that Chavez is only alive today because Bush and his criminal gang have been too distracted by their ongoing war crimes in Iraq and the unmitigated disaster they have caused. There is almost always a silver lining, no matter how dark the cloud.
Time for the American people to start thinking about a more Socialistic approach. It can be seen where Capitalism has gotten us. Just ask the top 1% of the wealthy!
Viva! Chavez! Vote with your dollar! Go Citgo! No gas is great, but he is doing something good with the money. The will of the people must be heard! Hey, I heard most reds can't read, maybe Chavez can help!
Viva Chavez!!! Every continent that has any resources left should band together as they are starting to do in South America. Power to the people!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_doctrine
This is why the Bush fascist party is so negative toward Hugo Chavez. If successful, Hugo will end the decades long domination of South America by the financial robber barons
that used to be US companies but who have become extra-national and answerable to no one. It is because of the policies of these resource thieves that the rest of the world has come to hate us. It is because of these criminals that anti-US terrorists have sprung up all over the planet. They reap the profits and Americans get all the backlash because these people don't understand that the oppressors are out of our control. Meanwhile the multi-national syndicate has convinced the American people the terrorists are out to destroy our way of life. Its another case of "let's you and him fight." Our blood is being spent to line the pockets of the leadership of Exxon, Halliburton and others of their ilk.
If there was ever an institution that needed to be torn down, simply because it should never have been allowed to exist in the first place this is it.
America's domestic treasury ran empty long ago. They have been using the structure of the World Bank and IMF to drain the last drops of blood from the poorest, most desperate nations on earth.
Whatever financial hardships result, I will smile through all of them if it means the collapse of such a vile, exploitative institution.
Good Riddance.
You are right, Plantman!
Chavez reads Chomsky...
Ooops - hit submit by accident! Let me finish...
We're talking about a group who are more concerned with their election next time around, or they're just intellectually challenged.
Dr. Zimmerman Robert May 1st, 2007 7:11 pm
"Perhaps the USA ought to nationalize its own oil production and reclaim its national wealth."
Good thought, but with Congressional leaders whose only concern is having power over the people; or have no moral courage; or can't think out-of-the-box, it will never happen.
We're talking about a group who are more concerned with their election next time around, or they're just
Who said: It's better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees.?
Che Guevara
Chavez certainly is a hero to the common people of Latin America and the world at large. But the day will come when the people will be ready for a change.
When that day comes, I sincerely hope that Chavez will display the kind of courage demonstrated by Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua in 1990.
Will Chavez be willing to turn his revolution over to others when the people demand it? Or will he cave in to his fears, like Fidel Castro, and choose to regard himself as "indispensable" to Venezuala's security and progress?
My Limbaugh-following, O"Reilly-watching Republican friend finally said to me, "Everything you've told me over the past two years has turned out to be true" (to a great extent due to Commondreams). "I really have to rethink everything that I've believed in." One of the last bricks in his wall is that Chavez is the bogey-man, a threat to us all. "He's not?" he asked as I prepared to tell him who Chavez really is.
Viva Chavez! Buy Citgo gas. (vote with your money--that's what the fascists do every time!)
Now if we can just get U.N. out of the U.S. and moved to Caracas instead, we might actually start seeing some legitimate, people-oriented decisions coming out of the world body.
If Mr.Chavez can turn his oil revenues to social advantage: create work with fair wages, education for all age groups, including adults. Housing, social medical access to all, post-school university access, or trade/skills training, then Venezuelans will indeed reflect on this move away from the World Bank and IMF as a very positive decision indeed.
I wish Mr. Chavez and his country every success.
I think it's great that Chavez did that, as many countries as possible need to do the same. Everybody I know is always saying how awful Chavez is, but he has done some good things, definitley for people in the NE of our country. so far I've seen the news media trying to spin this as the next thing to blame for when the gas prices spike yet again!
Perhaps the USA ought to nationalize its own oil production and reclaim its national wealth.
AND—it is great to see Chavez' smiling face. When that guy smiles, you know it's quite real. May he smile for a long time.
Venezuela is fortunate to take this great step into genuine sovereignty. Imagine a world of such nations, strong in themselves, self-sufficient, not enslaved to other lands because of internal deficiencies.
The world is moving onward. It's great to see.