WASHINGTON - November 20 - Debayani Kar, Communications and Advocacy Coordinator for the Jubilee USA Network, reacted today to the conclusion of the Friday meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC:

“We welcome the Inter-American Development Bank’s decision to cancel the debts of five impoverished Latin American economies, coming after months of protracted negotiations led by the US and affected country governments as well as advocacy by civil society in the affected countries and by allies in the US, Europe, and Latin America. We also welcome special consideration for Haiti, the most impoverished country in the Americas.

“But we continue to urge the IDB to cancel the broadest amount of debt possible while implementing immediate debt cancellation for Haiti. The IDB failed to reach a decision Friday on the amount of debt to be cancelled for Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua. A recent IDB staff paper suggested reducing the proposed amount of debt cancellation by almost $2 billion from $3.5 billion to $1.6; this is unacceptable.

“Under the terms of Friday’s agreement, Haiti will not benefit from IDB debt cancellation until it implements a series of harmful economic reforms mandated by international financial institutions, led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Given that more than half of Haiti’s $1.3 billion in debt was contracted by the brutal dictatorships of Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier, it is unjust that Haiti is being asked to comply with economic policies such as privatization of basic services or increased trade liberalization before obtaining full debt cancellation.

“We know that debt cancellation works. Limited debt relief so far has provided three extra years of school for Honduran children. In Africa, the 2006 implementation of G-8 debt cancellation has put children in school in Burundi and eliminated health care fees in rural Zambia.

“Looking ahead to the 2007 Sabbath Year, we reiterate our call for immediate debt cancellation for all impoverished countries in Latin America and the Caribbean where debt is odious or impedes human development and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moving forward, we will continue to work towards a Jubilee cancellation of debts in this region as well as in Africa and Asia.”

###