resist july 2010

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By Paul Quintos

Leaders from 20 major economies gatheredin Toronto last June 26-27, 2010 in thefirst Summit of the G20 in its new self-designated role as the premier forum forinternational economic cooperation. Itsmandate is no less than licking the gravesteconomic crisis the world has seen since the

1930s, and ensuring strong, sustainableand balanced global growth.

But just what was accomplished by the re-cently concluded G20 Summit in Toronto?

First, the summit misrepresented profitgrowth for economic recovery. Even beforethe Toronto summit, the G20 leaders have

been patting themselves on the back forrescuing the world from a deeper depres-sion, citing rising GDP figures, rallies inthe stock market, the stabilization of the

financial system, increasing bank profitsand more business activity. In fact, thisuptick is artificial and unsustainable as it issolely reliant on trillions of dollars of publicmoney handed out by governments to thebiggest banks and failing conglomerates asbailout money.

But for the rest of the population, condi-tions in the real economy remain desperate.In the US, 15 million workers were officiallyreported as jobless in May 2010, apart from1.1 million discouraged workers and 8.8

million involuntary part-time workers. Inthe European Union, there are 1.8 millionmore people unemployed compared toa year ago. Worldwide, unemploymentincreased from 178 million in 2007 to 239million in 2009, which is the highest levelever recorded, according to figures from

the International Labour Organisation.And no one among the G20 leaders daredclaim that the jobs crisis was going to besolved anytime soon which only shows

what kind of recovery they are really con-cerned about.

Second, in keeping with the myth ofrecovery, the Summit promised decisiveaction on fiscal consolidation, callingfor halving of budget deficits by 2013 andstabilizing debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016.By this they mean withdrawing stimulus

measures, imposing fiscal austerity andnew taxes (or user fees) in order to raiserevenues needed to cover the bailoutshanded over to the finance oligarchy. Thistranslates to wholesale job cuts particular-ly in the public sector, and slashing educa-tion, health, housing and other social and

welfare programs. This will only worsenthe already dire situation of billions of

working people around the world. It willalso further constrict effective demand inthe economy, prompting Paul Krugman to

warn of a third depression in the offing.

On the other hand, the Summit offered meplatitudes for addressing the major issuesof financial reforms, climate change andglobal hunger. Two years since the collapsof financial markets across the world, thereare still no concrete measures being imple-mented to rein in the predatory and recklepractices of bankers and financial specula-tors that precipitated the crisis. Not evena tax on big banks to help pay for the messtheyve made, or a levy on financial transac

tions to discourage further speculative flowand fund social and development programSummit leaders pompously announced$224-million in grants for agriculture inBangladesh, Rwanda, Haiti, Togo, and SierLeone a miserly sum compared to the $1.billion spent on their own security for twodays in Toronto.

Lastly, the Toronto G20 Summit will beremembered for the untrammelled brutal-ity and viciousness of state security forcesin dealing with protesters who chose not tobe silent and passive as G20 leaders hatche

new schemes to screw the world. Torontopolice deliberately allowed a tiny fractionof the tens of thousands of protesters fromall over the world to display their rage bysmashing windows and torching vehicles

with full media coverage. After images ofmayhem were played up in corporate medi

with very little commentary on the substantial issues raised by protesters, the policecracked down with their newly purchasedguns, armoured vehicles, helicopters andsonic canons, exerting little effort at distinguishing between window smashers and

non-violent protesters. Even media peopleand bystanders were included in the largesmass arrest in Canadian history, some of

whom complained of physical, sexual andpsychological abuse under police custody.

But we should not forget that the gravestinjustice in Toronto was still inflicted by th

honourable and distinguished gentlementoasting the success of another gather-ing from inside barbed wires and concretefences.

THE G20 IN TORONTO:

MAYHEM FROMINSIDE THE FENCES

RESIST!is an international peoples campaign to confront the global economic crisis and the developing conditions for fascism and war. It supports amplifies peoples struggles for jobs, decent working and living conditions, housing, access to basic ser vices, land, a bigger share in the fruits of theand freedom from discrimination, racism and political repression. Above all, it aims to raise awareness about the deeper systemic problems in the wcapitalist system and the necessity for fundamental social change.

RESIST! is an initiative of the International League of Peoples Struggles Commission Number 2.

You may submit comments and contributions to RESIST! c/o IBON International, 114 Timog Avenue, Quezon City, 1103 Philippines or by [email protected]. Visit http://peopleresist.net/

NEWSLETTER July 20


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2 Resist Newsletter July 2010

FRONTLINES

By Grace LivingstoneLatin American elites once gave US GreenBerets free rein in their mountains andrainforests and schooled their own of-ficers in US academies, where they learntthe latest counter-insurgency and torturetechniques to be used against subver-sives. But today the pink tide govern-ments are pulling their officers out of UStraining schools. Argentina, Venezuela,Bolivia and Uruguay have now with-drawn from the School of Americas, thenotorious institution that boasts 11 Latin

American dictators among its graduates.Ecuador and Nicaragua are likely to with-draw their soldiers and Costa Rica, whichhas no army, has pulled out its policecadets. The School of Americas used to bebased in the Panama Canal Zone, but hasnow moved to Fort Benning, Georgia andhas a new anodyne name: the WesternHemisphere Institute for Security Coop-eration.

The US does not own any military basesin Latin America. Since US SouthernCommand left its headquarters in the

Panama Canal Zone in 1999, it has hadto rely on friendly governments to lendor lease it military bases in the region.

After leaving Panama, it signed four10-year leases on air-bases in Ecuador,El Salvador, Aruba and Curacao. The left

wing president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa,recently refused to extend the lease andUS forces have left the Manta airbase. Ithas now been written into the constitu-tion that US forces cannot be stationed onEcuadorian territory.

The lease on the airbase in El Salvador

was extended for five years, just beforeanother left-winger, President MauricioFunes, was inaugurated in January. Sohe was not given a chance to expel UStroops, but the US will be concerned thatits Salvadoran base does not have a long-term future.

In Paraguay, the Pentagon spent millions

of dollars building a base with a state-of-the-art radar system, which openedin 2006. But to the consternation of USmilitary planners, a progressive priest,Fernando Lugo, has won the presidency,

BASED OUT

so it looks as if the construction was awasted investment.

Apart from the large numbers of UStroops sited in Guantnamo Bay, Cuba,the most important US base in the regionis in Honduras, where 500 troops of JointTask Force Bravo are stationed. One rea-son why Pentagon hardliners have beensympathetic to the recent coup in Hon-duras is because the ousted president,Manuel Zelaya, planned to start commer-cial flights from the base, compromisingthe security and secrecy of US operations

on that vital installation.Clawing back military hegemony

As it casts its eye around the region, thePentagon has been finding it harder andharder to find military allies and has beenforced to fall back on Colombia, the coun-try with the worst human rights record inthe hemisphere. As it tries to claw back itsonce unassailable military hegemony, theUS has re-activated the Fourth Fleet ofthe Southern Command Navy, which pa-trols the waters all round Latin America.The Pentagon is now planning to pay for

the construction of new naval bases inPanama, where US military training maytake place, according to the Center forInternational Policy.

Since the launch of Plan Colombia in2001, nominally a counter-drugs strategybut with an obvious counter-insurgencyelement, US forces have gradually beensucked into the war against Colombiasleft-wing guerrillas and are already pres-ent on many of Colombias military bases.Declassified documents show that the USnow spends almost half its military aid

budget in Colombia on private militarycontractors, which obscures the trueextent of the US presence there; ITT, forexample, operates Colombias ground-based military radars.

This latest agreement allows US troops touse seven named bases. Of these, Palan-quero airbase is the most important. The

US will spend more than US$40 millionon improving the runway so it will havethe capacity for large transport aircraftsuch as C-17s, which have been usedin Iraq and Afghanistan and can carry

tanks, helicopters and large numbers oftroops. Also noteworthy are the two navalbases, Cartagena and Malaga, not onlyconvenient ports for the newly-activatedFourth Fleet, but vital gateways to boththe Atlantic and Pacific, crucial to theUS militarys global strategy, as well asoperations in the Americas.Coalitions of the unwilling

The militarisation of Latin America hasprovoked a swell of protest. Almost allthe governments of South America havespoken out against the Colombian bases

deal. In Colombia, a wide coalition ofgrass-roots movements, including thecountrys largest trade union federations,is braving paramilitary repression tospeak out against the bases which, theysay, not only violate the countrys sover-eignty but will exacerbate the countryshuman rights crisis.

In Ecuador a similar coalition success-fully pressured the government to evictUS forces from the Manta base. Both theColombian and Ecuadorian movementsare part of the International Network for

the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases(or No Bases Network) that grew out ofthe social forum in India in 2004 and wasformally established in Quito in 2007.The network, which now has hundredsof campaigners in all continents, aimsto close the estimated 1,000 US and 200European bases worldwide.

Latin Americas new anti-base movementhas an inspiring example in Puerto Rico.There tens of thousands of people pro-tested and took part in civil disobediencecampaigns against the US Navy, which for

decades carried out bombing exerciseson the small island of Vieques. The testbombs contained depleted uranium andcarcinogenic chemicals such as triocylphosphate. In 2003, the US Navy finallyleft Vieques and the Pentagon closed allbut one of its military bases in PuertoRico.

Source: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Based-out?var_recherche=Based%20Out%20in%20Latin%20America


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Resist Newsletter July 2010 3

CRISIS WATCH

IMF PROMOTING FISCALAUSTERITYAMIDST FRAGILE

RECOVERY -UNICEF*Two recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board papersExitingfrom Crisis Intervention Policies and Strategies for Fiscal Consolidationin the Post-Crisis Worldcall for large-scale fiscal adjustment (i.e. re-duction in government budget deficit) when the recovery is securely un-derway and for structural reforms in public finance to be initiated now

even in countries where the recovery is not yet securely underway.

At this juncture, all indications suggest that economic recovery is unevenand fragile. More importantly, according to UN agencies and the WorldBank, the social impacts of the economic slowdown are still felt in terms

of rising poverty levels, unemployment, mortality rates and hunger.Premature fiscal tightening or withdrawal of countercyclical measureswill not contribute to a socially inclusive recovery and undermine effortsto progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Urgent

actions are needed to address the human and long-term economic costsof fiscal adjustment.

We compiled total government expenditure figures from the fiscal opera-

tions tables in the latest IMF reports. An examination of fiscal trendsin these 86 countries shows that nearly 40 percent of governments areplanning to cut total spending in 2010-11, compared to 2008-09. The av-erage size of the projected expenditure contraction is 2.6 percent of GDP,

with large cuts (4-13 percent of GDP) expected in seven countries (i.e.Algeria, Marshall Islands, Republic of Congo, Belarus, Angola, Chad, andMaldives).

It is worrisome that such a large number of countries are already tight-

ening expenditures at a time when the populations in many of thesecountries are still coping with the lingering effects of high local food

and fuel prices. In particular, several of the countries (e.g. Angola, Chadand Republic of Congo) that set out to cut public expenditures have high

initial vulnerabilities in terms of child mortality, malnutrition, or HIVprevalence, implying that a significant portion of their populations havelimited capacity to cope on their own. Rather than scaling up servicesto provide immediate and adequate support to these vulnerable popula-

tions, the curtailing of public expenditure in 2010-11 will likely incurpotentially irreversible long-term human costs.

While increased government spending and fiscal stimulus was encour-aged in the peak of the crisis, our review finds that in two thirds of the

countries, IMF is advising or supporting curtailing public expendituresfor 2010. For 2011 and beyond, fiscal tightening is advised in all but afew countries.

Examining key measures discussed in 86 IMF country reports, a largenumber of governments have been advised to remove fuel or food subsi-dies, cap/cut wages, and rationalize or reform social ser vices, whereasin a fewer number of countries the IMF supports expanding subsidies,

social services, wages and investments in agriculture.

Fiscal adjustment in a greater number of countries, largely, reflects theshift in policy focus to macroeconomic balance and debt sustainability.However, this raises the risk of derailing efforts to develop socio-eco-

nomic policies aimed at ensuring a socially inclusive recovery.

EUROPE FACES THELARGEST DEBT CRISIS IN HISTORY*

According to Austrias finance minister Josef Proell,Europe is now facing the largest debt crisis in history. We

Europeans have no choices left; we have to make signifi-

cant changes to restructure our economic system.Across the continent, governments are announcing budget

cuts and austerity measures to deal with the crisis. InLatvia and Ireland, earnings of government officials have

been radically cut. Ireland, meanwhile, has implementednew taxes and raised the age of retirement, which has led

to widespread public outcry.

Greek President George Papandreou announced in thefirst quarter of this year rigid austerity measures that

were the conditions of a huge loan offered by the other

eurozone states and the IMF. Greece is looking to raise 30billion euros over the next three years with a 23 percent

sales tax. This was met by massive protests and riots in

Athens at the beginning May which resulted in the deathsof three people.

In Spain, public sector employees and retirees will have toshoulder the brunt of planned austerity measures. Prime

Minister Jose Zapatero, whose socialist government is ata tipping point, is looking to save 50 billion euros over the

next four years. Spanish banks, burdened by toxic real-

estate credit, are also faced with the prospect of collapse,which will pose another challenge to the government that

will most likely have to bail them out. Spains two mainunions, meanwhile, are planning a general strike to pro-

test the governments austerity plans. This would be the

first official work stoppage in Spain since 2002.

Up to this point, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has

been hesitant to announce any major government spend-ing cuts. He is looking to initiate a reform of the countrys

retirement system, which led to massive protests in the

capital Paris.

France is thus looking to implement cuts to reduce its defi-

cit, but only if stimulus measures can be upheld. This con-

dition has been met with reservations in Brussels and alsoBerlin, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel annoyed at

Frances weak response to the eurozone debt crisis.

Merkel herself announced an austerity plan last month

looking to save 80 billion euros over the next four years.

Britain is the largest economy outside the eurozone, andso [Prime Minister] Cameron has a bit more leeway than

the other big governments. Hes first looking to implement

rather mild cuts, altogether around seven million euros.Doubts remain whether that will be sufficient to reduce

Britains deficit. The discussion of austerity measures hadbeen long postponed due to campaigning for the general

election.

Despite all efforts to rein in public deficits, however, thetotal amount of debt in the eurozone looks to exceed 90

percent of the monetary unions GDP, according to Euro-pean Commission prognoses. According to the new Lisbon

Treaty, 60 percent is allowed.* This is an extract from Prioritizing Expenditures for a Recovery with a Human Face: Results from a Rapid DeskReview of 86 Recent IMF Country Reports, Social and Economic Policy Working Briefs, April 2010. UNICEFPolicy and Practice. Downloaded from http://www.networkideas.org/alt/may2010/Prioritizing_Expenditures.pdf

* Extract from Europes indebted states all plan austerity measures by Bernd Riegert,DW-WORLD.DE, June 17, 2010


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FRONTLINES

RESISTANCEAROUND THE

EAST ASIANWORKERS DEMANDWAGE INCREASE,GENERAL STRIKES

UNDERWAY

Citizens from two of the countries most affected by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe resistthe austerity measures imposed by their governments at the urging of the European Union.These measures include pension, salary, job, and public services cuts, which entail an enor-mous income transfer from workers and pensioners to corporations and State Revenue Offices.In Spain, about 2 million workers participated in a public sector strike on June 8. In additiona general strike in Basque took place on June 29. A nationwide general strike was also calledby Spanish unions on September 29. Meanwhile in Greece, a 48-hour general strike was held

which was attended by not less than 200,000 people from a wide range of unions, migrants,pensioners, university and secondary school students and even those from workplaces withoutunion representation or with precarious working conditions. The European Trade Union Con-federation is organizing a Europe-wide general strike that will coincide with the September 29nationwide general strike called for by the Spanish unions

At the peak of the continuous strikes in China, workers from its neighboring countries, Cam-bodia, Laos and Vietnam, walked out to demand higher wages and better benefits. Whilethe labor costs in these Chinese neighboring countries amounts to just a fraction of Chinas,

workers find themselves in the worst working conditions, which necessitates the strikes. Thiswas seen in Vietnam where thousands of workers staged a strike against a Taiwanese-ownedshoe factory. The workers demanded for a wage increase. In Cambodia, a three-day strike ofmore than 80,000 workers poses a threat to the Cambodian government if it will not raise themonthly minimum wage from USD 50 to USD 70, said the Free Trade Union. But this threat isslowly turning into a reality as the Cambodian government proposes only a USD 5 increase.

PUNJAB PEASANTSRUSHED FROM FARMS

TO STREET TO RALLYFOR LAND OWNERSHIP

More than 5000 peasants from different agricultural farms in Punjab, Pakistan rushed to thestreets of Okara to protest for their right to land ownership and commemorate its ten yearstruggle on June 29. The protesters gave the Punjab government three months to decide onthe fate of the 68,000 hectare government owned land cultivated by the protesters and theirancestors for more than 100 years now. The protest rally was organized by the Punjab Tenants

Association.

FLOTILLA MASSACREEARNS WORLDWIDECONDEMNATION

The Israeli government earned worldwide condemnation after Israeli commandos attackeda 750-member delegation on a six-boat flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to thepeople of Gaza, killing nine unarmed activists in the process. The Freedom Flotilla is the largesattempt to break a three-year blockade of Gaza by Israel. As a result of this terror attack on theaid convoy, massive protests broke out around the world. Protest rallies took place in Turkey,Cyprus, Iraq, Norway, Sweden, US, Paris, Rome, and in Greece. The attack further strengthensthe peoples calls to stop the Israeli blockade in Gaza and to free Palestine.

WORLDGREEK AND SPANISHACTIVISTS RESISTAUSTERITY MEASURES

UPCOMING EVENTSWOMEN RESISTING CRISIS AND WAR: A CONFERENCE ON THE IMPACTS AND WOMENS RESPONSES TO THE ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL CRISESAND WARS will be held on 19-21 July 2010 in Baguio City, Philippines. The 3-day Conference will bring representatives of workers, peasant and fisher-folk organisations, pastoralists, Dalits, indigenous people, youth, migrants, women, and other sectors and stakeholders together in a common space forsharing and learning experiences, strategies and perspectives on survival and resistance amidst the multiple crises and wars. The event is organized bythe Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN), GABRIELA National Alliance of Womens Organizations in the Philippines (GABRIELA), the Asia Pacific Forumon Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and the Asian Rural Womens Coalition (ARWC) in partnership with Innabuyog, Karibu Foundation and PLANInternational.

MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL WOMENS CONFERENCE 2010Participants from five continents will gather in Montreal, August 13-16, 2010, to discuss building a Global Militant Women s Movement in the 21st Centuryand formally establish the International Womens Alliance on the last day of the conference. The conference will bring together women active in their com-munities and on the frontlines of struggles against imperialist globalization, war and violence against women. Participants will assess the achievements,shortcomings and setbacks of the worldwide womens rights movement during the last 100 years, honour the pioneers and celebrate the centennial ofInternational Womens Day (1910 - 2010). The organizers include the Femmes de Diverses Origines - Women of Diverse Origins in Montral, Gabriela-Phil-ippines, Action Network for Marriage Migrants Rights and Empowerment (AMMORE), Asian Rural Women and representatives from womens organiza-tions in all parts of the world, as well as individuals. To register, please visit the blog: http://miwc2010.wordpress.com/

resist july 2010

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