[stop-imf] ALERT - STOP STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT IN ECUADOR! call before Thurs . 6/22 (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

50 YEARS IS ENOUGH NETWORK

ALERT:  STOP STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT IN ECUADOR!
Contact Your World Bank Executive Director Before Thursday, June 22!
Support Ecuadoran Civil Society - Remember the Indigenous Uprising of
January!

June 20. 2000


Last week a delegation of Ecuadoran human rights, women's and trade union
organizations came to Washington, D.C. to meet with officials at the World
Bank, International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Treasury.  During the week,
June 15-16, a forty-eight hour work stoppage took place in Ecuador to
protest government and IMF policies.

The Ecuador delegation in Washington focused much of its energy on
persuading the World Bank to postpone Board adoption the Bank's Country
Assistance Strategy (CAS -- the guiding document for all WB lending for
two years) and a new structural adjustment loan (SAL) for the following
reasons:

* There was a serious lack of participatory process in the development of
the CAS and the structural adjustment loan.  Despite Bank management's
claims to the contrary, at no time were consultations with civil society
organization undertaken on the specific strategies, economic policies, and
conditionalities included in the CAS and SAL. The SAL Project Information
Document (PID) was made available only two days before Bank staff began
negotiations on the loan with the Ecuadorian government, and information
about this $150 million operation is limited to three short paragraphs.  
In the case of the CAS, the content of this document, including its key
conditions relating to compliance with the IMF Economic Program,
privatization of state enterprises, and financial sector reform, has never
been made public!

* The CAS is conditioned on the fullfillment of IMF policies, such as the
removal of subsidies, that are causing broad opposition and social
mobilization in Ecuador, including the work stoppage that took place last
week.

* The World Bank program would require that social sector spending be
frozen at exceedingly low levels.  In 1999, social sector spending fell by
10% from levels that already left many Ecuadorans without access to basic
education and health care. Health and education spending constitute a mere
3% and 8% respectively of the 2000 budget.  At a time when 70% of the
population is living in poverty, earning less than $2/day, the Bank's
strategy to keep social sector spending at very low levels is appalling.

* The World Bank program does not even address Ecuador's crippling debt.
Debt servicing is projected to consume an astounding 53.9% of government
expenditures in 2000.  The IMF and other multilateral development banks
hold the largest portion of this debt.

Support Ecuadoran civil society organizations and activists by contacting
the World Bank Board of Directors immediately!  Demand that (s)he oppose
approval of the Ecuador CAS/SAL loans.  The Board is scheduled to vote on
Thursday, June 22, 2000.  Please call, fax, or e-mail the Executive
Director (board member) representing your government.  (Put headings on
the faxes or in the e-mail subject lines which say POSTPONE ECUADOR
CAS/SAL DECISION - THURSDAY, JUNE 22)

The list of Executive Directors and their contact information appears
below. For further information, contact the 50 Years Is Enough Network -
202/544-9355; wb50years@igc.org <mailto:wb50years@igc.org> or
soren@afgj.org <mailto:soren@afgj.org>.

THANK YOU!



Ms. Jan Piercy (U.S.)
Tel: 202 458-0110/11
Fax: 202 477-2967
Email: "jpiercy@worldbank.org"

Al-Saad, Khalid M. [Kuwait] 
(also representing Bahrain; Arab Republic of Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; 
Libya; Maldives; Oman; Qatar; Syrian Arab Republic; United Arab Emirates; 
Republic of Yemen) 
Room: MC12-125 
Tel 458-1030/31 Fax 477-3537 
Email: "kalsaad@worldbank.org" 

Alyahya, Yahya Abdullah M. [Saudi Arabia] 
Room: MC12-525 
Tel. 458-0191/90 Fax. 477-1759 
Email: "kalyahya@worldbank.org" 

Bachmayer, Ruth (Ms.) [Austria] 
(also representing Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, 
Luxembourg, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey) 
Room MC12-541 
Tel 45-84661 Fax# 522-3453 
Email: "rbachmayer@worldbank.org" 

Bugrov, Andrei [Russian Federation] 
Room MC13-635 
Tel. 458-7080 Fax#477-4274 
Email: "abugrov@worldbank.org" 

Ferrer, Federico [Spain] 
(also representing Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, 
Nicaragua, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela) 
Room MC12-453 
Tel 458-2089/90 Fax# 522-1575/76 
Email: "fferrer@worldbank.org" 

Gaoseb, Godfrey [Namibia] 
(also representing Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The 
Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, 
Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, 
Zimbabwe) 
Room MC12-341 
Tel 458-2105/06, Fax 522-1549 
Email: "ggaoseb@worldbank.org" 

Garcia, Valeriano [Argentina] 
(also representing Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) 
Room MC13-561 
Tel. 458-2066/67/69 Fax# 477-3786 
Email: "vgarcia@worldbank.org" 

Haque, Inaamul [Pakistan] 
(also representing Afghanistan (informally), Algeria, Ghana, Islamic 
Republic of Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia) 
Room MC13-141 
Tel. 458-1084/85 Fax# 477-9052 
Email: "ihaque@worldbank.org" 

Hutagalung, Jannes [Indonesia] 
(also representing Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, Lao People's Democratic 
Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, 
Vietnam) 
Room MC13-175 
Tel. 458-1197/98 Fax# 477-4116 
Email: "jhutagalung@worldbank.org" 

Hyden, Neil Francis [Australia] 
(also representing Cambodia, Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Marshall 
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New 
Guinea, Republic of Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands,Vanuatu) 
Room MC11-745 
Tel 458-1018/19 Fax# 477-2007 
Email: "fhyden@worldbank.org" 

Meyer, Matthias [Switzerland] 
(also representing Azerbaijan, Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) 
Room MC13-227 
Tel 458.7050/1 Fax# 477-9110 
Email: "mmeyer@worldbank.org" 

Milleron, Jean-Claude [France] 
IMF13-118 
Tel. 623-6505 Fax# 623-4951 
Email: "jmilleron@worldbank.org" 

Miyamura, Satoru [Japan] 
Room MC12-305 
Tel. 458.0098/99 Fax# 522-1581 
Email: "smiyamura@worldbank.org" 

Niemi, Ilkka [Finland] 
(also representing Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, 
Sweden) 
Room MC13-531 
Tel 458-1081/82 Fax# 477-6818 
Email: "iniemi@worldbank.org" 

O'Leary, Terrie (Ms.) [Canada] 
(also representing Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas,Barbados, Belize, 
Dominica,Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, St.Kitts and Nevis, St. 
Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) 
Room MC12-175 
Tel 458-0077/78 Fax# 477-4155 
Email: "toleary@worldbank.org" 

Passacantando, Franco [Italy] 
(also representing Albania, Greece, Malta, Portugal) 
Room MC13-751 
Tel 458-1169/70 Fax# 477-3735 
Email: "fpassacantando@worldbank.org" 

Pickford, Stephen [United Kingdom] 
Room: IMF11-120 
Tel 623-4560 Fax# 623-4965 
Email: "spickford@worldbank.org" 

Portugal, Murilo [Brazil] 
(also representing Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Hati, Panama, 
Philippines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago) 
Room MC12-319 
Tel.458-0096/97 Fax# 522-1551 
Email: "mportugal@worldbank.org" 

Schaffer, Helmut [Germany] 
Room MC11-125 
Tel. 458-1183/84 Fax# 477-7849 
Email: "hschaffer@worldbank.org" 

Singh, Balmiki Prasad [India] 
(also representing Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka) 
Room MC12-151 
Tel 458-1046/47 Fax# 522-1553 
Email: "ssingh@worldbank.org" 

Stek, Peiter [The Netherlands] 
(also representing Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, 
Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, 
Romania, Ukraine) 
Room MC13-433 
Tel. 458-2052/53 Fax# 522-1572/73 
Email: "pstek@worldbank.org" 

Toure, Bassary [Mali] 
(also representing Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central 
African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of 
Congo, Djibouti, EquatorialGuinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, 
Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao 
Tome and Principe, Senegal, Somalia (informally), Togo) 
Room MC13-335 
Tel. 458-7126/27 Fax# 522-1585 
Email: "btoure@worldbank.org" 

Zhu Xian [China] 
Room MC13-111 
Tel 458-0058/59 Fax# 522-1579 
Email: "zxian@worldbank.org"