[stop-imf] Clips on IMF/WB meeting cutbacks

[Robert Weissman]

From: Neil Watkins <neil@econjustice.net>

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Agence France Presse
August 11, 2001 Saturday 4:17 AM Eastern Time
SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, General News

LENGTH: 217 words

HEADLINE: IMF, World Bank to cut short Washington meeting to avoid
"disruption"

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug 11

BODY:
The IMF and the World Bank have decided to cut short their scheduled annual
meeting here next month from a week to only two days after consulting with
the US government, they announced.

The meeting will be held over the weekend of September 29-30, the two
organizations said in a joint statement on their respective websites Friday
which alluded only indirectly to anti-globalization protesters.

The meeting had originally been scheduled to open on September 28.

The timetable change was decided on "after consultation with the US
government," the statement said.

"The World Bank and IMF fully share the interest of the US authorities, in
their role as host of the event, in ensuring the conduct of all essential
business with the least possible disruption to the people who live and work
in Washington DC," it said.

After the bloody battles between Italian police and protestors at the G8
summit last month in Genoa, where one demonstrator was killed and several
others severely mistreated by the Italian police, the IMF and World Bank
meetings are seen as presenting a major policing challenge for the
Washington police.

The executive directors of the International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank were expected to formally approve the change on Tuesday, the statement
said.

LOAD-DATE: August 11, 2001

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Copyright 2001 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
August 11, 2001; Saturday 12:07 AM Eastern Time
SECTION: International news

DISTRIBUTION: Europe;Britian;Scandinavia;Middle East;Africa;India;Asia;England

LENGTH: 208 words

HEADLINE: IMF, World Bank sharply cut back annual meeting over security
concerns

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
Security concerns have prompted the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund to sharply scale back next month's scheduled meeting in the U.S. capital.

The two lending organizations said in a statement Friday that their annual
autumn meeting would be confined to the weekend of Sept. 29-30. Originally,
they had planned to meet a few days before that weekend and conclude on
Oct. 3.

The IMF and World Bank said they ''fully share the interest of the U.S.
authorities'' in ensuring the least possible disruption to the people who
live and work in Washington.

Protests in connection with the meeting had been planned for Sept. 28
through Oct. 4, and Washington police have been preparing a massive
security operation. Officials said they were expecting as many as 40,000
demonstrators.

District of Columbia officials planned to go to the White House on Monday
to ask that the federal government underwrite the security operation.
Executive Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer said the decision to
shorten the meeting would reduce the request for federal funds from dlrs 50
million to about dlrs 38 million.

Security concerns were heightened by the death of a protester at the Group
of Eight summit in Genoa, Italy, last month.

LOAD-DATE: August 11, 2001

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Financial Times (London)
August 11, 2001, Saturday London Edition 3
SECTION: EUROPE & THE AMERICAS; Pg. 8

LENGTH: 432 words

HEADLINE: IMF, World Bank meetings may be reduced

BODY:
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are planning to shorten
their annual meetings in Washington next month to just two days in the face
of expected protests by thousands of anti-globalisation activists.

The talks, which include a key meeting of finance ministers from the Group
of Seven industrialised nations, will take place over two days, September
29-30, instead of the usual two weeks, Reuters reports from Washington.

The sharp curtailing of the meetings comes against a backdrop of
increasingly violent clashes with police at global summits. Last month in
the Italian city of Genoa one protester was shot dead after clashes with
police.

The decision will be voted on by the boards of the two organisations, with
a final decision expected on Tuesday.

The World Bank said on its website the decision was made after consulting
the US government.

"The World Bank and IMF fully share the interest of the US authorities, in
their role as host of the event, in ensuring the conduct of all essential
business with the least possible disruption to the people who live and work
in Washington," the statement said.

Washington police are braced for as many as 50,000 protesters to descend on
the city. to try to disrupt the meetings of the two organisations.

The Washington event attracts government officials and bankers from around
the world. In April last year protesters clashed with police on the streets
of the capital, leading to more than 600 arrests and a series of skirmishes
as the IMF and World Bank meetings were held.

Many downtown businesses boarded up their premises and police erected a
barricade around a large section of the downtown area in an effort to
control the protests - a move that made it difficult for many workers to
reach their offices.

In an effort to thwart anti-globalisation protesters who, as well as at
Genoa, have dogged meetings of international leaders from Seattle to Prague
and Quebec in recent years, Washington police are planning to draft in
thousands of extra officers from New York and other nearby states for the
forthcoming summit.

Even before the latest move, the IMF and World Bank had truncated their
usual two-week meeting to just one week. In addition, the lenders had
decided to move their annual seminars to their downtown campus from a hotel
in the Tony Woodley Park where the seminars are normally held.

Earlier this year, the World Bank cancelled a seminar in Barcelona to
discuss development. The bank held that conference online instead, citing
security concerns. Editorial comment, Page 10

LOAD-DATE: August 10, 2001

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Los Angeles Times
August 11, 2001 Saturday Home Edition
SECTION: Business; Part 3; Page 3; Financial Desk

LENGTH: 294 words

HEADLINE:
IMF Trims Meetings in Washington;
Globalization: Annual session with World Bank is cut to two days because of
fear of violence.

BYLINE: From Reuters

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
The IMF and World Bank said Friday that they will cut their annual meetings
in Washington next month to just two days in the face of expected protests
and violence by thousands of anti-globalization activists.

The talks, which include a key meeting of finance ministers from the Group
of 7 industrialized nations, will be on Sept. 29 and 30. The meetings had
been scheduled to continue until Oct. 4.

Washington police are bracing for as many as 50,000 protesters to descend
on the city to try to disrupt the meeting of the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank.

The World Bank said the decision was made after consulting the U.S.
government, to ensure "the least possible disruption to the people who live
and work in Washington."

World Bank spokesman Merrell Tuck said the decision stemmed from fear of
violence.

"The expressed intent of violence of a few parties is diminishing the
chance to meet with people of good faith to discuss our points of view,"
Tuck said. "We feel that there is going to be some loss. This is an
unfortunate setback."

Tuck said it was likely that a series of concurrent seminars would be
canceled. They were set to run through Oct. 4 and were to include a speech
by Argentine Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, aimed at rebuilding
confidence in his nation's crisis-ridden economy.

The decision will be voted on by the boards of the IMF and World Bank, with
a final decision expected Tuesday.

Washington Mayor Anthony Williams told President Bush this week that the
city could not guarantee safety during the IMF meetings without federal
help in paying estimated security costs of $50 million.

Mobilization for Global Justice, one organizer of the protests, said the
rallies would be held as planned.

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The Washington Post
August 11, 2001, Saturday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A01

LENGTH: 1466 words

HEADLINE: IMF Trims D.C. Session To 2 Days; Police to Seek $38 Million In
Federal Aid for Security

BYLINE: Arthur Santana and Paul Blustein, Washington Post Staff Writers

BODY:




The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have decided to
drastically shorten their fall meetings, just as D.C. officials plan to go
to the White House on Monday to ask the federal government to underwrite
the city's security effort for planned protests of the sessions.

The massive action that police envision would include fencing off swaths of
the city and bringing in thousands of police officers from other
jurisdictions. It would be a response, Executive Assistant Police Chief
Terrance W. Gainer said, to escalating clashes between police and
protesters around the world. The death of a protester in a clash with
police at a Group of Eight finance ministers' conference in Genoa, Italy,
last month has raised concerns on both sides.

Last night, Gainer welcomed the decision to truncate the schedule. He said
it would reduce the District's request for federal money from $ 50 million
to about $ 38 million.

The World Bank and the IMF said in a statement late yesterday that their
annual meetings would be "consolidated" to two days -- the weekend of Sept.
29 and 30. That is a drastic reduction from the original schedule, under
which the meetings would have begun a couple of days before that weekend
and run through Oct. 3. Protesters had planned actions from Sept. 28
through Oct. 4.

"The World Bank and IMF fully share the interest of the U.S. authorities,
in their role as host of the event, in ensuring the conduct of all
essential business with the least possible disruption to the people who
live and work in Washington, D.C.," the statement said. It added that the
decision is subject to formal approval Tuesday.

Protesters said the change would not have a major impact on their plans.

The decision to shorten the meetings is the latest in a series of moves
aimed at minimizing the potential for violence during such gatherings. The
World Trade Organization is holding its biannual meeting in the Persian
Gulf emirate of Qatar in November, and next year's G-8 summit is planned
for a remote locale in the Canadian Rockies.

Shortening the IMF-World Bank annual meetings to two days marks a major
change. Traditionally, meetings stretched over the better part of a week,
and although the formal reason is to get representatives to approve changes
in IMF and World Bank policies, they have provided a venue for private
financiers and government officials to rub shoulders, exchange information
and, in some cases, conduct business.

The prospect of hotels stormed and streets filled with tear gas had already
raised doubts in some minds about the chances for much socializing or
private business this year. But reducing the meetings to a single weekend
would further shrink that sort of extracurricular activity, along with the
academic-like seminars and panel discussions that also are a hallmark of
the gatherings.

"While we think it's important to make sure there's some access for
private-sector people and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), if it's
only two days, there will be a loss of time for dialogue," said Merrell
Tuck, a World Bank spokeswoman. "We see that as an unfortunate result of a
few more violent elements."

The protesters' plans include surrounding the White House on Sept. 29 and a
massive downtown rally the next day.

Protest organizers have decried the police buildup as an unwarranted use of
public dollars. "It's a waste of taxpayers' money to militarize the city
and the police force," said Adam Eidinger, an organizer with Mobilization
for Global Justice, one of the main activist coalitions helping plan
demonstrations in the fall. He and other protesters said their plans are
nonviolent. "We're preparing for a peaceful protest," Eidinger said. "The
police are preparing for a violent protest."

But Gainer pointed to a succession of clashes, starting in Seattle in
November 1999, as a rationale. At the spring meetings of the World Bank and
the IMF in Washington in April 2000, protesters fought police and a section
of the city was blocked off. Many businesses also were closed. The protests
resulted in more than 600 arrests.

Protests have turned violent in Quebec City, Prague and Genoa, where a
protester -- in a clash involving a police vehicle that was assaulted --
was shot and then run over by Italian police. Complaints of police
brutality there -- not including the shooting -- have been substantiated by
Italian police.

Activists of all stripes are organizing small and large demonstrations in
conjunction with the IMF and World Bank meetings here -- from mainstream
groups such as the AFL-CIO to the more radical anti-capitalist, pro-anarchy
organizations. At the heart of the varied protests are the issues that have
brought thousands into the streets in recent years locally and abroad.
Organizers say those issues include the extent of corporate control over
the world economy, the trampling of workers' rights in the global
marketplace and the austerity-oriented policies of the World Bank and the
IMF in their lending to developing countries.

Whatever the differences may be, police are forging ahead with planning.
Already, about $ 2.6 million has been requested for bus and van rentals for
moving officers, as well as for setting up a patchwork of fences to keep
protesters away from meeting sites and travel routes for thousands of
delegates and staff and the 17 heads of state expected, Gainer said.

He said police may use waist-high bicycle-rack fencing, as well as
six-foot-high fencing and jersey barriers, such as those used in Quebec.

"There will be some areas of the city that only delegates and law
enforcement will be allowed access" to, Gainer said, similar to the
presidential inauguration earlier this year.

An additional $ 1.9 million would be used to outfit some law enforcement
officials with fire-retardant suits and special helmets. And $ 1.3 million
is needed, police say, for items such as rubber bullets. Police say they
also need a cache of fire extinguishers.

About 1,000 federal law enforcement officials -- from agencies that include
the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, U.S. Capitol Police,
the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police and the National Guard -- will
join D.C. police to create a force of 8,200. Gainer said police expect as
many as 50,000 protesters, although he said they anticipate that only a
small percentage of them will be violent.

"People who want to break windows and torch cars and throw rocks and throw
molotov cocktails will be substantially small," Gainer said. But the cost
of security is at the top of the city's agenda, D.C. officials said.

Gainer, Chief Charles H. Ramsey, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Margret
Nedelkoff Kellems, deputy D.C. mayor for public safety, plan to meet with
White House staff and the deputy attorney general Monday.

"We don't have [additional] resources," Williams said last night. "We need
reimbursements. This is another example of our exposure and role as a host
of the federal government, and this is going to require an enormous
commitment of resources." Gainer said several outside police departments
already plan to have some of their forces in Washington next month, but
they need to know soon that D.C. police will be able to pay them and
provide lodging and food.

Other expenses include communications equipment, video cameras and plastic
handcuffs, such as those used in a mass, symbolic arrest in April 2000.

Activists said there was no reason for D.C. police, in particular, to
expect violence. "There is no intention of, and there's been no history of,
protesters hurting anybody," said Robert Weissman, co-director of the
corporate accountability group Essential Action and a member of Mobilization.

D.C. police, along with U.S. Park Police officials, are still nailing down
specifics of the security effort. Gainer said plans would be well publicized.

D.C. Superior Court is not scheduling any criminal jury trials from Sept.
28 to Oct. 5, and those already scheduled will be postponed, said D.C.
courts spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz. Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan
could not be reached for comment yesterday.

U.S. Park Police officials have received about 10 permit requests from
protest groups for that week, but none will be approved until there's a
better idea of which streets will be closed, said Maj. Tom Pellinger,
commander of the special forces branch of the Park Police.

"There is probably going to be a lot of closures," Pellinger said. He said
he is advising tourist groups considering coming to town that week to stay
away if they are concerned about safety.

Staff writers Manny Fernandez, Bill Miller, Dana Milbank, Abhi Raghunathan
and Perry Bacon contributed to this report.

LOAD-DATE: August 11, 2001

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Japan Economic Newswire
August 10, 2001, Friday
LENGTH: 260 words

HEADLINE: IMF, World Bank to shorten itinerary for fall meetings

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 Kyodo

BODY:


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank announced Friday
they will hold a series of financial meetings in Washington on Sept. 29 and
30, two days shorter than the original schedule.

The move is intended to cope with mass anti-globalization rallies planned
by nongovernmental organizations during the meetings. About 50,000
demonstrators are expected to gather in the U.S. capital to protest against
the IMF and World Bank meetings.

'The World Bank and IMF fully share the interest of the U.S. authorities,
in their role as host of the event, in ensuring the conduct of all
essential business with the least possible disruption to the people who
live and work in Washington D.C.,' the two institutions said in a statement.

They were originally scheduled to hold this year's annual general meeting
Oct. 2 and 3, following a meeting of the IMF's policy-setting International
Monetary and Financial Committee on Sept. 30 and a meeting of the joint
Development Committee of the two institutions on Oct. 1.

All meetings will take place over two days under the new schedule. On Sept.
29, a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers is
also expected to be held in Washington.

The annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank will gather finance ministers
and central bank chiefs representing 183 countries.

Symposiums are usually held on the sidelines of the general meeting, with
the participation of economists and financial industry leaders. This year,
however, these events are also expected to be reduced.

LOAD-DATE: August 11, 2001

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Financial Times (London)
August 11, 2001, Saturday London Edition 1
SECTION: LEADER; Pg. 10

LENGTH: 785 words

HEADLINE: An answer for the protesters

BODY:
While preparations begin for the trial of 40 protesters imprisoned after
last month's anti-globalisation riots in Genoa, western leaders face a
choice. Either they must barricade their meetings behind even more rolls of
barbed wire, or they must find a way to deal with some of the concerns of
this increasingly vociferous movement.

Neither option is simple. From the battle of Seattle to the riots of Genoa
it has become clear that tough security is not the full answer. With 231
injured, one dead and 280 arrested, Genoa will only encourage the violent
fringe and push future meetings into ever more remote locations. But trying
to engage with the protesters' arguments is not easy.

Because they represent such a motley coalition - from Greens to
protectionists, from other-world idealists to the shock troops of
revolution - it is tempting to write off the whole thing as a Babel of folly.

That would be wrong. Business leaders and politicians must recognise that
despite their many absurdities, some of the protesters' concerns have a
much wider resonance.

Five strands may be untangled. The first and most important is poverty. As
the rich get richer the number of very poor people has increased in
absolute terms. Second, inequality is seen to have increased both within
and between nations. The contrast between US corporate bosses' pay and the
poverty of their employees in poor countries became much more marked in the
1990s.

Third, the rules of the World Trade Organisation are seen to be unfair,
forcing poor countries to accept goods that destroy local jobs but barring
their agricultural exports.

Fourth, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are blamed for
economic imperialism over indebted countries. Moreover, the moves towards
debt relief are said to be too little, too late and too conditional.

Capitalism distorted

Fifth, global capitalism is said to be distorted in favour of multinational
corporations for their own profit to the cost of poor people, poor
countries and the destruction of the environment.

There are other concerns but these are the main economic issues. At a
general level, it is easy to dismiss the anti-globalisation case. To most
economists, indeed, the benefits of global capitalism are self-evident and
there is plenty of empirical evidence to support them. For example, it took
the UK 60 years to double its output during the 19th century. But global
communications, technology and trade have enabled emerging countries such
as South Korea, China and Japan to double in a decade.

Too little globalisation

More specifically, World Bank studies show that openness to trade benefits
the poor as well as the rich in emerging countries. Indeed, the poorest
countries have suffered from too little globalisation rather than too much.
Their foreign trade has halved in the past 20 years and inward investment
has dried up. Economic mismanagement, corrupt leaders and wars are much
more to blame for poverty.

Other studies show that there is no particular correlation between openness
to trade and inequality. A country's institutional structure is much more
important. Moreover, income inequality and poverty levels do not look
nearly so bad when expressed as a proportion of total populations.

There is, in short, robust evidence that growth promoted by global
capitalism helps the poor in relative and absolute terms - though not as
much as many would like.

Supporters of the system must recognise, however, that these averages
conceal many difficulties. Countries that open up to trade will suffer
pockets of un-employment, for example. In a global market, decisions taken
in New York may have a devastating effect on workers 5,000 miles away. Free
markets are sometimes rigged. And although multinationals generally pay
more than the going rate in poor countries and obey local laws, they need
to be especially careful to avoid accusations of exploitation.

World leaders must recognise more clearly that countries in the developing
world will require more help in setting up safety nets for displaced
workers. More generous aid and debt relief may be a small price to pay for
oiling the mechanism of world capitalism.

But, above all, the developed countries must avoid giving the impression
that they want the next trade round to be all take and no give. Those who
lecture protesters on the virtues of free trade should look at their own
levels of agricultural protectionism.

More generally, they must acknowledge that the market system is far from
perfect. The anti-market protesters are wrong in general but some of their
anxieties deserve a much more careful answer than world leaders have so far
given them.