[stop-imf] Indonesia farmers struggle against WTO, IMF

[Robert Weissman]

The Jakarta Post
April 3, 2002

Farmers struggle against WTO, IMF

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Freedom from injustice as a result of political reform in the country has
proven short-lived for Indonesian farmers, who are now facing tougher
challenges in the form of a global regime, an activist said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Federation (FSPI) Henry Saragih told a
seminar here that unlike in the past when torture and misappropriation of
land were rampant, now international organizations like the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank
were impinging on the rights of farmers.

"The international organizations, which pushed ahead for the creation of
free
trade regimes, are an axis of evil as they bring hardship to farmers
worldwide, especially those in Indonesia," Henry told participants of the
Regional Conference on Farmer's Rights here.

According to Henry, the policies of the WTO, IMF and World Bank have
contributed to the hardships Indonesian farmers are facing today.

Citing an example, he said the IMF had imposed a structural adjustment
program (SAP) on struggling economies like Indonesia, Thailand and the
Philippines.

"The program might be a medicine to cure the banking crisis, but it
certainly
has brought losses to other sectors of the economy, including the
agricultural sector," Henry said.

"Under the SAP program, the governments of those countries are forced to
cut
subsidies they used to give to farmers. This hinders farmers in cultivating

their farms and later reduces their ability to produce crops.

Another speaker in the conference, Riduan Munthe, said under the free trade

regime which was aggressively promoted by the WTO, the government was
forced
to lift protection for farmers in the form of import duty.

"This has brought losses to the Indonesian farmers since they cannot
compete
with products from other developed countries," he said.

Henry called on participants of the conference to fight the global
oppression.

"A global movement, like the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre, Brazil,
to
protest the presence of the WTO, should be promoted. This is important to
have our voice heard by the leaders of the world," he said.

Henry said Indonesian farmers had suffered for so long, dating back in the
era of New Order.

"The New Order government seized lands belonging to the farmers for what
they
claimed were development programs. Intimidation, torture and land
misappropriation were common practice," said Henry.

The regional conference will run until April 5. It is being held ahead of
the
International Farmer's Day of Struggle, on April 17.

Participants are representatives of rural activists from Thailand, Japan,
Vietnam and Germany, among other countries.