[stop-imf] Debt Activists Hold "Unhappy" Birthday for IMF/WorldBank; Deliver 10,000 Cards

[Robert Weissman]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE =96 APRIL 21, 2004
CONTACT: Neil Watkins, 202-421-1023

DEBT ACTIVISTS HOLD =91UNHAPPY=92 BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR IMF/WORLD BANK


Rally Participants Call For Full Debt Cancellation for Impoverished Nations=
,
Deliver More Than 10,000 =91Unhappy=92 Birthday Cards


Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Announces Intention to Introduce Legislation in
Congress to Match Rally=92s Call for 100% Debt Cancellation


WASHINGTON, DC =96 Several hundred activists, students, and people of faith
concerned about the impact of international debt on impoverished nations th=
rew
an =93unhappy 60th birthday=94 party for the IMF and World Bank today in a =
park
across from the World Bank in Washington, DC.

The participants delivered more than 10,000 signed =93unhappy birthday
cards=94 =96
sent by citizens from 23 countries and more than 40 U.S. states --  to a
representative of the World Bank.  The cards called on the institutions
to enact
full debt cancellation for impoverished nations without harmful conditions.

Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, Director of the Washington office of the Natio=
nal
Council of Churches, led the delegation of rally participants to the
doors of
the World Bank to deliver the cards. =93We advocate for policies and
funding that
will help the poorest among us. Cancellation of the debt for many of these
countries would have an immediate and positive impact,=94 said Girton-Mitch=
ell.
=93Our prayer is that that the IMF and World Bank cancel the debt and
become a
beacon of light for those living in the darkness caused by poverty,
hunger, and
lack of education.=94

Speakers at the event issued a clear call for 100% debt cancellation for
impoverished nations. After 8 years of its limited and conditional debt rel=
ief
program, participants argued, the Heavily Indebted Poor County (HIPC) Initi=
ative
and the IMF/World Bank have failed to provide an effective end to the debt
crisis facing countries of the Global South.

=93The spread of the AIDS virus won=92t stop and wait for the IMF and World
Bank to
cancel the debt,=94 said Jubilee USA Network National Coordinator Marie Cla=
rke.
=93While the IMF/World Bank fiddle around with their Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries Initiative (HIPC), the AIDS pandemic claims 8,000 lives each day.
African nations pay $15 billion each year to the IMF/World Bank and wealthy
creditors instead of spending that money to fight AIDS. This tragedy
cannot be
allowed to continue.=94

Also at the event, a spokesperson for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) stated
that Ms.
Waters will introduce a bill in Congress to push forward the call for 100%
cancellation.

=93I am planning to introduce a bill to require the IMF to cancel all of
the debts
owed by heavily indebted poor countries.  My legislation, the JUBILEE
Act, will
bring the Biblical concepts of justice, understanding and equity to the IMF=
.
The JUBILEE Act will provide debt cancellation to all of the poor countries
included in the IMF's debt relief program as well as Nigeria, the Philippin=
es,
South Africa and several other poor countries that were excluded by the IMF=
,=94
explained Rep. Waters in a written statement. "This year, the IMF
celebrates its
sixtieth birthday.  The JUBILEE Act is my birthday gift for the IMF!=94

Speakers from Argentina, South Africa, and the Philippines addressed the cr=
owd
about the urgency of the debt crisis in their countries. =93Sixty years of
the IMF
and World Bank has been sixty years of debt, death, and destruction,=94
said Lidy
Nacpil, Coordinator of Jubilee South, the global network of debt and develo=
pment
groups from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. =93We are here to call on the
IMF and
World Bank to cancel the debts of all South countries, put a stop to struct=
ural
adjustment programs and economic conditionalities, and retire at sixty,=94 =
said
Nacpil, who also works with the Freedom from Debt Coalition in the Philippi=
nes.

###


+++++++++++++++++++++
Neil Watkins
Outreach and Communications Coordinator
Jubilee USA Network
222 E. Capitol St., NE
Washington, DC 20003
Direct line - (202) 783-0129
Fax - (202) 546-4468
Web - www.jubileeusa.org
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