Jugoinfo
(2/2 - fine)
THE COSTS OF THE AIR CAMPAIGN
Accusing the Serbian people and the former head of State of the crimes
committed by the
aggressor is intended to instill a sense of fear
and collective guilt on an entire Nation.
But there is something else which has so far not been mentioned:
Washington's design is
to hold President Milosevic responsible for the
War not as an individual but as the country's head of State, with a
view to eventually
collecting war reparations from Yugoslavia.
In other words, if the former head of State were to be indicted by the
Hague tribunal,
the country could be held "legally responsible" not only
for the costs of NATO's "humanitarian bombs", but for all the military
and
"peacekeeping" expenses incurred since 1992.
In fact, an army of accountants and economists has already evaluated --
on NATO's
behest-- the costs of the air campaign and the various
"peacekeeping operations". In this regard, the U.S. share of the costs
of the bombing,
"peacekeeping" and "refugee assistance" solely in
fiscal year 1999 was estimated at $5.05 billion. The amounts allocated
by the Clinton
Administration to pay for the war and the refugees in
FY 1999 were of the order of $6.6 billion. So-called "emergency
funding" appropriated by
Congress for operations in Kosovo and other
defense spending in FY 1999 totaled $12 billion. Moreover, the
Department of Defense
estimates the costs of deployment of American
occupation forces and civilian personnel stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo
since 1992 to be
of the order of $21.2 billion.28
In other words, indicting President Milosevic on trumped up charges
raises a fundamental
question of legitimacy. It sanctions the bombings
as a humanitarian operation. It not only absolves the real war
criminals, it also opens
up the avenue for the indictment of Yugoslavia as a
nation.
The former head of State is indicted; the people are collectively
indicted. What this
means is that NATO could at some future date oblige
Yugoslavia to pay for the bombs used to destroy the country and kill
its people.
There is nothing fundamentally new in this process. Under the British
Empire, it was
common practice not only to install puppet regimes but
also to bill the costs of gunboat operations to countries, which
refused to sign a "free
trade" agreement with Her Majesty's government. In
1850, Britain threatened to send in its "gun boats" ---equivalent to
today's
humanitarian air raids-- following the refusal of the Kingdom of
Siam (Thailand) to sign a free trade treaty with Britain (equivalent to
today's "letter
of intent" to the IMF). While the language and institutions
of colonial diplomacy have changed, the similarity with contemporary
practices is
striking. In the words of British envoy Sir James Brooke
(equivalent to today's Richard Holbrooke):
"The Siamese Government is hostile-- its tone is arrogant-- its
presumption unbounded...
Should these just [British] demands firmly urged be
refused, a force should be present, immediately to enforce them by a
rapid destruction
of the defenses of the river� Siam may be taught the
lesson which it has long been tempted, � a better disposed king placed
on the throne,
and an influence acquired in the country which will
make it of immense commercial importance to England... [Note the
similarity in relation
to Yugoslavia] Above all, it would be well to prepare
for the change and to place our own kind on the throne � This prince
[Mongkut] we ought
to place on the throne and through him, we might,
beyond doubt, gain all we desire�. And the expense incurred [of the
military operation]
would readily be available from the royal treasury of
Siam."29
Replace the head of State, impose "free" trade, bill the country for
the military
operation!
PRECEDENTS OF WAR REPARATIONS: VIETNAM AND NICARAGUA
In fact in the case of Vietnam --which won the war against US
aggression-- Hanoi was
nonetheless obliged to pay war reparations to the
United States, as a condition for the lifting of economic sanctions in
1994.
Although the historical circumstances were quite different to those of
Yugoslavia, the
pattern of IMF intervention in Vietnam was in many
regards similar. The decision to lift the sanctions on Vietnam was also
taken in the
context of a donors' conference. "Some two billion dollars
of loans and "aid" money had been pledged in support of Vietnam's IMF
sponsored reforms,
yet immediately after the Conference another
separate meeting was held, this time "behind closed doors" in which
Hanoi was obliged to
fully reimburse � the debts incurred by the US
installed Saigon military government."30 By fully recognising the
legitimacy of these
debts, Hanoi had in effect accepted to repay loans that
had been utilised to support the US War effort.
Moreover, Hanoi's acceptance had also totally absolved Washington from
paying war
reparations to Vietnam totalling $4.2 billion as agreed
at the Paris Peace Conference in 1973.31
NICARAGUA: "FREEDOM FIGHTERS" AND IMF ECONOMIC MEDICINE
Similarly the 12 billion dollars "reparations" that the US had been
ordered to pay to
Nicaragua by the Hague International Court of Justice
(ICJ) were never paid. In 1990, following the installation of a pro-
US "democratic"
government, these reparations --ordered by the ICJ-- were
erased in exchange for "normalization" and the lifting of sanctions. In
return,
Washington approved a token $60 million in "emergency aid"
which was of course conditional upon the payment of all debts and the
adoption of the
most deadly IMF economic shock therapy:
"The United States � provides severance pay to government workers fired
under the
U.S.-mandated [IMF structural adjustment] program to
reduce the size of Nicaragua's government. Among the results:
Nicaragua's social
security budget has been slashed from $ 18 million to $
4 million while unemployment has risen to about 45 percent. Health
spending has dropped
from $86 per person [per annum] five years ago
to $ 18 [in 1991 in the year following the elections]. Pensions for
disabled war
veterans have been frozen at $ 6.50 per month while food
prices have risen [1991] to nearly U.S. levels� In the words of a State
Department
official 'The US is committed to rebuilding Nicaragua, but
there's only a limited amount you can do with development aid.'"32
Yet the US did not hesitate in spending billions of dollars to finance
nine years of
economic embargo and war in which Washington created
and funded a paramilitary army (the Contras) to fight the Sandinista
government.
Heralded by the Reagan administration and touted by the
media as "freedom fighters", the Contras insurgency was financed by
drug money and
covert support from the CIA. And in fact the same
pattern of covert support using drug money was applied to financing the
Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) with a view to destabilizing
Yugoslavia. William Walker, head of the OSCE mission to Kosovo in the
months preceding
the 1999 war, was responsible together with
Coronal Oliver North in channeling covert support to the Contras which
ultimately led to
the downfall of the Sandinista government and its
defeat in "democratic" elections in 1990.
THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION (UNCC)
Another case is that of Iraq which --in the wake of the Gulf War-- was
obliged to pay
extensive war reparations. The United Nations
Compensation Commission (UNCC) was set up to process "claims" against
Iraq. Thirty
percent of Iraqi oil revenues in the "oil for food
program" are impounded by the UNCC to pay war reparations to
governments, banks and
corporations. The UNCC "has awarded more
than $32 billion [in claims], and more than $9.5 billion has been paid
out under the
food-for-oil regime."33
These precedents are important in understanding the war in Yugoslavia.
Although no
official statement has been made by NATO, the
framework and bureaucracy of the UNCC could at some future date be
extended to
collecting war reparations from Yugoslavia. The UNCC's
claim procedures are based on a 1991 UN Security Council resolution
which establishes
Iraq's liability for the Gulf war under international
law.
In the case of Yugoslavia, President Milosevic is accused by the Hague
tribunal for
"crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or
customs of war", 34. Following the Iraqi precedent, a decision of the
Hague Tribunal
concerning President Milosevic could constitute the
basis for the formulation of a similar UN Security Council Resolution
establishing the
liability of the government and people of Yugoslavia for
the "direct loss, damage� to foreign governments, nationals and
corporations", including
"the costs of the air campaign." 35
REWRITING HISTORY
Recent events have shown how realties can be turned upside down by the
aggressor and its
propaganda machine. NATO's intent is to
blatantly distort the course of events and manipulate the writing of
modern history. It
is therefore essential that the Yugoslav people remain
united in their resolve. It should also be understood that
the "demonisation" of the
Serbian people and of President Slobodan Milosevic
alongside the triggering of ethnic conflicts is intended to impose
the "free market" and
enforce the New World Order throughout the
Balkans.
Internationally, the various movements against IMF-World Bank-WTO
reforms must
understand that war and globalization are
inter-connected processes. Applied around the World, the only promise
of the "free
market" is a World of landless farmers, shuttered
factories, jobless workers and gutted social programs with "bitter
economic medicine"
under IMF-WB-WTO custody constituting the only
prescription. Moreover, militarization increasingly constitutes the
means for enforcing
these deadly macro-economic reforms.
Yugoslavia's struggle to preserve its national sovereignty is --at this
particular
juncture in its history-- a part of the broader movement against
the New World Order and the imposition throughout the World of a
uniform neo-liberal
policy agenda under IMF-World Bank-WTO
supervision. Behind these organizations --which routinely interface
with NATO-- are the
powers of the US and European financial
establishments and the Western military-industrial complex.
ENDNOTES
1. Agence France Presse , 19 November 1997.
2 Quest Economics Database. West LB Emerging Trends, 8 March 2001,
Agence France Press,
16 March 2001.
3. Statement of Secretary of State Colin Powell quoted in International
Herald Tribune,
Paris, April 4, 2001
4. International Herald Tribune, op. cit.
5. B 92 News, Belgrade, 3 May 2001.
6. US House of Representatives, Bill HR 1064, section 302, September
2000, at
http://www.house.gov/house/Legproc.html., click 106th
Congress and enter bill number.
7. UPI, 2 April 2001
8. New York Times, 27 February 2001.
9. See Michel Chossudovsky, Washington Finances Ethnic Warfare in the
Balkans", Emperors
Clothes, April 2001.
10. See IMF, IMF Approves Membership of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
and US$151
Million in Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance,
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2000/pr0075.htm.
11. See IMF, IMF Approves Membership of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
and US$151
Million in Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance,
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2000/pr0075.htm.
12. Government of Serbia, Serbia Info, Belgrade 2 May 2001,
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2001-05/03/23335.html.
13 For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Dismantling Former
Yugoslavia,
Recolonising Bosnia, Covert Action Quarterly, Sprint
1996, available at http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/Kosovo/Kosovo-
controversies4.html or
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/dismantl.htm.
14. See Group of 17 "Program of Radical Economic Reforms", Belgrade
1999 at
http://www.g17.org.yu/english/programm/program.htm.
15. New Serbia Forum, "Privatization", Budapest, 13-15th March 2000,
http://www.newserbiaforum.org/Reports/privatisation.htm.
16. The full text of the IMF program is available at
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk&sk875.0 The
Government's
commitment under the IMF program is outlined in
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, "Economic Reform Program for 2001"
Belgrade, December
9th, 2000,
http://www.seerecon.org/FRYugoslavia/erp2001.htm, see also "Synthetic
View" of main
economic policy measures at
http://www.seerecon.org/FRYugoslavia/epmeasures.pdf.
17. See Michel Chossudovsky, Kostunica Coalition Drives Up Prices and
Blames...Milosevic, October 2000,
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/triples.htm.
18. See B 92 News, 3 May 2001 at
http://www.b92.net/archive/e/index.phtml.
19. IM Program, op cit. On Bulgaria see The Wind in the Balkans, The
Economist, London,
February 8, 1997, p.12 and Jonathan C. Randal,
Reform Coalition Wins, Bulgarian Parliament, The Washington Post, April
20 1997, p.
A21.
20. See the Statement of IMF Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer,
December 2000 at
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2000/pr0075.htm.
21. See Michel Chossudovsky, "Brazil's IMF Sponsored Financial
Disaster", Third World
Network, 1998 at
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/latin-cn.htm.
22. For details see Michel Chossudovsky, Financial Warfare triggers
Global Financial
Crisis, Third World Network at
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/trig-cn.htm.
23. See Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalization of Poverty, Zed Books,
London 1997,
chapter 12.
24. The IMF quotes the G-17 study, "Economic Consequences of NATO
Bombardment", Belgrade
2000 at
http://www.g17.org.yu/english/index.htm.
25. See Michel Chossudovsky, NATO Willfully Triggered an Environmental
Catastrophe in
Yugoslavia, June 2000, at is
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/willful.htm.
26. See G-17, "Economic Consequences of NATO Bombardment", Belgrade
2000 at
http://www.g17.org.yu/english/index.htm.
27. USA Today, 10 October 2000.
28. GAO : Briefing report to the Chairman, Committee on Armed Services,
House of
Representatives, RPTno: gao/nsiad-00-125br,
Washington, 24 April 2000.
29. Quoted in M. L. Manich Jumsai, King Mongkut and Sir John Bowring,
Chalermit,
Bangkok, 1970, p. 21.
30. See Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalisation of Poverty, op cit.,
Chapter 8.
31. A. J. Langguth, The Forgotten Debt to Vietnam, New York Times, 18
November 2000, see
also Barbara Crossette, Hanoi said to vow to
give MIA Data, New York Times, 24 October, 1992.
32. The Houston Chronicle, 8 December 1991. To consult the
International Court of
Justice 1986 Judgement on "Nicaragua v. United States
of America" see: "Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against
Nicaragua
(Nicaragua v. United States of America) (1984-1991)" at
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/Icases/iNus/inusframe.htm, summary at
http://www.icj-
cij.org/icjwww/idecisions/isummaries/inussummary860627.htm.
33. UPI, 7 December 2000.
34. See the text of 1999 indictment of President Milosevic by the Hague
Tribunal at
http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ii990524e.htm.
35. See the text of UNSC resolution 687 (1991) pertaining to Iraq at
http://www.unog.ch/uncc/introduc.htm.
C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, May 2001. All rights
reserved. Permission
is granted to post this text on non-commercial
community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the
copyright note is
displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other
form, contact the author at chossudovsky@..., fax: 1-514-
4256224.
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THE COSTS OF THE AIR CAMPAIGN
Accusing the Serbian people and the former head of State of the crimes
committed by the
aggressor is intended to instill a sense of fear
and collective guilt on an entire Nation.
But there is something else which has so far not been mentioned:
Washington's design is
to hold President Milosevic responsible for the
War not as an individual but as the country's head of State, with a
view to eventually
collecting war reparations from Yugoslavia.
In other words, if the former head of State were to be indicted by the
Hague tribunal,
the country could be held "legally responsible" not only
for the costs of NATO's "humanitarian bombs", but for all the military
and
"peacekeeping" expenses incurred since 1992.
In fact, an army of accountants and economists has already evaluated --
on NATO's
behest-- the costs of the air campaign and the various
"peacekeeping operations". In this regard, the U.S. share of the costs
of the bombing,
"peacekeeping" and "refugee assistance" solely in
fiscal year 1999 was estimated at $5.05 billion. The amounts allocated
by the Clinton
Administration to pay for the war and the refugees in
FY 1999 were of the order of $6.6 billion. So-called "emergency
funding" appropriated by
Congress for operations in Kosovo and other
defense spending in FY 1999 totaled $12 billion. Moreover, the
Department of Defense
estimates the costs of deployment of American
occupation forces and civilian personnel stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo
since 1992 to be
of the order of $21.2 billion.28
In other words, indicting President Milosevic on trumped up charges
raises a fundamental
question of legitimacy. It sanctions the bombings
as a humanitarian operation. It not only absolves the real war
criminals, it also opens
up the avenue for the indictment of Yugoslavia as a
nation.
The former head of State is indicted; the people are collectively
indicted. What this
means is that NATO could at some future date oblige
Yugoslavia to pay for the bombs used to destroy the country and kill
its people.
There is nothing fundamentally new in this process. Under the British
Empire, it was
common practice not only to install puppet regimes but
also to bill the costs of gunboat operations to countries, which
refused to sign a "free
trade" agreement with Her Majesty's government. In
1850, Britain threatened to send in its "gun boats" ---equivalent to
today's
humanitarian air raids-- following the refusal of the Kingdom of
Siam (Thailand) to sign a free trade treaty with Britain (equivalent to
today's "letter
of intent" to the IMF). While the language and institutions
of colonial diplomacy have changed, the similarity with contemporary
practices is
striking. In the words of British envoy Sir James Brooke
(equivalent to today's Richard Holbrooke):
"The Siamese Government is hostile-- its tone is arrogant-- its
presumption unbounded...
Should these just [British] demands firmly urged be
refused, a force should be present, immediately to enforce them by a
rapid destruction
of the defenses of the river� Siam may be taught the
lesson which it has long been tempted, � a better disposed king placed
on the throne,
and an influence acquired in the country which will
make it of immense commercial importance to England... [Note the
similarity in relation
to Yugoslavia] Above all, it would be well to prepare
for the change and to place our own kind on the throne � This prince
[Mongkut] we ought
to place on the throne and through him, we might,
beyond doubt, gain all we desire�. And the expense incurred [of the
military operation]
would readily be available from the royal treasury of
Siam."29
Replace the head of State, impose "free" trade, bill the country for
the military
operation!
PRECEDENTS OF WAR REPARATIONS: VIETNAM AND NICARAGUA
In fact in the case of Vietnam --which won the war against US
aggression-- Hanoi was
nonetheless obliged to pay war reparations to the
United States, as a condition for the lifting of economic sanctions in
1994.
Although the historical circumstances were quite different to those of
Yugoslavia, the
pattern of IMF intervention in Vietnam was in many
regards similar. The decision to lift the sanctions on Vietnam was also
taken in the
context of a donors' conference. "Some two billion dollars
of loans and "aid" money had been pledged in support of Vietnam's IMF
sponsored reforms,
yet immediately after the Conference another
separate meeting was held, this time "behind closed doors" in which
Hanoi was obliged to
fully reimburse � the debts incurred by the US
installed Saigon military government."30 By fully recognising the
legitimacy of these
debts, Hanoi had in effect accepted to repay loans that
had been utilised to support the US War effort.
Moreover, Hanoi's acceptance had also totally absolved Washington from
paying war
reparations to Vietnam totalling $4.2 billion as agreed
at the Paris Peace Conference in 1973.31
NICARAGUA: "FREEDOM FIGHTERS" AND IMF ECONOMIC MEDICINE
Similarly the 12 billion dollars "reparations" that the US had been
ordered to pay to
Nicaragua by the Hague International Court of Justice
(ICJ) were never paid. In 1990, following the installation of a pro-
US "democratic"
government, these reparations --ordered by the ICJ-- were
erased in exchange for "normalization" and the lifting of sanctions. In
return,
Washington approved a token $60 million in "emergency aid"
which was of course conditional upon the payment of all debts and the
adoption of the
most deadly IMF economic shock therapy:
"The United States � provides severance pay to government workers fired
under the
U.S.-mandated [IMF structural adjustment] program to
reduce the size of Nicaragua's government. Among the results:
Nicaragua's social
security budget has been slashed from $ 18 million to $
4 million while unemployment has risen to about 45 percent. Health
spending has dropped
from $86 per person [per annum] five years ago
to $ 18 [in 1991 in the year following the elections]. Pensions for
disabled war
veterans have been frozen at $ 6.50 per month while food
prices have risen [1991] to nearly U.S. levels� In the words of a State
Department
official 'The US is committed to rebuilding Nicaragua, but
there's only a limited amount you can do with development aid.'"32
Yet the US did not hesitate in spending billions of dollars to finance
nine years of
economic embargo and war in which Washington created
and funded a paramilitary army (the Contras) to fight the Sandinista
government.
Heralded by the Reagan administration and touted by the
media as "freedom fighters", the Contras insurgency was financed by
drug money and
covert support from the CIA. And in fact the same
pattern of covert support using drug money was applied to financing the
Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) with a view to destabilizing
Yugoslavia. William Walker, head of the OSCE mission to Kosovo in the
months preceding
the 1999 war, was responsible together with
Coronal Oliver North in channeling covert support to the Contras which
ultimately led to
the downfall of the Sandinista government and its
defeat in "democratic" elections in 1990.
THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION (UNCC)
Another case is that of Iraq which --in the wake of the Gulf War-- was
obliged to pay
extensive war reparations. The United Nations
Compensation Commission (UNCC) was set up to process "claims" against
Iraq. Thirty
percent of Iraqi oil revenues in the "oil for food
program" are impounded by the UNCC to pay war reparations to
governments, banks and
corporations. The UNCC "has awarded more
than $32 billion [in claims], and more than $9.5 billion has been paid
out under the
food-for-oil regime."33
These precedents are important in understanding the war in Yugoslavia.
Although no
official statement has been made by NATO, the
framework and bureaucracy of the UNCC could at some future date be
extended to
collecting war reparations from Yugoslavia. The UNCC's
claim procedures are based on a 1991 UN Security Council resolution
which establishes
Iraq's liability for the Gulf war under international
law.
In the case of Yugoslavia, President Milosevic is accused by the Hague
tribunal for
"crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or
customs of war", 34. Following the Iraqi precedent, a decision of the
Hague Tribunal
concerning President Milosevic could constitute the
basis for the formulation of a similar UN Security Council Resolution
establishing the
liability of the government and people of Yugoslavia for
the "direct loss, damage� to foreign governments, nationals and
corporations", including
"the costs of the air campaign." 35
REWRITING HISTORY
Recent events have shown how realties can be turned upside down by the
aggressor and its
propaganda machine. NATO's intent is to
blatantly distort the course of events and manipulate the writing of
modern history. It
is therefore essential that the Yugoslav people remain
united in their resolve. It should also be understood that
the "demonisation" of the
Serbian people and of President Slobodan Milosevic
alongside the triggering of ethnic conflicts is intended to impose
the "free market" and
enforce the New World Order throughout the
Balkans.
Internationally, the various movements against IMF-World Bank-WTO
reforms must
understand that war and globalization are
inter-connected processes. Applied around the World, the only promise
of the "free
market" is a World of landless farmers, shuttered
factories, jobless workers and gutted social programs with "bitter
economic medicine"
under IMF-WB-WTO custody constituting the only
prescription. Moreover, militarization increasingly constitutes the
means for enforcing
these deadly macro-economic reforms.
Yugoslavia's struggle to preserve its national sovereignty is --at this
particular
juncture in its history-- a part of the broader movement against
the New World Order and the imposition throughout the World of a
uniform neo-liberal
policy agenda under IMF-World Bank-WTO
supervision. Behind these organizations --which routinely interface
with NATO-- are the
powers of the US and European financial
establishments and the Western military-industrial complex.
ENDNOTES
1. Agence France Presse , 19 November 1997.
2 Quest Economics Database. West LB Emerging Trends, 8 March 2001,
Agence France Press,
16 March 2001.
3. Statement of Secretary of State Colin Powell quoted in International
Herald Tribune,
Paris, April 4, 2001
4. International Herald Tribune, op. cit.
5. B 92 News, Belgrade, 3 May 2001.
6. US House of Representatives, Bill HR 1064, section 302, September
2000, at
http://www.house.gov/house/Legproc.html., click 106th
Congress and enter bill number.
7. UPI, 2 April 2001
8. New York Times, 27 February 2001.
9. See Michel Chossudovsky, Washington Finances Ethnic Warfare in the
Balkans", Emperors
Clothes, April 2001.
10. See IMF, IMF Approves Membership of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
and US$151
Million in Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance,
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2000/pr0075.htm.
11. See IMF, IMF Approves Membership of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
and US$151
Million in Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance,
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2000/pr0075.htm.
12. Government of Serbia, Serbia Info, Belgrade 2 May 2001,
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2001-05/03/23335.html.
13 For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Dismantling Former
Yugoslavia,
Recolonising Bosnia, Covert Action Quarterly, Sprint
1996, available at http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/Kosovo/Kosovo-
controversies4.html or
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/dismantl.htm.
14. See Group of 17 "Program of Radical Economic Reforms", Belgrade
1999 at
http://www.g17.org.yu/english/programm/program.htm.
15. New Serbia Forum, "Privatization", Budapest, 13-15th March 2000,
http://www.newserbiaforum.org/Reports/privatisation.htm.
16. The full text of the IMF program is available at
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk&sk875.0 The
Government's
commitment under the IMF program is outlined in
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, "Economic Reform Program for 2001"
Belgrade, December
9th, 2000,
http://www.seerecon.org/FRYugoslavia/erp2001.htm, see also "Synthetic
View" of main
economic policy measures at
http://www.seerecon.org/FRYugoslavia/epmeasures.pdf.
17. See Michel Chossudovsky, Kostunica Coalition Drives Up Prices and
Blames...Milosevic, October 2000,
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/triples.htm.
18. See B 92 News, 3 May 2001 at
http://www.b92.net/archive/e/index.phtml.
19. IM Program, op cit. On Bulgaria see The Wind in the Balkans, The
Economist, London,
February 8, 1997, p.12 and Jonathan C. Randal,
Reform Coalition Wins, Bulgarian Parliament, The Washington Post, April
20 1997, p.
A21.
20. See the Statement of IMF Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer,
December 2000 at
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2000/pr0075.htm.
21. See Michel Chossudovsky, "Brazil's IMF Sponsored Financial
Disaster", Third World
Network, 1998 at
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/latin-cn.htm.
22. For details see Michel Chossudovsky, Financial Warfare triggers
Global Financial
Crisis, Third World Network at
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/trig-cn.htm.
23. See Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalization of Poverty, Zed Books,
London 1997,
chapter 12.
24. The IMF quotes the G-17 study, "Economic Consequences of NATO
Bombardment", Belgrade
2000 at
http://www.g17.org.yu/english/index.htm.
25. See Michel Chossudovsky, NATO Willfully Triggered an Environmental
Catastrophe in
Yugoslavia, June 2000, at is
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/willful.htm.
26. See G-17, "Economic Consequences of NATO Bombardment", Belgrade
2000 at
http://www.g17.org.yu/english/index.htm.
27. USA Today, 10 October 2000.
28. GAO : Briefing report to the Chairman, Committee on Armed Services,
House of
Representatives, RPTno: gao/nsiad-00-125br,
Washington, 24 April 2000.
29. Quoted in M. L. Manich Jumsai, King Mongkut and Sir John Bowring,
Chalermit,
Bangkok, 1970, p. 21.
30. See Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalisation of Poverty, op cit.,
Chapter 8.
31. A. J. Langguth, The Forgotten Debt to Vietnam, New York Times, 18
November 2000, see
also Barbara Crossette, Hanoi said to vow to
give MIA Data, New York Times, 24 October, 1992.
32. The Houston Chronicle, 8 December 1991. To consult the
International Court of
Justice 1986 Judgement on "Nicaragua v. United States
of America" see: "Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against
Nicaragua
(Nicaragua v. United States of America) (1984-1991)" at
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/Icases/iNus/inusframe.htm, summary at
http://www.icj-
cij.org/icjwww/idecisions/isummaries/inussummary860627.htm.
33. UPI, 7 December 2000.
34. See the text of 1999 indictment of President Milosevic by the Hague
Tribunal at
http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ii990524e.htm.
35. See the text of UNSC resolution 687 (1991) pertaining to Iraq at
http://www.unog.ch/uncc/introduc.htm.
C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, May 2001. All rights
reserved. Permission
is granted to post this text on non-commercial
community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the
copyright note is
displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other
form, contact the author at chossudovsky@..., fax: 1-514-
4256224.
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In Yugoslavia, the IMF has become the steadfast financial bureaucracy
of the Western
military alliance, working hand in glove with NATO and
the US State Department.
ECONOMIC TERRORISM
by
Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is known to bully developing
countries, imposing
strong doses of "deadly economic medicine" while
saddling governments with spiraling external debts. In complicity with
Washington, the
IMF often meddles in cabinet appointments in debtor
countries. In Korea in the turmoil of the 1997 Asian crisis, the
Finance Minister
--sacked for allegedly "hindering negotiations" with the IMF--
was replaced by a former IMF official.1 In Turkey, also in the wake of
an IMF-style
financial meltdown (March 2001), the Minister of Economy
was substituted by a Vice-President of the World Bank. 2
But what has occurred in Yugoslavia sets a new record in the abusive
practices of the
Washington-based international financial bureaucracy:
the arrest of a head of State of a debtor nation --demanded by its main
creditors-- has
become "a pre-condition" for the holding of loan
negotiations.
While the 31st of March 2001 was Washington's deadline date for the
arrest of President
Slobodan Milosevic by the DOS government,
another ultimatum was set for transferring the former head of State to
the jurisdiction
of the NATO-sponsored Hague Tribunal (ICTY). In the
words of Secretary of State Colin Powell:
"the US administration's support for an international donors'
conference where
Yugoslavia is hoping for up to $1 billion to help rebuild would
depend on continued progress in full cooperation with the [Hague]
tribunal."3
A State Department spokesman further clarified "that the United States
has the power to
stop the conference from going ahead in the early
summer if Washington is not satisfied."4 Meanwhile, the Hague Tribunal
has threatened
to take the matter before the UN Security Council, if
President Milosevic is not rapidly transferred to its jurisdiction. 5
WITHHOLDING FINANCIAL "AID"
Very timely� At the height of the Yugoslav presidential elections
(September 2000),
"enabling legislation" was rushed through the US
House of Representatives. Washington had forewarned Kostunica --
pursuant to an Act of
Congress (HR 1064)-- that unless his government
fully complied to US diktats, financial "aid" would be withheld. The
IMF and the World
Bank had also been duly notified by their largest
shareholder, namely the US government, that:
"the US Secretary of the Treasury [would] withhold from payment of the
United States
share of any increase in the paid-in capital of [the IMF
and World Bank] an amount equal to the amount of the loan or other
assistance [to
Yugoslavia].6
Meanwhile, Washington had demanded the setting up of an office of the
Hague Tribunal
(ICTY) in Belgrade as well as modifications to the
legal statutes of Yugoslavia. The latter --to be rubber-stamped by the
Parliament--
would place the ICTY Tribunal above the jurisdiction of
Yugoslavia's national legal system. It would also allow the ICTY to
order on NATO's
behest, the arrest of thousands of people on trumped up
charges.
RELEASING KLA TERRORISTS
US officials had also intimated that the prompt release of KLA "freedom
fighters"
serving jail terms in Serbia was to be regarded as an
"additional pre-condition" for the granting of financial assistance:
"State Department officials later told UPI that among other steps the
United
States was looking for, were Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to
begin
returning Albanians captured during the 1999 Kosovo conflict to Kosovo
and for
an acceptance of the war crimes tribunal's jurisdiction inside Serbia
where
numerous indicted suspects still enjoy immunity."7
An "Amnesty Law" was rushed through the Yugoslav parliament barely a
month before
Washington's March 31st deadline.8 While the
victims of the war are persecuted and indicted as war criminals, the
Kostunica regime
--on Washington's instructions-- has released Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) criminals (linked to the drug mafias) who
committed atrocities in
Kosovo.
Meanwhile, these criminals have rejoined the ranks of the KLA, now
involved in a new
wave of terrorist assaults in southern Serbia and in
neighboring Macedonia. The evidence amply confirms that these terrorist
attacks are
supported and financed by Washington.9
"ECONOMIC NORMALIZATION"
Without further scrutiny, the Western media touts the holding of a
donors' conference
as "a necessary step" towards "economic
normalization" and the "reintegration" of Yugoslavia into the "family
of nations".
Public opinion is led to believe that the "donors" will "help"
Yugoslavia rebuild. The term "donor" is a misnomer. In fact the donors'
conference is a
meeting of bankers and creditors mainly from the
countries which bombed Yugoslavia. Their intent is to not only to
collect money from
Yugoslavia, but also to gain full control and ownership of
the Yugoslav economy.
Meanwhile, national laws have been revised to facilitate sweeping
privatization.
Serbia's large industrial complexes and public utilities are to
be restructured and auctioned off to foreign capital. In other words,
rather than
"helping Yugoslavia", the donor conference --organized in
close consultation with Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels--
would set the
stage for the transformation of Yugoslavia into a
colony of the Western military alliance.
Yugoslavia's external debt is in excess of $14 billion of which $5
billion are owed to
the Paris Club (i.e. largely to the governments of NATO
countries) and $3 billion to the London Club. The latter is a syndicate
of private
banks, which in the case of Yugoslavia includes some 400
creditor institutions. The largest part of Yugoslavia's commercial
debt, however, is
held by some 16 (mainly) American and European banks
which are members of an "International Coordinating Committee" (ICC)
headed by America's
Citigroup and Germany's giant WestDeutsche
Landesbank. Other big players in the ICC include J. P. Morgan-Chase and
Merrill Lynch.
The ICC --which operates discretely behind the scenes-- ultimately call
the shots
regarding debt negotiations, privatization and
macro-economic therapy. In turn, the IMF bureaucracy acting on behalf
of both the
commercial and official creditors has called for "a
restructuring of FRY's external debt on appropriate terms" underscoring
the fact that
fresh money can only be approved "following the
regularization of arrears." 10 What this means is that Belgrade would
be obliged to
recognize these debts in full as a condition for the
negotiation of fresh loans as well as settle pending succession issues
regarding the
division of the external debt of the FRY with the
"successor republics."
FICTICIOUS MONEY
While token "reconstruction" loans are envisaged, vast amounts of money
and resources
will be taken out of Yugoslavia. In fact, most of the
promised "reconstruction" money is totally fictitious.
A $208 million 'bridge loan" granted by Switzerland and Norway (January
2001 was used to
reimburse the IMF. In turn, the IMF had granted
$151 million to Belgrade in the form of a so-called "post-conflict
assistance" loan. But
this "aid" was tagged to reimburse Switzerland and
Norway, which had coughed up the money to settle IMF arrears in the
first place:
"The [IMF] Board approved a loan [of] �US$151 million under the IMF's
policy on
emergency post-conflict assistance in support of a
program to stabilize the FRY's economy and help rebuild administrative
capacities. Of
this amount, the [Belgrade] authorities will draw�
US$130 million to repay the bridge loans they received [from
Switzerland and Norway] to
eliminate arrears with the IMF."11
The illusion is conveyed that "money is coming in" and that "the IMF is
helping
Yugoslavia." In fact, what remains after the IMF "has
reimbursed itself" is a meager influx of 21 million dollars. And
broadly the same
fictitious money arrangement has been put in place by the
World Bank, which has ordered that $1.7 billion in arrears "be cleared"
before the
granting of fresh loans.
In this regard, Belgrade will be granted a so-called "loan of
consolidation" from the
World Bank to reimburse the $1,7 billion debt it owes to
the World Bank. Little or no money will actually enter the country. In
the words of
Central Bank governor Mladan Dinkic:
"[this] will pave the way for Yugoslavia's return to the World Bank.
`In the first three
years, we will receive the so-called AIDA status, which the
World Bank gives to the poorest countries� [this] is the most favorable
arrangement
possible, with a longer grace-period and minimum
interest, which will allow our economy to pay off the [$1.7 billion]
debt and create
conditions for receiving new loans".12
More generally, the "reconstruction" money will line the pockets of
international
creditors and multinational corporations (with trinkets for
DOS cronies) while putting the entire Yugoslav economy on the auction
block. Assets will
be sold at rock-bottom prices under IMF-World
Bank supervision. The meager proceeds of forced privatization --in
which only foreign
"investors" will be allowed to bid-- will then be used to
pay back the creditors, who happen to be the same people who are buying
up Yugoslavia's
assets.
And who will appraise the "book value" of Yugoslavia's industrial
assets and supervise
the auction of State property? The large European
and US merchant banks and accounting firms, which also happen to be
acting on behalf of
their corporate clients involved in bidding.
DEADLY ECONOMIC MEDICINE
Fictitious reconstruction money, however, is only granted on condition
Yugoslavia
implements economic "shock therapy." The
donor-sponsored program is predicated on "destruction" rather
than "reconstruction".
Under the disguise of "economic normalization", the
IMF, the World Bank and the London-based European Bank for
Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) have been given the mandate to
dismantle through bankruptcy and forced privatization what has not yet
been destroyed by
the bombers.
In this process, political terror and "economic terror" go hand in
hand. The evidence
amply confirms that the IMF-World Bank's lethal
economic reforms imposed in more than 150 developing countries have led
to the
impoverishment of millions of people. In a cruel irony,
bitter economic medicine and token financial assistance are presented
as "the rewards"
for transferring President Milosevic to the
jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal.
While the present IMF program is a "continuation" of the deadly
economic reforms first
imposed on federal Yugoslavia in the 1980s (and
then on its "successor republics"), it promises to be far more
devastating.13
The Group of 17 economists (G-17) --which controls the Ministry of
Finance and
Yugoslavia's Central Bank (NBJ)-- are in permanent liaison
with the IMF, the World Bank and the US Treasury. A "letter of Intent"
outlining in
detail the economic therapy to be imposed on Yugoslavia
by the DOS government had in fact been drawn up in secret negotiations
with the
creditors before the September 2000 presidential
elections. Mladjan Dinkic --who now holds the position of Governor of
the National Bank
of Yugoslavia (NBJ) (Central Bank)-- had stated
that one of the first things they would do under a Kostunica presidency
would be to
implement economic "shock therapy":
"Immediately after taking the office, the new government shall abolish
all types of
subsidies� This measure must be implemented without
regrets or hesitation, since it will be difficult if not impossible to
apply later, in
view of the fact that in the meantime strong lobbies may appear
and do their best to block such measures... This initial step in
economic liberalization
must be undertaken as a "shock therapy" as its radical
nature does not leave space for gradualism of any kind."14
The G-17 does not hide the fact that one of its main objectives
consists in breaking
social resistance to the economic restructuring program:
"Any future democratic regime is likely to face substantial public
resistance to
privatization and the socio-economic reforms that will
accompany it. In the short term, the insolvency and restructuring of
Serbian enterprises
is likely to generate unemployment or wage cuts for
many employees� The servicing of debts and fiscal adjustments are
likely to require cuts
in public expenditure and the introduction of
potentially unpopular new taxes and levies. The purchase of Serbian
firms by wealthy
domestic and foreign investors may also generate
resentment, especially as it will represent a radical break with the
former Yugoslav
tradition of workers' or "social" ownership. Nationalist and
anti-reformist groups are likely to mobilize popular resistance by
exploiting these
problems. This form of political opposition would limit the
scope for introducing effective economic reform and privatization."15.
FREEZING WAGES
The IMF program --put into full swing in the wake of the September 2000
elections--
calls for the adoption of "prudent macroeconomic
policies and bold structural reforms", In IMF lingo, "bold" invariably
means the
application of "shock treatment" while "prudent" means
carefully designed and uncompromising austerity measures.16. Upon
assuming office, the
Kostunica government --under IMF instructions--
has deregulated the prices of basic consumer goods and frozen the wages
of working
people.17 A new Labor Law setting the minimum
wage at 35 percent of the average wage was rubber-stamped by the
Yugoslav parliament. In
other words, with rising prices coupled with the
deindexation of wages ordered by the IMF, the new legislation allows
the real minimum
wage to slide to abysmally low levels.18
Credit has been frozen to local businesses and farmers. Interest rates
have already
skyrocketed. With the end of the economic sanctions,
the IMF has also demanded that import barriers be removed to facilitate
the dumping of
surplus commodities on the domestic market
leading to the bankruptcy of domestic producers. In turn, energy prices
are to be
totally deregulated prior to the privatization of public
utilities, State oil refineries, coal mining and electricity.
In turn, drastic cuts in the social security and pension funds of the
Republic of Serbia
are envisaged, which would virtually lead to their
collapse (See IMF Program, op cit). The restructuring of social
programs is a carbon
copy of that imposed in neighboring Bulgaria, where
pensions paid out to senior citizens plummeted in 1997 to $3 as month.19
ENGINEERING THE COLLAPSE OF THE DINAR
The most lethal component of the IMF program, however, is the so-
called "managed float"
of the exchange rate which --according to IMF
Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer-- is implemented "to better
reflect market
conditions". 20
Yugoslavia's central bank foreign exchange reserves are of the order of
$500 million,
the external debt is in excess of $14 billion. Under
agreement with the IMF, money (in the form of "precautionary loan")
would be granted to
replenish the foreign exchange reserves of the
Central Bank with a view to supporting the dinar. Moreover following
the Brazilian
pattern, the dinar would also be artificially propped up by
extensive government borrowing from private banking institutions at
exorbitant interest
rates thereby fuelling the internal public debt. 21
In the absence of exchange controls restricting capital flight, central
bank foreign
exchange reserves would eventually be depleted. In other
words, when the "borrowed reserves" are no longer there to prop up the
currency, the
dinar collapses. In the logic of the "managed float", the
dollars borrowed under an IMF precautionary fund arrangement, would be
reappropriated by
international creditors and speculators once the
dinar slides, leading to a further expansion of Yugoslavia's external
debt.
In fact, this policy is largely instrumental in triggering
hyperinflation. The national
currency would become totally worthless. In other words,
prices would go sky high following the collapse of the national
currency. In turn, wages
would be frozen on IMF instructions as part of an
"anti-inflationary program" and the standard of living would plummet to
even lower
levels. And Yugoslavs are already impoverished with two
thirds of the population (according to UN sources acknowledged in the
IMF report) with
per capita incomes below 2 dollars a day.
It�s the same financial scam that the IMF applied in Korea, Indonesia,
Russia, Brazil
and more recently Turkey.22 In this process, various
speculative instruments (including "short selling" of currencies) were
applied by
international banks and financial institutions to trigger the
collapse of national currencies. In Korea, debts spiraled in the wake
of the currency
crisis. As a result, the entire economy was put on the
auction block and several of Korea's powerful conglomerates were taken
over by American
capital at ridiculously low prices.
In Russia, the ruble became totally worthless following the
implementation of an IMF
program. The float of the ruble applied in 1992 under
IMF advice was conducive in less than a year to a one hundred fold
(9900%) increase in
consumer prices. Nominal earnings increased ten
fold (900%), the collapse in real wages in 1992 was of the order of 86
percent. In
subsequent years, real earnings continued to plummet
precipitating the descent of the Russian people into extreme poverty.23
More generally, the IMF program creates a framework for collecting as
well as enlarging
the debt through the manipulation of currency
markets. It is worth mentioning, in this regard, that barely a few
weeks before the
arrest of President Milosevic, Turkey was subjected
--following the destabilization of its currency-- to the most brutal
economic reforms
leading virtually over night to the collapse of the standard
of living. Under IMF ministrations, interest rates in Turkey had shot
up to a modest
550%.
WAR DAMAGES
The IMF has acknowledged in its report that the damage caused by NATO
bombings is of the
order of 40 billion dollars.24 This figure does
not take into account the losses in Yugoslavia's GDP resulting from
years of economic
sanctions, nor does it account for the loss of human
life and limb, the human suffering inflicted on an entire population,
the toxic
radiation from depleted uranium and the environmental
devastation amply documented by Yugoslav and international sources. 25
Ironically, this
study on war damages was coordinated by G-17
Mladjan Dinkic and Miroslav Labus who now hold key positions in the DOS
government.
Since his appointment to the position of central
bank governor, Dinkic has not said a word about "war damages" in his
discussions with
Western creditors. 26
LUCRATIVE RECONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
No "compensation" for war damages let alone debt relief has been
contemplated. In a
cruel twist, a large part of the fresh loans --which
Yugoslavia will eventually have to reimburse-- will be used to rebuild
what was
destroyed by the bombers. Moreover, under the World
Bank-EBRD system of international tender, these loans are in fact
tagged to finance
lucrative contracts with construction companies from
NATO countries:
"the big winners [are the Western] telecommunications companies,
construction firms,
banks and shipping concerns who can rebuild the
Danube River bridges, power plants and refineries destroyed by NATO
airstrikes. � While
European companies, already busy with Balkan
projects, have a home-court advantage, U.S. companies such as
infrastructure specialists
Brown & Root [a subsidiary of Vice President
Dick Cheney's company Halliburton Oil], AES and General Electric could
get a piece of
the action." 27
And what will these companies do? They will sub-contract will local
firms and/or hire
Yugoslav engineers and workers at wages below one
hundred dollars a month. In other words, the borrowed money promised to
Belgrade for
"reconstruction" will go straight back into the pockets
of Western banks and MNCs. In turn, the so-called "prioritization of
expenditures"
imposed by the IMF means that the State (i.e. Yugoslavia's
own money) would be footing the bill for clearing the Danube and
rebuilding the bridges,
essentially "subsidizing" the interests of foreign
capital. Moreover, IMF "conditionalities" --which require drastic cuts
in social
expenditures-- would prevent the government from allocating its
budget to rebuilding schools and hospitals hit during the bombing
campaign.
(1/2 - continua)
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of the Western
military alliance, working hand in glove with NATO and
the US State Department.
ECONOMIC TERRORISM
by
Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is known to bully developing
countries, imposing
strong doses of "deadly economic medicine" while
saddling governments with spiraling external debts. In complicity with
Washington, the
IMF often meddles in cabinet appointments in debtor
countries. In Korea in the turmoil of the 1997 Asian crisis, the
Finance Minister
--sacked for allegedly "hindering negotiations" with the IMF--
was replaced by a former IMF official.1 In Turkey, also in the wake of
an IMF-style
financial meltdown (March 2001), the Minister of Economy
was substituted by a Vice-President of the World Bank. 2
But what has occurred in Yugoslavia sets a new record in the abusive
practices of the
Washington-based international financial bureaucracy:
the arrest of a head of State of a debtor nation --demanded by its main
creditors-- has
become "a pre-condition" for the holding of loan
negotiations.
While the 31st of March 2001 was Washington's deadline date for the
arrest of President
Slobodan Milosevic by the DOS government,
another ultimatum was set for transferring the former head of State to
the jurisdiction
of the NATO-sponsored Hague Tribunal (ICTY). In the
words of Secretary of State Colin Powell:
"the US administration's support for an international donors'
conference where
Yugoslavia is hoping for up to $1 billion to help rebuild would
depend on continued progress in full cooperation with the [Hague]
tribunal."3
A State Department spokesman further clarified "that the United States
has the power to
stop the conference from going ahead in the early
summer if Washington is not satisfied."4 Meanwhile, the Hague Tribunal
has threatened
to take the matter before the UN Security Council, if
President Milosevic is not rapidly transferred to its jurisdiction. 5
WITHHOLDING FINANCIAL "AID"
Very timely� At the height of the Yugoslav presidential elections
(September 2000),
"enabling legislation" was rushed through the US
House of Representatives. Washington had forewarned Kostunica --
pursuant to an Act of
Congress (HR 1064)-- that unless his government
fully complied to US diktats, financial "aid" would be withheld. The
IMF and the World
Bank had also been duly notified by their largest
shareholder, namely the US government, that:
"the US Secretary of the Treasury [would] withhold from payment of the
United States
share of any increase in the paid-in capital of [the IMF
and World Bank] an amount equal to the amount of the loan or other
assistance [to
Yugoslavia].6
Meanwhile, Washington had demanded the setting up of an office of the
Hague Tribunal
(ICTY) in Belgrade as well as modifications to the
legal statutes of Yugoslavia. The latter --to be rubber-stamped by the
Parliament--
would place the ICTY Tribunal above the jurisdiction of
Yugoslavia's national legal system. It would also allow the ICTY to
order on NATO's
behest, the arrest of thousands of people on trumped up
charges.
RELEASING KLA TERRORISTS
US officials had also intimated that the prompt release of KLA "freedom
fighters"
serving jail terms in Serbia was to be regarded as an
"additional pre-condition" for the granting of financial assistance:
"State Department officials later told UPI that among other steps the
United
States was looking for, were Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to
begin
returning Albanians captured during the 1999 Kosovo conflict to Kosovo
and for
an acceptance of the war crimes tribunal's jurisdiction inside Serbia
where
numerous indicted suspects still enjoy immunity."7
An "Amnesty Law" was rushed through the Yugoslav parliament barely a
month before
Washington's March 31st deadline.8 While the
victims of the war are persecuted and indicted as war criminals, the
Kostunica regime
--on Washington's instructions-- has released Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) criminals (linked to the drug mafias) who
committed atrocities in
Kosovo.
Meanwhile, these criminals have rejoined the ranks of the KLA, now
involved in a new
wave of terrorist assaults in southern Serbia and in
neighboring Macedonia. The evidence amply confirms that these terrorist
attacks are
supported and financed by Washington.9
"ECONOMIC NORMALIZATION"
Without further scrutiny, the Western media touts the holding of a
donors' conference
as "a necessary step" towards "economic
normalization" and the "reintegration" of Yugoslavia into the "family
of nations".
Public opinion is led to believe that the "donors" will "help"
Yugoslavia rebuild. The term "donor" is a misnomer. In fact the donors'
conference is a
meeting of bankers and creditors mainly from the
countries which bombed Yugoslavia. Their intent is to not only to
collect money from
Yugoslavia, but also to gain full control and ownership of
the Yugoslav economy.
Meanwhile, national laws have been revised to facilitate sweeping
privatization.
Serbia's large industrial complexes and public utilities are to
be restructured and auctioned off to foreign capital. In other words,
rather than
"helping Yugoslavia", the donor conference --organized in
close consultation with Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels--
would set the
stage for the transformation of Yugoslavia into a
colony of the Western military alliance.
Yugoslavia's external debt is in excess of $14 billion of which $5
billion are owed to
the Paris Club (i.e. largely to the governments of NATO
countries) and $3 billion to the London Club. The latter is a syndicate
of private
banks, which in the case of Yugoslavia includes some 400
creditor institutions. The largest part of Yugoslavia's commercial
debt, however, is
held by some 16 (mainly) American and European banks
which are members of an "International Coordinating Committee" (ICC)
headed by America's
Citigroup and Germany's giant WestDeutsche
Landesbank. Other big players in the ICC include J. P. Morgan-Chase and
Merrill Lynch.
The ICC --which operates discretely behind the scenes-- ultimately call
the shots
regarding debt negotiations, privatization and
macro-economic therapy. In turn, the IMF bureaucracy acting on behalf
of both the
commercial and official creditors has called for "a
restructuring of FRY's external debt on appropriate terms" underscoring
the fact that
fresh money can only be approved "following the
regularization of arrears." 10 What this means is that Belgrade would
be obliged to
recognize these debts in full as a condition for the
negotiation of fresh loans as well as settle pending succession issues
regarding the
division of the external debt of the FRY with the
"successor republics."
FICTICIOUS MONEY
While token "reconstruction" loans are envisaged, vast amounts of money
and resources
will be taken out of Yugoslavia. In fact, most of the
promised "reconstruction" money is totally fictitious.
A $208 million 'bridge loan" granted by Switzerland and Norway (January
2001 was used to
reimburse the IMF. In turn, the IMF had granted
$151 million to Belgrade in the form of a so-called "post-conflict
assistance" loan. But
this "aid" was tagged to reimburse Switzerland and
Norway, which had coughed up the money to settle IMF arrears in the
first place:
"The [IMF] Board approved a loan [of] �US$151 million under the IMF's
policy on
emergency post-conflict assistance in support of a
program to stabilize the FRY's economy and help rebuild administrative
capacities. Of
this amount, the [Belgrade] authorities will draw�
US$130 million to repay the bridge loans they received [from
Switzerland and Norway] to
eliminate arrears with the IMF."11
The illusion is conveyed that "money is coming in" and that "the IMF is
helping
Yugoslavia." In fact, what remains after the IMF "has
reimbursed itself" is a meager influx of 21 million dollars. And
broadly the same
fictitious money arrangement has been put in place by the
World Bank, which has ordered that $1.7 billion in arrears "be cleared"
before the
granting of fresh loans.
In this regard, Belgrade will be granted a so-called "loan of
consolidation" from the
World Bank to reimburse the $1,7 billion debt it owes to
the World Bank. Little or no money will actually enter the country. In
the words of
Central Bank governor Mladan Dinkic:
"[this] will pave the way for Yugoslavia's return to the World Bank.
`In the first three
years, we will receive the so-called AIDA status, which the
World Bank gives to the poorest countries� [this] is the most favorable
arrangement
possible, with a longer grace-period and minimum
interest, which will allow our economy to pay off the [$1.7 billion]
debt and create
conditions for receiving new loans".12
More generally, the "reconstruction" money will line the pockets of
international
creditors and multinational corporations (with trinkets for
DOS cronies) while putting the entire Yugoslav economy on the auction
block. Assets will
be sold at rock-bottom prices under IMF-World
Bank supervision. The meager proceeds of forced privatization --in
which only foreign
"investors" will be allowed to bid-- will then be used to
pay back the creditors, who happen to be the same people who are buying
up Yugoslavia's
assets.
And who will appraise the "book value" of Yugoslavia's industrial
assets and supervise
the auction of State property? The large European
and US merchant banks and accounting firms, which also happen to be
acting on behalf of
their corporate clients involved in bidding.
DEADLY ECONOMIC MEDICINE
Fictitious reconstruction money, however, is only granted on condition
Yugoslavia
implements economic "shock therapy." The
donor-sponsored program is predicated on "destruction" rather
than "reconstruction".
Under the disguise of "economic normalization", the
IMF, the World Bank and the London-based European Bank for
Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) have been given the mandate to
dismantle through bankruptcy and forced privatization what has not yet
been destroyed by
the bombers.
In this process, political terror and "economic terror" go hand in
hand. The evidence
amply confirms that the IMF-World Bank's lethal
economic reforms imposed in more than 150 developing countries have led
to the
impoverishment of millions of people. In a cruel irony,
bitter economic medicine and token financial assistance are presented
as "the rewards"
for transferring President Milosevic to the
jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal.
While the present IMF program is a "continuation" of the deadly
economic reforms first
imposed on federal Yugoslavia in the 1980s (and
then on its "successor republics"), it promises to be far more
devastating.13
The Group of 17 economists (G-17) --which controls the Ministry of
Finance and
Yugoslavia's Central Bank (NBJ)-- are in permanent liaison
with the IMF, the World Bank and the US Treasury. A "letter of Intent"
outlining in
detail the economic therapy to be imposed on Yugoslavia
by the DOS government had in fact been drawn up in secret negotiations
with the
creditors before the September 2000 presidential
elections. Mladjan Dinkic --who now holds the position of Governor of
the National Bank
of Yugoslavia (NBJ) (Central Bank)-- had stated
that one of the first things they would do under a Kostunica presidency
would be to
implement economic "shock therapy":
"Immediately after taking the office, the new government shall abolish
all types of
subsidies� This measure must be implemented without
regrets or hesitation, since it will be difficult if not impossible to
apply later, in
view of the fact that in the meantime strong lobbies may appear
and do their best to block such measures... This initial step in
economic liberalization
must be undertaken as a "shock therapy" as its radical
nature does not leave space for gradualism of any kind."14
The G-17 does not hide the fact that one of its main objectives
consists in breaking
social resistance to the economic restructuring program:
"Any future democratic regime is likely to face substantial public
resistance to
privatization and the socio-economic reforms that will
accompany it. In the short term, the insolvency and restructuring of
Serbian enterprises
is likely to generate unemployment or wage cuts for
many employees� The servicing of debts and fiscal adjustments are
likely to require cuts
in public expenditure and the introduction of
potentially unpopular new taxes and levies. The purchase of Serbian
firms by wealthy
domestic and foreign investors may also generate
resentment, especially as it will represent a radical break with the
former Yugoslav
tradition of workers' or "social" ownership. Nationalist and
anti-reformist groups are likely to mobilize popular resistance by
exploiting these
problems. This form of political opposition would limit the
scope for introducing effective economic reform and privatization."15.
FREEZING WAGES
The IMF program --put into full swing in the wake of the September 2000
elections--
calls for the adoption of "prudent macroeconomic
policies and bold structural reforms", In IMF lingo, "bold" invariably
means the
application of "shock treatment" while "prudent" means
carefully designed and uncompromising austerity measures.16. Upon
assuming office, the
Kostunica government --under IMF instructions--
has deregulated the prices of basic consumer goods and frozen the wages
of working
people.17 A new Labor Law setting the minimum
wage at 35 percent of the average wage was rubber-stamped by the
Yugoslav parliament. In
other words, with rising prices coupled with the
deindexation of wages ordered by the IMF, the new legislation allows
the real minimum
wage to slide to abysmally low levels.18
Credit has been frozen to local businesses and farmers. Interest rates
have already
skyrocketed. With the end of the economic sanctions,
the IMF has also demanded that import barriers be removed to facilitate
the dumping of
surplus commodities on the domestic market
leading to the bankruptcy of domestic producers. In turn, energy prices
are to be
totally deregulated prior to the privatization of public
utilities, State oil refineries, coal mining and electricity.
In turn, drastic cuts in the social security and pension funds of the
Republic of Serbia
are envisaged, which would virtually lead to their
collapse (See IMF Program, op cit). The restructuring of social
programs is a carbon
copy of that imposed in neighboring Bulgaria, where
pensions paid out to senior citizens plummeted in 1997 to $3 as month.19
ENGINEERING THE COLLAPSE OF THE DINAR
The most lethal component of the IMF program, however, is the so-
called "managed float"
of the exchange rate which --according to IMF
Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer-- is implemented "to better
reflect market
conditions". 20
Yugoslavia's central bank foreign exchange reserves are of the order of
$500 million,
the external debt is in excess of $14 billion. Under
agreement with the IMF, money (in the form of "precautionary loan")
would be granted to
replenish the foreign exchange reserves of the
Central Bank with a view to supporting the dinar. Moreover following
the Brazilian
pattern, the dinar would also be artificially propped up by
extensive government borrowing from private banking institutions at
exorbitant interest
rates thereby fuelling the internal public debt. 21
In the absence of exchange controls restricting capital flight, central
bank foreign
exchange reserves would eventually be depleted. In other
words, when the "borrowed reserves" are no longer there to prop up the
currency, the
dinar collapses. In the logic of the "managed float", the
dollars borrowed under an IMF precautionary fund arrangement, would be
reappropriated by
international creditors and speculators once the
dinar slides, leading to a further expansion of Yugoslavia's external
debt.
In fact, this policy is largely instrumental in triggering
hyperinflation. The national
currency would become totally worthless. In other words,
prices would go sky high following the collapse of the national
currency. In turn, wages
would be frozen on IMF instructions as part of an
"anti-inflationary program" and the standard of living would plummet to
even lower
levels. And Yugoslavs are already impoverished with two
thirds of the population (according to UN sources acknowledged in the
IMF report) with
per capita incomes below 2 dollars a day.
It�s the same financial scam that the IMF applied in Korea, Indonesia,
Russia, Brazil
and more recently Turkey.22 In this process, various
speculative instruments (including "short selling" of currencies) were
applied by
international banks and financial institutions to trigger the
collapse of national currencies. In Korea, debts spiraled in the wake
of the currency
crisis. As a result, the entire economy was put on the
auction block and several of Korea's powerful conglomerates were taken
over by American
capital at ridiculously low prices.
In Russia, the ruble became totally worthless following the
implementation of an IMF
program. The float of the ruble applied in 1992 under
IMF advice was conducive in less than a year to a one hundred fold
(9900%) increase in
consumer prices. Nominal earnings increased ten
fold (900%), the collapse in real wages in 1992 was of the order of 86
percent. In
subsequent years, real earnings continued to plummet
precipitating the descent of the Russian people into extreme poverty.23
More generally, the IMF program creates a framework for collecting as
well as enlarging
the debt through the manipulation of currency
markets. It is worth mentioning, in this regard, that barely a few
weeks before the
arrest of President Milosevic, Turkey was subjected
--following the destabilization of its currency-- to the most brutal
economic reforms
leading virtually over night to the collapse of the standard
of living. Under IMF ministrations, interest rates in Turkey had shot
up to a modest
550%.
WAR DAMAGES
The IMF has acknowledged in its report that the damage caused by NATO
bombings is of the
order of 40 billion dollars.24 This figure does
not take into account the losses in Yugoslavia's GDP resulting from
years of economic
sanctions, nor does it account for the loss of human
life and limb, the human suffering inflicted on an entire population,
the toxic
radiation from depleted uranium and the environmental
devastation amply documented by Yugoslav and international sources. 25
Ironically, this
study on war damages was coordinated by G-17
Mladjan Dinkic and Miroslav Labus who now hold key positions in the DOS
government.
Since his appointment to the position of central
bank governor, Dinkic has not said a word about "war damages" in his
discussions with
Western creditors. 26
LUCRATIVE RECONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
No "compensation" for war damages let alone debt relief has been
contemplated. In a
cruel twist, a large part of the fresh loans --which
Yugoslavia will eventually have to reimburse-- will be used to rebuild
what was
destroyed by the bombers. Moreover, under the World
Bank-EBRD system of international tender, these loans are in fact
tagged to finance
lucrative contracts with construction companies from
NATO countries:
"the big winners [are the Western] telecommunications companies,
construction firms,
banks and shipping concerns who can rebuild the
Danube River bridges, power plants and refineries destroyed by NATO
airstrikes. � While
European companies, already busy with Balkan
projects, have a home-court advantage, U.S. companies such as
infrastructure specialists
Brown & Root [a subsidiary of Vice President
Dick Cheney's company Halliburton Oil], AES and General Electric could
get a piece of
the action." 27
And what will these companies do? They will sub-contract will local
firms and/or hire
Yugoslav engineers and workers at wages below one
hundred dollars a month. In other words, the borrowed money promised to
Belgrade for
"reconstruction" will go straight back into the pockets
of Western banks and MNCs. In turn, the so-called "prioritization of
expenditures"
imposed by the IMF means that the State (i.e. Yugoslavia's
own money) would be footing the bill for clearing the Danube and
rebuilding the bridges,
essentially "subsidizing" the interests of foreign
capital. Moreover, IMF "conditionalities" --which require drastic cuts
in social
expenditures-- would prevent the government from allocating its
budget to rebuilding schools and hospitals hit during the bombing
campaign.
(1/2 - continua)
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LE RESPONSABILITA' VATICANE NEL CONFLITTO BALCANICO:
ALCUNI ELEMENTI.
a cura del Comitato unitario contro la guerra alla Jugoslavia
( Fonte:
> http://www.softmakers.com/fry/sfrj/ oppure
> http://marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/opuscolo/index.htm
� Nei primi anni '80, subito dopo la morte di Josip Broz Tito, viene
segnalata l'apparizione della Madonna ad alcuni giovani croati a
Medjugorje, una localit� della Erzegovina dove gi� durante la seconda
Guerra mondiale i fascisti si erano scatenati con violenze ed uccisioni
contro la popolazione di religione ortodossa. La gerarchia cattolica
non ha mai voluto ufficialmente riconoscere la veridicit� delle
apparizioni di Medjugorje, ma il clero locale (i frati francescani
dell'Erzegovina noti da secoli per il loro fondamentalismo e, nel
Novecento, per il loro supporto alla causa degli ustascia) se ne �
avvalso per fini propagandistici. Anche dall'Italia sono stati
organizzati pellegrinaggi.
Sarebbe interessante sapere che fine hanno fatto oggi quei
ragazzi "visionari" o "miracolati": sappiamo ad esempio che Marija
Pavlovic, che aveva fatto voto di entrare in convento, � oggi
felicemente sposata; pare anzi che anche gli altri quattro ragazzi
protagonisti della vicenda abbiano messo su famiglia, e che tre di loro
siano emigrati all'estero.
Molti dicono che le cose, in Jugoslavia, cominciarono a precipitare con
la morte di Tito. Ma si pu� anche dire che le cose cominciarono ad
andare a rotoli quando "apparve" la Madonna a Medjugorje. Probabilmente
sono vere entrambe le affermazioni...
� Il 1990 � l'anno dedicato a Madre Teresa di Calcutta. Pochi sanno che
questa suora era originaria di Skopje, nella ex repubblica federata di
Macedonia, ed apparteneva al gruppo etnico albanese. Lo stesso anno
raggiungono il culmine le tensioni tra albanesi e serbi nella regione
del Kosmet (Kosovo e Metochia). Dinanzi a personalit� albanesi Giovanni
Paolo II, in uno dei paesini albanesi del meridione d'Italia, celebra
la Madonna di Scutari, patrona e protettrice dell'Albania. Durante la
celebrazione il papa afferma: "Madre della speranza regalaci il giorno
Leeeeeenel quale questo popolo generoso possa essere unito",
dichiarando cos� esplicitamente il sostegno del Vaticano alla causa
degli albanesi del Kosovo.
Negli anni successivi segnaliamo tra l'altro la visita del papa in
Albania (paese - per inciso - a stragrande maggioranza atea o, al
limite, musulmana) e la frequentazione di Madre Teresa con pezzi grossi
dello Stato quali la vedova di Hoxha, con la quale presenzia ad una
cerimonia dinanzi ad un monumento alla "Grande Albania".
� Nel 1991 scoppia la guerra. Il papa parla all'Angelus
delle "legittime aspirazioni del popolo croato". Il riconoscimento
ufficiale della Croazia indipendente da parte del Vaticano avviene il
13 gennaio del 1992, contro il parere del resto della comunit�
internazionale, almeno apparentemente: gli altri paesi si adegueranno
dopo due giorni.
� Nel 1992 la guerra civile si estende in Bosnia-Erzegovina, repubblica
a maggioranza relativa di musulmani. I serbi (cristiani ortodossi)
costituiscono un terzo della popolazione, mentre circa il 15% sono
croati (cattolici). Durante il conflitto i soldati croati compiranno i
crimini pi� efferati (semmai sia possibile compilare statistiche su
queste cose... noi comunque ci riferiamo ai dati del londinese
Institute for Strategic Studies - cfr. LIMES n.3/'95, pg.60). Le
cronache parlano di soldati che vanno in guerra con il rosario al
collo, di preti e frati francescani erzegovesi che vanno in giro con la
pistola (alcuni intervistati anche dall'italiano Avvenire) o tuonano
dai pulpiti delle loro chiese, di ingiustizie nella distribuzione degli
aiuti della Caritas (secondo il criterio "etnico", applicato d'altronde
da tutte le organizzazioni umanirie religiose)...
� Il culmine dell'interventismo vaticano viene raggiunto nel 1994 con
la visita del papa a Zagabria. Il viaggio di Karol Wojtyla in Croazia
avviene nel pieno del conflitto bosniaco, mentre � ancora aperta la
ferita delle Krajne (territori dell'odierna Croazia a maggioranza
serba, in quel periodo autonomi e sotto il controllo di truppe ONU), ed
� una evidente boccata d'aria per il regime di Tudjman, con il quale il
papa si incontra e presenzia a cerimonie pubbliche. Scriveva La
Repubblica del 12/9/1994: "...il contatto con la folla fa bene a
Giovanni Paolo II. I fedeli lo applaudono ripetutamente. Specie quando
ricorda il cardinale Stepinac, imprigionato da Tito per i suoi rapporti
con il regime di Ante Pavelic, ma sempre rimasto nel cuore del Croati
come un'icona del nazionalismo. Wojtyla, che sabato sera ha pregato
sulla sua tomba, gli rende omaggio, per� pensa soprattutto al futuro."
Da una mezza frase di un articolo di giornale veniamo dunque a
conoscenza del fatto che il papa ha pregato sulla tomba del
collaborazionista dei nazisti Stepinac, nell'entusiasmo dei seminaristi
di San Girolamo (la chiesa croata di Roma, all'inizio di Via Tomacelli,
nota tra l'altro per avere ospitato Pavelic in fuga dopo la guerra;
cfr. il libro "Ratlines" di M. Aaron e J. Loftus) presenti a Zagabria
per l'occasione.
Il 26 novembre successivo Vinko Puljic, arcivescovo cattolico di
Sarajevo, � nominato cardinale dal papa insieme ad altri 30 che
rispecchiano le tendenze della geopolitica vaticana. Citiamo ad es.
Mikel Loliqi, 92enne cardinale di Scutari (Albania). In onore di Puljic
due giorni dopo si tiene un concerto sinfonico nella stessa chiesa di
San Girolamo.
� 1995: � l'anno risolutivo. Dopo una primavera in cui la tensione
cresce enormemente (Srebrenica ecc.), e si parla insistentemente di una
visita del papa a Sarajevo, in luglio Giovanni Paolo II in una
dichiarazione ai giornalisti si schiera per l'intervento militare
(contro i "tentennamenti" della comunit� internazionale, perch� si
faccia finalmente "il necessario" per punire gli aggressori, e cos�
via). Pochi giorni dopo Tudjman ordina il definitivo "repulisti" della
Krajna, mentre in settembre, dopo l'ennesimo grande attentato
sarajevese stile "strategia della tensione" (v. Cronologia), la tanto
invocata "comunit� internazionale" interviene a forza di bombe contro i
serbobosniaci.
In dicembre, con gli accordi di Dayton, la guerra si interrompe.
� Nell'ottobre 1996 il rettore della chiesa di San Girolamo (di cui
sopra), monsignor Artur Benvin, viene trovato impiccato. La notizia
non "passa" sui giornali. Noi l'abbiamo trovata sull'Evropske Novosti,
giornale serbo, che ipotizza triangolazioni di danaro per comprare armi
tra il clero croato, pezzi grossi musulmani di Sarajevo e la Trzaska
Kreditna Banka di Trieste, la banca della minoranza slovena in Italia
dichiarata fallita proprio in quelle settimane.
� Durante la primavera 1997 (12 e 13 aprile) si realizza la "tanto
attesa" visita del papa a Sarajevo. La visita ha un contenuto
palesemente politico, essendo stata preceduta da varie polemiche (cfr.
ad es. Predrag Matvejevic su "la Repubblica" del 5/3/1997, e come
risposta ad es. le dichiarazioni del vescovo di Mostar in visita a
Trieste) e da vari attentati alle istituzioni cattoliche in Bosnia, tra
cui uno, sventato, contro il papa (i giornali parlano di un ponte nella
zona musulmana da far esplodere al momento del passaggio del papa, ma
la bomba sarebbe stata disinnescata dai militari stranieri della
missione SFOR - cfr. i giornali di quei giorni).
� Nel maggio 1998 viene ufficialmente annunciata la prossima visita del
papa in Croazia. Nell'ottobre successivo il papa andra' a Zagabria ed a
Marija Bistrica, il principale santuario cattolico della Croazia, dove
celebrera' la cerimonia per la beatificazione di Alojzije Stepinac.
Sulle responsabilita' di Stepinac in quanto collaborazionista del
regime genocida di Ante Pavelic nello "Stato Croato Indipendente"
instaurato durante la II Guerra mondiale suggeriamo la lettura del
libro "L'Arcivescovo del genocidio", di M.A. Rivelli (Ed. Kaos 1999).
� Durante la sua visita in Croazia all'inizio di ottobre 1998 Karol
Wojtyla oltre a beatificare Stepinac pronunzia alcune frasi rispetto
alla situazione in Kosovo, oggetto di una violentissima campagna-
stampa, che alludono al diritto di "ingerenza umanitaria" da parte
della "Comunita' Internazionale", cioe' alla liceita' di un intervento
armato per "aiutare chi soffre". Quando il 24 marzo 1999 la NATO
effettivamente attacca la Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia con il
pretesto del Kosovo, il papa cita una frase di Pio XII, vale a dire di
quel suo predecessore che non solo non aveva fatto nulla per denunziare
e fermare il nazifascismo, ma che viceversa benedi' Pavelic e lo
sostenne tramite il clero croato (si veda a proposito il libro di Carlo
Falconi "Il silenzio di Pio XII" uscito nel 1965, nonche'i
gia'citati "Ratlines" e "L'Arcivescovo del genocidio"). La frase
recita: "Con la guerra tutto e' perduto, con la pace niente e'
perduto". All'Angelus pasquale, una settimana dopo, il papa afferma
retoricamente: "Ma come si puo' parlare di pace quando si costringono
le popolazioni [albanesi] a fuggire... e se ne incendiano le
abitazioni?... E come rimanere insensibili di fronte alla fiumana
dolente dei profughi dal Kosovo?". Percio', a parte la discutibile
richiesta di una "pausa" nei bombardamenti in occasione della Pasqua
(cattolica, non ortodossa), il Papa non fa appello per la loro
cessazione incondzionata.
Nei giorni successivi la stampa riporta anche le dichiarazioni del
Cardinale croato di Sarajevo Vinko Puljic che rivendica la giustezza
dell'intervento militare argomentandola con la necessita' "di estirpare
la malattia" e di sconfiggere una volta per tutte "il creatore della
guerra" Slobodan Milosevic.
---
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ASSEMBLEA ANTIMPERIALISTA (ex Coord. Naz. "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"):
> http://www.tuttinlotta.org
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opinioni delle realta' che compongono questa struttura, ma
vengono fatti circolare per il loro contenuto informativo al
solo scopo di segnalazione e commento ("for fair use only").
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ALCUNI ELEMENTI.
a cura del Comitato unitario contro la guerra alla Jugoslavia
( Fonte:
> http://www.softmakers.com/fry/sfrj/ oppure
> http://marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/opuscolo/index.htm
� Nei primi anni '80, subito dopo la morte di Josip Broz Tito, viene
segnalata l'apparizione della Madonna ad alcuni giovani croati a
Medjugorje, una localit� della Erzegovina dove gi� durante la seconda
Guerra mondiale i fascisti si erano scatenati con violenze ed uccisioni
contro la popolazione di religione ortodossa. La gerarchia cattolica
non ha mai voluto ufficialmente riconoscere la veridicit� delle
apparizioni di Medjugorje, ma il clero locale (i frati francescani
dell'Erzegovina noti da secoli per il loro fondamentalismo e, nel
Novecento, per il loro supporto alla causa degli ustascia) se ne �
avvalso per fini propagandistici. Anche dall'Italia sono stati
organizzati pellegrinaggi.
Sarebbe interessante sapere che fine hanno fatto oggi quei
ragazzi "visionari" o "miracolati": sappiamo ad esempio che Marija
Pavlovic, che aveva fatto voto di entrare in convento, � oggi
felicemente sposata; pare anzi che anche gli altri quattro ragazzi
protagonisti della vicenda abbiano messo su famiglia, e che tre di loro
siano emigrati all'estero.
Molti dicono che le cose, in Jugoslavia, cominciarono a precipitare con
la morte di Tito. Ma si pu� anche dire che le cose cominciarono ad
andare a rotoli quando "apparve" la Madonna a Medjugorje. Probabilmente
sono vere entrambe le affermazioni...
� Il 1990 � l'anno dedicato a Madre Teresa di Calcutta. Pochi sanno che
questa suora era originaria di Skopje, nella ex repubblica federata di
Macedonia, ed apparteneva al gruppo etnico albanese. Lo stesso anno
raggiungono il culmine le tensioni tra albanesi e serbi nella regione
del Kosmet (Kosovo e Metochia). Dinanzi a personalit� albanesi Giovanni
Paolo II, in uno dei paesini albanesi del meridione d'Italia, celebra
la Madonna di Scutari, patrona e protettrice dell'Albania. Durante la
celebrazione il papa afferma: "Madre della speranza regalaci il giorno
Leeeeeenel quale questo popolo generoso possa essere unito",
dichiarando cos� esplicitamente il sostegno del Vaticano alla causa
degli albanesi del Kosovo.
Negli anni successivi segnaliamo tra l'altro la visita del papa in
Albania (paese - per inciso - a stragrande maggioranza atea o, al
limite, musulmana) e la frequentazione di Madre Teresa con pezzi grossi
dello Stato quali la vedova di Hoxha, con la quale presenzia ad una
cerimonia dinanzi ad un monumento alla "Grande Albania".
� Nel 1991 scoppia la guerra. Il papa parla all'Angelus
delle "legittime aspirazioni del popolo croato". Il riconoscimento
ufficiale della Croazia indipendente da parte del Vaticano avviene il
13 gennaio del 1992, contro il parere del resto della comunit�
internazionale, almeno apparentemente: gli altri paesi si adegueranno
dopo due giorni.
� Nel 1992 la guerra civile si estende in Bosnia-Erzegovina, repubblica
a maggioranza relativa di musulmani. I serbi (cristiani ortodossi)
costituiscono un terzo della popolazione, mentre circa il 15% sono
croati (cattolici). Durante il conflitto i soldati croati compiranno i
crimini pi� efferati (semmai sia possibile compilare statistiche su
queste cose... noi comunque ci riferiamo ai dati del londinese
Institute for Strategic Studies - cfr. LIMES n.3/'95, pg.60). Le
cronache parlano di soldati che vanno in guerra con il rosario al
collo, di preti e frati francescani erzegovesi che vanno in giro con la
pistola (alcuni intervistati anche dall'italiano Avvenire) o tuonano
dai pulpiti delle loro chiese, di ingiustizie nella distribuzione degli
aiuti della Caritas (secondo il criterio "etnico", applicato d'altronde
da tutte le organizzazioni umanirie religiose)...
� Il culmine dell'interventismo vaticano viene raggiunto nel 1994 con
la visita del papa a Zagabria. Il viaggio di Karol Wojtyla in Croazia
avviene nel pieno del conflitto bosniaco, mentre � ancora aperta la
ferita delle Krajne (territori dell'odierna Croazia a maggioranza
serba, in quel periodo autonomi e sotto il controllo di truppe ONU), ed
� una evidente boccata d'aria per il regime di Tudjman, con il quale il
papa si incontra e presenzia a cerimonie pubbliche. Scriveva La
Repubblica del 12/9/1994: "...il contatto con la folla fa bene a
Giovanni Paolo II. I fedeli lo applaudono ripetutamente. Specie quando
ricorda il cardinale Stepinac, imprigionato da Tito per i suoi rapporti
con il regime di Ante Pavelic, ma sempre rimasto nel cuore del Croati
come un'icona del nazionalismo. Wojtyla, che sabato sera ha pregato
sulla sua tomba, gli rende omaggio, per� pensa soprattutto al futuro."
Da una mezza frase di un articolo di giornale veniamo dunque a
conoscenza del fatto che il papa ha pregato sulla tomba del
collaborazionista dei nazisti Stepinac, nell'entusiasmo dei seminaristi
di San Girolamo (la chiesa croata di Roma, all'inizio di Via Tomacelli,
nota tra l'altro per avere ospitato Pavelic in fuga dopo la guerra;
cfr. il libro "Ratlines" di M. Aaron e J. Loftus) presenti a Zagabria
per l'occasione.
Il 26 novembre successivo Vinko Puljic, arcivescovo cattolico di
Sarajevo, � nominato cardinale dal papa insieme ad altri 30 che
rispecchiano le tendenze della geopolitica vaticana. Citiamo ad es.
Mikel Loliqi, 92enne cardinale di Scutari (Albania). In onore di Puljic
due giorni dopo si tiene un concerto sinfonico nella stessa chiesa di
San Girolamo.
� 1995: � l'anno risolutivo. Dopo una primavera in cui la tensione
cresce enormemente (Srebrenica ecc.), e si parla insistentemente di una
visita del papa a Sarajevo, in luglio Giovanni Paolo II in una
dichiarazione ai giornalisti si schiera per l'intervento militare
(contro i "tentennamenti" della comunit� internazionale, perch� si
faccia finalmente "il necessario" per punire gli aggressori, e cos�
via). Pochi giorni dopo Tudjman ordina il definitivo "repulisti" della
Krajna, mentre in settembre, dopo l'ennesimo grande attentato
sarajevese stile "strategia della tensione" (v. Cronologia), la tanto
invocata "comunit� internazionale" interviene a forza di bombe contro i
serbobosniaci.
In dicembre, con gli accordi di Dayton, la guerra si interrompe.
� Nell'ottobre 1996 il rettore della chiesa di San Girolamo (di cui
sopra), monsignor Artur Benvin, viene trovato impiccato. La notizia
non "passa" sui giornali. Noi l'abbiamo trovata sull'Evropske Novosti,
giornale serbo, che ipotizza triangolazioni di danaro per comprare armi
tra il clero croato, pezzi grossi musulmani di Sarajevo e la Trzaska
Kreditna Banka di Trieste, la banca della minoranza slovena in Italia
dichiarata fallita proprio in quelle settimane.
� Durante la primavera 1997 (12 e 13 aprile) si realizza la "tanto
attesa" visita del papa a Sarajevo. La visita ha un contenuto
palesemente politico, essendo stata preceduta da varie polemiche (cfr.
ad es. Predrag Matvejevic su "la Repubblica" del 5/3/1997, e come
risposta ad es. le dichiarazioni del vescovo di Mostar in visita a
Trieste) e da vari attentati alle istituzioni cattoliche in Bosnia, tra
cui uno, sventato, contro il papa (i giornali parlano di un ponte nella
zona musulmana da far esplodere al momento del passaggio del papa, ma
la bomba sarebbe stata disinnescata dai militari stranieri della
missione SFOR - cfr. i giornali di quei giorni).
� Nel maggio 1998 viene ufficialmente annunciata la prossima visita del
papa in Croazia. Nell'ottobre successivo il papa andra' a Zagabria ed a
Marija Bistrica, il principale santuario cattolico della Croazia, dove
celebrera' la cerimonia per la beatificazione di Alojzije Stepinac.
Sulle responsabilita' di Stepinac in quanto collaborazionista del
regime genocida di Ante Pavelic nello "Stato Croato Indipendente"
instaurato durante la II Guerra mondiale suggeriamo la lettura del
libro "L'Arcivescovo del genocidio", di M.A. Rivelli (Ed. Kaos 1999).
� Durante la sua visita in Croazia all'inizio di ottobre 1998 Karol
Wojtyla oltre a beatificare Stepinac pronunzia alcune frasi rispetto
alla situazione in Kosovo, oggetto di una violentissima campagna-
stampa, che alludono al diritto di "ingerenza umanitaria" da parte
della "Comunita' Internazionale", cioe' alla liceita' di un intervento
armato per "aiutare chi soffre". Quando il 24 marzo 1999 la NATO
effettivamente attacca la Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia con il
pretesto del Kosovo, il papa cita una frase di Pio XII, vale a dire di
quel suo predecessore che non solo non aveva fatto nulla per denunziare
e fermare il nazifascismo, ma che viceversa benedi' Pavelic e lo
sostenne tramite il clero croato (si veda a proposito il libro di Carlo
Falconi "Il silenzio di Pio XII" uscito nel 1965, nonche'i
gia'citati "Ratlines" e "L'Arcivescovo del genocidio"). La frase
recita: "Con la guerra tutto e' perduto, con la pace niente e'
perduto". All'Angelus pasquale, una settimana dopo, il papa afferma
retoricamente: "Ma come si puo' parlare di pace quando si costringono
le popolazioni [albanesi] a fuggire... e se ne incendiano le
abitazioni?... E come rimanere insensibili di fronte alla fiumana
dolente dei profughi dal Kosovo?". Percio', a parte la discutibile
richiesta di una "pausa" nei bombardamenti in occasione della Pasqua
(cattolica, non ortodossa), il Papa non fa appello per la loro
cessazione incondzionata.
Nei giorni successivi la stampa riporta anche le dichiarazioni del
Cardinale croato di Sarajevo Vinko Puljic che rivendica la giustezza
dell'intervento militare argomentandola con la necessita' "di estirpare
la malattia" e di sconfiggere una volta per tutte "il creatore della
guerra" Slobodan Milosevic.
---
Questa lista e' provvisoriamente curata da componenti della
ASSEMBLEA ANTIMPERIALISTA (ex Coord. Naz. "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"):
> http://www.tuttinlotta.org
I documenti distribuiti non rispecchiano necessariamente le
opinioni delle realta' che compongono questa struttura, ma
vengono fatti circolare per il loro contenuto informativo al
solo scopo di segnalazione e commento ("for fair use only").
Archivio:
> http://www.domeus.it/circles/jugoinfo oppure:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/messages
Per iscriversi al bollettino: <jugoinfo-subscribe@...>
Per cancellarsi: <jugoinfo-unsubscribe@...>
Per inviare materiali e commenti: <jugocoord@...>
Sito WEB (non aggiornato):
> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vuoi comprare - ma anche vendere - on line?
da oggi hai una piazza tutta per te, 24 ore su 24.
fatti un giro e vedrai che non te ne pentirai.
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