Who Are the G-17?
By Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University of , Ottawa,
author Globalization of Poverty, Third World of "The Network, Penang,
Zed
Books, London, 1997. and Jared Israel , editor, www.tenc.net (Emperor's
Clothes)
" We want to be open colony and open society." G-17 coordinator VESELIN
VUKOTIC interviewed on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer", US Public
Television, July 14, 1999
Recently there's been a lot of interest in the economists in the
Yugoslav
group G-17. They wrote the Program adopted by the so- called
"democratic"
opposition and its Presidential candidate, Vojislav Kostunica.
The G-17 likes to give the impression it is independent and
Yugoslav-oriented. In fact it is funded mainly through the
Washington-based
"Center for International Private Enterprise" (CIPE). CIPE describes
itself
as "an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. " But in fact it is "a
core institute" of the National Endowment for Democracy. The National
Endowment for Democracy has nothing to do, as far as we can discern,
with
Democracy. Rather, the Endowment was created in 1983 to solve a problem
of
Empire.
People knew that the CIA bribed intellectuals and leaders and set up
phony
front groups to carry out US policy:
"When these covert activities surfaced (as they inevitably did), the
fallout was devastating." ('Washington Post', Sept. 22, 1991)
So Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy. Allen
Weinstein,
who planned the Endowment, said:
"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
('Washington Post', Sept. 21, 1991)
So the National Endowment (a sort of spinoff from the CIA) controls and
pays for the Center for International Private Enterprise which in turn
funds the G-17. In addition, the leading G-17 economists hold important
positions in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and have
for
many years.
If the "democratic" opposition got in power, the G-17 economists would
be
in charge of the Yugoslav economy. This is not a matter of speculation.
The
"democratic" opposition program calls for working with the International
Monetary Fund and the Fund does not work on a casual basis. It
invariably
insists that its men (who conveniently happen to be the G-17 economists)
run the show. That is not open for negotiation.
Let us take a look at three of the leading G-17 economists. Their record
is
most disturbing.
One of the writers of this article, Prof. Chossudovsky, studies the
effects
of the economic "medicine" imposed by the International Monetary Fund
and
World Bank. The G-17 program contains the same economic measures they
forced on Russia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Peru, among many others. The
results: social and economic devastation. But because of the long-term
US/German attack on Yugoslavia, the results in the Yugoslav case would
be
much worse.
G-17 economists are fond of phrases like "free markets" and
"privatization," but their International Monetary Fund "reforms" wreck
countries. First, they force governments to do away with any social
protections - subsidized food or rent, free transportation, free medical
care. Out the window. Second, they use economic manipulation and new
laws
to force businesses - public and private - into bankruptcy. Then these
businesses are taken over by a small clique of thieves, international
banks, rich speculators and foreign companies. They purchase the
businesses
at rock bottom prices. This is called "Privatization through
Liquidation."
A case in point is Yugoslavia, 1989.
The elder statesman of the G-17 is Professor Veselin Vukotic. Presently
he
is one of the brains behind Montenegrin secessionism. But in 1989 he was
Minister of Privatization under Yugoslav Premier Ante Markovic.
Yugoslavs have bitter memories of 1989-1990. But do they "put a human
face"
on the nightmare? Perhaps people think the economic disaster that befell
Yugoslavia that year was the natural result of "market mechanisms" or
the
fault of "incompetent government." It wasn't. There was somebody pulling
the strings.
That somebody was Veselin Vukotic.
In 1989-90, Professor Vukotic worked out of governmental offices in
Belgrade alongside an army of Western lawyers and consultants to impose
the
Financial Operations Act. It was a World Bank plan.
Under this law, companies were selected for bankruptcy or liquidation.
They
were forced to meet impossible conditions. In this way, Vukotic
orchestrated the breakup of fifty percent of Yugoslav industry. 50%!
World
Bank data confirms that under his direction more than 1100 industrial
firms
were wiped out from January 1989 to September 1990 And that was only the
beginning.
Over 614,000 industrial workers were laid off out of 2.7 million. The
areas
hardest hit were: Serbia, including Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Macedonia. Real wages did a nose-dive. Social programs collapsed.
Unemployment shot up.
And now this same Vukotic, a key man in G-17, wants to return to power.
When the IMF gets its jaws on a country it forces the government to work
under people like Vukotic. So Vukotic could finish the job he started in
1989 and which ironically was discontinued when economic sanctions were
imposed in 1992. (Bulgaria would probably be better off today if it had
been hit with sanctions instead of with the International Monetary
Fund!)
While hoping to get his hands on all of Yugoslavia once again, Mr.
Vukotic
is practicing on the cooperative regime in Montenegro. Montenegrin boss
Milo Djukanovic, his former student, has appointed Vukotic Deputy Chief
of
the Privation Commission which is auctioning off state property in
Montenegro. Recently we discovered a US Commerce Department
advertisement
on the internet. The title is: " Montenegro: Seeks Privatization Fund
Managers." The advertisement explains that these Managers are needed in
Montenegro, where US officials are "providing technical support" for
so-called privatization. The managers would control "funds" that would
take
over ownership of what is now public property. The Managers could
"restructure" these privatized companies - lay off the workers and sell
the
most valuable components. The Commerce department promises that this
"should be quite profitable." Note how brazenly the U.S. Commerce
Department celebrates the transformation of Montenegrin property into
foreign profits.
Vukotic is helping in other areas as well. For example, last June NATO
marched into Kosovo, and the UCK along with them. Wherever they went,
they
drove loyal Yugoslav citizens from their homes, stole or destroyed their
property and threatened them with death. By June 26, the expulsions were
at
a peak.
Vukotic could no longer remain silent. According to the Associated
Press,
on June 26 Vukotic demanded that Kosovo have its own currency, separate
from the dinar!
Dr. Dusan Vujovic
One of the most prominent G-17 people is Dr. Dusan Vujovic, a senior
economist at the World Bank. He acts as a link between G-17 and
Washington.
He has been very active overseeing "reforms" in so-called "transition
countries". In August 2000, Vujovic was in charge of negotiating one of
the
World Bank's most deadly economic packages, imposed on the Ukraine,
already
devastated by previous International Monetary Fund Measures.
What happened to the Ukraine?
The Ukraine disaster started in the fall of 1994 in Madrid, Spain. Prime
Minister Vitali Masol signed an agreement with the International
Monetary
Fund.
In exchange for accepting "economic shock treatment" Ukraine got a 360
million dollar loan, a very small amount as these things are calculated.
Reforms were launched in mid-October, 1994. The IMF ordered the
Ukrainian
authorities to abandon State controls over the exchange rate. This led
to
the collapse of the currency. The price of bread increased overnight -
300%. Electricity shot up - 600%. Public transportation - 900%.
"Dollarised" prices were forced on a population with earnings below ten
dollars a month. Credit was frozen. With super high electricity prices
and
no credit, public and private industry was destroyed. The international
speculators moved in like sharks in a frenzy.
Then in November 1994, World Bank negotiators were sent in to "advise"
the
government on overhauling Ukraine's agriculture. The grain market was
deregulated. This opened Ukraine up to the dumping of US grain
surpluses.
Ukraine went from being a grain exporter to begging for Food Aid from
the
European Union and the U.S. Thanks to the International Monetary Fund,
Ukraine is a starving political protectorate of the US and Germany. And
remember, Ukraine never did anything to offend the U.S., unlike
Yugoslavia.
Zeliko Bogetic and the Rape of Bulgaria
G-17 member Dr. Zeliko Bogetic has a senior position at the
International
Monetary Fund. Bogetic has been doctor in many economic cures. The
patient
always dies.
In 1994-96, he played a key role in forcing a structural adjustment
program
(SAP) on Bulgaria. All social defenses - price controls, subsidized
food,
housing and medical care, were stripped away.
The program led to mass poverty. By 1997, old age pensions (according to
World Bank sources) had collapsed to two dollars a month. The World Bank
admits that 90 percent of Bulgarians now live below the extreme poverty
level but, they say, much economic progress is being made. Apparently
perfection will be achieved when there are no Bulgarians left alive.
What would Mr. Bogetic do if he and his G-17 colleagues came to power
under
a "democratic" opposition government?
Bogetic was dispatched by the International Monetary Fund to Podgorica,
Montenegro to advise the pro-secessionist government of President Milo
Djukanovic. Bogetic was to set up a currency board modeled on that of
Bosnia under the Dayton Accord. Bogetic's advice was to stop using the
Dinar, the Yugoslav currency. He said that under no circumstances should
Montenegro establish a Central Bank. Now remember, the Djukanovic
government in Montenegro says it wants "independence" from Yugoslavia -
but
a Central Bank is a requirement for real independence. No, said Bogetic,
that is the "worst possible solution". Meaning: independence in the
colonial sense.
Bogetic would be the likely candidate for Yugoslav Central Bank Governor
if
the "democratic" opposition were to win.
What would he do?
The same thing he's been doing in Montenegro - establish a colonial
style
currency board linked to the Deutschmark. Then monetary policy would be
controlled by the country's creditors. This would be an excellent state
of
affairs for the creditors, but very bad for the common people. It would
make it impossible to finance economic reconstruction through the
mobilization of Yugoslavia's own domestic resources. The country would
be
in a straightjacket.
What would International Monetary Fund-Type Reforms mean for Yugoslavia?
If
the "democratic opposition" came to power they would enforce
International
Monetary Fund economic medicine. That's what they say in their Program.
But would this be the same medicine that the Fund (including some of the
people who lead the G-17) have prescribed for Russia, Bulgaria and
Ukraine?
Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine cooperated fully with Washington. As
nations,
they never resisted being turned into colonies. Was the West merciful?
Consider Russia. During the first year that the reforms were applied,
1992,
wages collapsed by 86 percent. And in many of the countries of the
Balkans
and Eastern Europe, economic activity has been cut in half, even if it
was
low before.
And these are cooperative countries. As everyone knows, the U.S. is very
annoyed with Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia has not been a good slave. It has
not
kissed the hand of the bombers.
History shows that if the Monetary Fund gets hold of a country that has
been rebellious the treatment is vicious. And we are not talking about
major rebels, like Yugoslavia. We are talking about very moderate
rebels,
like Peru.
In Peru, the government of President Alan Garcia (1985-1990) refused to
do
some of what the International Monetary Fund ordered it to do. In 1985,
it
decided to pay international debts at a reduced rate. It instituted an
economic program that would help (instead of destroying) the economy.
The country was immediately put on a black list by the International
Monetary Fund. This disrupted Peru's foreign trade.
Enter Professor Alberto Fujimori. It was the 1990 elections. With help
from
Washington, Peru was having economic problems, so many people wanted a
change. Fujimori was an unknown. People felt he was "honest" and
"promising". He led a tiny party that had never held power. He seemed to
be
squeaky clean.
With Washington's help, he was the top runner-up in the 1990 elections.
The
electorate chose him over the other candidates "because we did not know
who
he was" and "we thought he was honest" and "maybe if we put in someone
Washington likes they will go easy on us." They did not understand.
Washington has no mercy.
Fujimori of course caved in to the International Monetary Fund's
demands.
What followed was the most deadly economic "reform" in Latin American
history. From one day to the next, the price of fuel increased by 31
times
(2,968 per cent) and the price of bread increased more than twelve times
(1,150 per cent).
People could no longer afford to boil water. A cholera epidemic broke
out.
The social consequences were devastating. An agricultural worker in
August
1990 was paid $7.50 a month (US). That was enough to buy two hamburgers
and
a drink at McDonalds. Consumer prices in Lima were higher than New York.
Real earnings dropped by 60 per cent. By mid-1991 the standard of living
had declined by 85 per cent.
And this was the just beginning of ten years of deadly reforms under
Fujimori.
And remember, Peru didn't really do anything. Just resisted a few
International Monetary Fund Measures. But Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia has
been
driving the German Establishment (and now the Americans) crazy for 100
years or more. Washington and Berlin would like nothing more than to
make
Yugoslavia an example of total enslavement, to show people what would
happen to them if they were to resist.
Haven't the U.S. and Germany made this perfectly clear in Kosovo? A
gangster-fascist regime has been installed. And Western leaders are
fully
aware of the horror they have wrought in Kosovo. UN Secretary General
Kofi
Annan received a special report about this. The report was discussed by
the
British newspaper, the 'Observer':
"Murder, torture and extortion: these are the extraordinary charges made
against the UN's own Kosovo Protection Corps in a confidential United
Nations report written for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"The KPC stands accused in the document, drawn up on 29 February, of
'criminal activities - killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal
policing,
abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and
hate-speech'. " (quoted in "How Will You Plead at your Trial, Mr.
Annan?"
at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/howwill.htm )
What would Washington do if it's G-17 employees got hold of Yugoslavia?
They would institute the most extreme economic "reforms" to devastate
the
country.
Prices would go sky high; farmers would lose their land; businesses
would
be bought up and closed down. In Hungary they privatized the only light
bulb factory and shut it down so that now everybody has to buy bulbs
from
the US company, General Electric. In Yugoslavia they would take away the
lamps. People would be reduced to starvation.
This kind of suffering produces ethnic tension. Washington would whip
this
up by sending in their UCK (KLA) fascist terrorists. Why does Washington
keep the UCK in power in Kosovo? Because they want to use them again.
For
what? They are incapable of fighting a real army. But they are capable
of
terrorizing civilians.
A Washington-controlled government would bring in NATO troops to "help
keep
order." The troops would never leave. The hunt for imaginary war
criminals
would go on, a thousand times worse than it is in the Bosnian Serb
Republic. Croatians, Bosnian Muslims and ethnic Albanians who fled to
Serbia to escape fascist persecution would be put on the list of phony
war
criminals. All loyal Yugoslavs would have to pay for their (imaginary)
crimes so that "healing can begin."
Every effort would be made to humiliate the people, to break their
spirit,
and to eliminate potential leaders of resistance.
Do you know what the United States did a few years ago to Vietnam? When
the
Vietnam War ended, the US government ordered an embargo which did
Vietnam a
lot of harm, economically. A few years ago, Washington agreed to lift
the
embargo. In exchange, Vietnam had to agree to pay the debts of the
former
South Vietnamese government, a puppet government controlled by
Washington.
Most of its debt came from borrowing money (from the US) to buy weapons
(from the US) to kill its own people. And now Vietnam is being forced to
pay this "debt" to Washington, after Washington had invaded Vietnam and
was
driven
out, leaving two million Vietnamese dead.
The "democratic" opposition says that if they can just get into power
everything will be normal. Washington would treat the Yugoslavs right.
Sure
they would. Just the way they treated the American Indians.
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
By Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University of , Ottawa,
author Globalization of Poverty, Third World of "The Network, Penang,
Zed
Books, London, 1997. and Jared Israel , editor, www.tenc.net (Emperor's
Clothes)
" We want to be open colony and open society." G-17 coordinator VESELIN
VUKOTIC interviewed on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer", US Public
Television, July 14, 1999
Recently there's been a lot of interest in the economists in the
Yugoslav
group G-17. They wrote the Program adopted by the so- called
"democratic"
opposition and its Presidential candidate, Vojislav Kostunica.
The G-17 likes to give the impression it is independent and
Yugoslav-oriented. In fact it is funded mainly through the
Washington-based
"Center for International Private Enterprise" (CIPE). CIPE describes
itself
as "an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. " But in fact it is "a
core institute" of the National Endowment for Democracy. The National
Endowment for Democracy has nothing to do, as far as we can discern,
with
Democracy. Rather, the Endowment was created in 1983 to solve a problem
of
Empire.
People knew that the CIA bribed intellectuals and leaders and set up
phony
front groups to carry out US policy:
"When these covert activities surfaced (as they inevitably did), the
fallout was devastating." ('Washington Post', Sept. 22, 1991)
So Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy. Allen
Weinstein,
who planned the Endowment, said:
"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
('Washington Post', Sept. 21, 1991)
So the National Endowment (a sort of spinoff from the CIA) controls and
pays for the Center for International Private Enterprise which in turn
funds the G-17. In addition, the leading G-17 economists hold important
positions in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and have
for
many years.
If the "democratic" opposition got in power, the G-17 economists would
be
in charge of the Yugoslav economy. This is not a matter of speculation.
The
"democratic" opposition program calls for working with the International
Monetary Fund and the Fund does not work on a casual basis. It
invariably
insists that its men (who conveniently happen to be the G-17 economists)
run the show. That is not open for negotiation.
Let us take a look at three of the leading G-17 economists. Their record
is
most disturbing.
One of the writers of this article, Prof. Chossudovsky, studies the
effects
of the economic "medicine" imposed by the International Monetary Fund
and
World Bank. The G-17 program contains the same economic measures they
forced on Russia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Peru, among many others. The
results: social and economic devastation. But because of the long-term
US/German attack on Yugoslavia, the results in the Yugoslav case would
be
much worse.
G-17 economists are fond of phrases like "free markets" and
"privatization," but their International Monetary Fund "reforms" wreck
countries. First, they force governments to do away with any social
protections - subsidized food or rent, free transportation, free medical
care. Out the window. Second, they use economic manipulation and new
laws
to force businesses - public and private - into bankruptcy. Then these
businesses are taken over by a small clique of thieves, international
banks, rich speculators and foreign companies. They purchase the
businesses
at rock bottom prices. This is called "Privatization through
Liquidation."
A case in point is Yugoslavia, 1989.
The elder statesman of the G-17 is Professor Veselin Vukotic. Presently
he
is one of the brains behind Montenegrin secessionism. But in 1989 he was
Minister of Privatization under Yugoslav Premier Ante Markovic.
Yugoslavs have bitter memories of 1989-1990. But do they "put a human
face"
on the nightmare? Perhaps people think the economic disaster that befell
Yugoslavia that year was the natural result of "market mechanisms" or
the
fault of "incompetent government." It wasn't. There was somebody pulling
the strings.
That somebody was Veselin Vukotic.
In 1989-90, Professor Vukotic worked out of governmental offices in
Belgrade alongside an army of Western lawyers and consultants to impose
the
Financial Operations Act. It was a World Bank plan.
Under this law, companies were selected for bankruptcy or liquidation.
They
were forced to meet impossible conditions. In this way, Vukotic
orchestrated the breakup of fifty percent of Yugoslav industry. 50%!
World
Bank data confirms that under his direction more than 1100 industrial
firms
were wiped out from January 1989 to September 1990 And that was only the
beginning.
Over 614,000 industrial workers were laid off out of 2.7 million. The
areas
hardest hit were: Serbia, including Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Macedonia. Real wages did a nose-dive. Social programs collapsed.
Unemployment shot up.
And now this same Vukotic, a key man in G-17, wants to return to power.
When the IMF gets its jaws on a country it forces the government to work
under people like Vukotic. So Vukotic could finish the job he started in
1989 and which ironically was discontinued when economic sanctions were
imposed in 1992. (Bulgaria would probably be better off today if it had
been hit with sanctions instead of with the International Monetary
Fund!)
While hoping to get his hands on all of Yugoslavia once again, Mr.
Vukotic
is practicing on the cooperative regime in Montenegro. Montenegrin boss
Milo Djukanovic, his former student, has appointed Vukotic Deputy Chief
of
the Privation Commission which is auctioning off state property in
Montenegro. Recently we discovered a US Commerce Department
advertisement
on the internet. The title is: " Montenegro: Seeks Privatization Fund
Managers." The advertisement explains that these Managers are needed in
Montenegro, where US officials are "providing technical support" for
so-called privatization. The managers would control "funds" that would
take
over ownership of what is now public property. The Managers could
"restructure" these privatized companies - lay off the workers and sell
the
most valuable components. The Commerce department promises that this
"should be quite profitable." Note how brazenly the U.S. Commerce
Department celebrates the transformation of Montenegrin property into
foreign profits.
Vukotic is helping in other areas as well. For example, last June NATO
marched into Kosovo, and the UCK along with them. Wherever they went,
they
drove loyal Yugoslav citizens from their homes, stole or destroyed their
property and threatened them with death. By June 26, the expulsions were
at
a peak.
Vukotic could no longer remain silent. According to the Associated
Press,
on June 26 Vukotic demanded that Kosovo have its own currency, separate
from the dinar!
Dr. Dusan Vujovic
One of the most prominent G-17 people is Dr. Dusan Vujovic, a senior
economist at the World Bank. He acts as a link between G-17 and
Washington.
He has been very active overseeing "reforms" in so-called "transition
countries". In August 2000, Vujovic was in charge of negotiating one of
the
World Bank's most deadly economic packages, imposed on the Ukraine,
already
devastated by previous International Monetary Fund Measures.
What happened to the Ukraine?
The Ukraine disaster started in the fall of 1994 in Madrid, Spain. Prime
Minister Vitali Masol signed an agreement with the International
Monetary
Fund.
In exchange for accepting "economic shock treatment" Ukraine got a 360
million dollar loan, a very small amount as these things are calculated.
Reforms were launched in mid-October, 1994. The IMF ordered the
Ukrainian
authorities to abandon State controls over the exchange rate. This led
to
the collapse of the currency. The price of bread increased overnight -
300%. Electricity shot up - 600%. Public transportation - 900%.
"Dollarised" prices were forced on a population with earnings below ten
dollars a month. Credit was frozen. With super high electricity prices
and
no credit, public and private industry was destroyed. The international
speculators moved in like sharks in a frenzy.
Then in November 1994, World Bank negotiators were sent in to "advise"
the
government on overhauling Ukraine's agriculture. The grain market was
deregulated. This opened Ukraine up to the dumping of US grain
surpluses.
Ukraine went from being a grain exporter to begging for Food Aid from
the
European Union and the U.S. Thanks to the International Monetary Fund,
Ukraine is a starving political protectorate of the US and Germany. And
remember, Ukraine never did anything to offend the U.S., unlike
Yugoslavia.
Zeliko Bogetic and the Rape of Bulgaria
G-17 member Dr. Zeliko Bogetic has a senior position at the
International
Monetary Fund. Bogetic has been doctor in many economic cures. The
patient
always dies.
In 1994-96, he played a key role in forcing a structural adjustment
program
(SAP) on Bulgaria. All social defenses - price controls, subsidized
food,
housing and medical care, were stripped away.
The program led to mass poverty. By 1997, old age pensions (according to
World Bank sources) had collapsed to two dollars a month. The World Bank
admits that 90 percent of Bulgarians now live below the extreme poverty
level but, they say, much economic progress is being made. Apparently
perfection will be achieved when there are no Bulgarians left alive.
What would Mr. Bogetic do if he and his G-17 colleagues came to power
under
a "democratic" opposition government?
Bogetic was dispatched by the International Monetary Fund to Podgorica,
Montenegro to advise the pro-secessionist government of President Milo
Djukanovic. Bogetic was to set up a currency board modeled on that of
Bosnia under the Dayton Accord. Bogetic's advice was to stop using the
Dinar, the Yugoslav currency. He said that under no circumstances should
Montenegro establish a Central Bank. Now remember, the Djukanovic
government in Montenegro says it wants "independence" from Yugoslavia -
but
a Central Bank is a requirement for real independence. No, said Bogetic,
that is the "worst possible solution". Meaning: independence in the
colonial sense.
Bogetic would be the likely candidate for Yugoslav Central Bank Governor
if
the "democratic" opposition were to win.
What would he do?
The same thing he's been doing in Montenegro - establish a colonial
style
currency board linked to the Deutschmark. Then monetary policy would be
controlled by the country's creditors. This would be an excellent state
of
affairs for the creditors, but very bad for the common people. It would
make it impossible to finance economic reconstruction through the
mobilization of Yugoslavia's own domestic resources. The country would
be
in a straightjacket.
What would International Monetary Fund-Type Reforms mean for Yugoslavia?
If
the "democratic opposition" came to power they would enforce
International
Monetary Fund economic medicine. That's what they say in their Program.
But would this be the same medicine that the Fund (including some of the
people who lead the G-17) have prescribed for Russia, Bulgaria and
Ukraine?
Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine cooperated fully with Washington. As
nations,
they never resisted being turned into colonies. Was the West merciful?
Consider Russia. During the first year that the reforms were applied,
1992,
wages collapsed by 86 percent. And in many of the countries of the
Balkans
and Eastern Europe, economic activity has been cut in half, even if it
was
low before.
And these are cooperative countries. As everyone knows, the U.S. is very
annoyed with Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia has not been a good slave. It has
not
kissed the hand of the bombers.
History shows that if the Monetary Fund gets hold of a country that has
been rebellious the treatment is vicious. And we are not talking about
major rebels, like Yugoslavia. We are talking about very moderate
rebels,
like Peru.
In Peru, the government of President Alan Garcia (1985-1990) refused to
do
some of what the International Monetary Fund ordered it to do. In 1985,
it
decided to pay international debts at a reduced rate. It instituted an
economic program that would help (instead of destroying) the economy.
The country was immediately put on a black list by the International
Monetary Fund. This disrupted Peru's foreign trade.
Enter Professor Alberto Fujimori. It was the 1990 elections. With help
from
Washington, Peru was having economic problems, so many people wanted a
change. Fujimori was an unknown. People felt he was "honest" and
"promising". He led a tiny party that had never held power. He seemed to
be
squeaky clean.
With Washington's help, he was the top runner-up in the 1990 elections.
The
electorate chose him over the other candidates "because we did not know
who
he was" and "we thought he was honest" and "maybe if we put in someone
Washington likes they will go easy on us." They did not understand.
Washington has no mercy.
Fujimori of course caved in to the International Monetary Fund's
demands.
What followed was the most deadly economic "reform" in Latin American
history. From one day to the next, the price of fuel increased by 31
times
(2,968 per cent) and the price of bread increased more than twelve times
(1,150 per cent).
People could no longer afford to boil water. A cholera epidemic broke
out.
The social consequences were devastating. An agricultural worker in
August
1990 was paid $7.50 a month (US). That was enough to buy two hamburgers
and
a drink at McDonalds. Consumer prices in Lima were higher than New York.
Real earnings dropped by 60 per cent. By mid-1991 the standard of living
had declined by 85 per cent.
And this was the just beginning of ten years of deadly reforms under
Fujimori.
And remember, Peru didn't really do anything. Just resisted a few
International Monetary Fund Measures. But Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia has
been
driving the German Establishment (and now the Americans) crazy for 100
years or more. Washington and Berlin would like nothing more than to
make
Yugoslavia an example of total enslavement, to show people what would
happen to them if they were to resist.
Haven't the U.S. and Germany made this perfectly clear in Kosovo? A
gangster-fascist regime has been installed. And Western leaders are
fully
aware of the horror they have wrought in Kosovo. UN Secretary General
Kofi
Annan received a special report about this. The report was discussed by
the
British newspaper, the 'Observer':
"Murder, torture and extortion: these are the extraordinary charges made
against the UN's own Kosovo Protection Corps in a confidential United
Nations report written for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"The KPC stands accused in the document, drawn up on 29 February, of
'criminal activities - killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal
policing,
abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and
hate-speech'. " (quoted in "How Will You Plead at your Trial, Mr.
Annan?"
at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/howwill.htm )
What would Washington do if it's G-17 employees got hold of Yugoslavia?
They would institute the most extreme economic "reforms" to devastate
the
country.
Prices would go sky high; farmers would lose their land; businesses
would
be bought up and closed down. In Hungary they privatized the only light
bulb factory and shut it down so that now everybody has to buy bulbs
from
the US company, General Electric. In Yugoslavia they would take away the
lamps. People would be reduced to starvation.
This kind of suffering produces ethnic tension. Washington would whip
this
up by sending in their UCK (KLA) fascist terrorists. Why does Washington
keep the UCK in power in Kosovo? Because they want to use them again.
For
what? They are incapable of fighting a real army. But they are capable
of
terrorizing civilians.
A Washington-controlled government would bring in NATO troops to "help
keep
order." The troops would never leave. The hunt for imaginary war
criminals
would go on, a thousand times worse than it is in the Bosnian Serb
Republic. Croatians, Bosnian Muslims and ethnic Albanians who fled to
Serbia to escape fascist persecution would be put on the list of phony
war
criminals. All loyal Yugoslavs would have to pay for their (imaginary)
crimes so that "healing can begin."
Every effort would be made to humiliate the people, to break their
spirit,
and to eliminate potential leaders of resistance.
Do you know what the United States did a few years ago to Vietnam? When
the
Vietnam War ended, the US government ordered an embargo which did
Vietnam a
lot of harm, economically. A few years ago, Washington agreed to lift
the
embargo. In exchange, Vietnam had to agree to pay the debts of the
former
South Vietnamese government, a puppet government controlled by
Washington.
Most of its debt came from borrowing money (from the US) to buy weapons
(from the US) to kill its own people. And now Vietnam is being forced to
pay this "debt" to Washington, after Washington had invaded Vietnam and
was
driven
out, leaving two million Vietnamese dead.
The "democratic" opposition says that if they can just get into power
everything will be normal. Washington would treat the Yugoslavs right.
Sure
they would. Just the way they treated the American Indians.
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
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