It seems that not only Haiti, but the whole world, has been shaken up by this month's catastrophic earthquake that struck the island nation. It is clear that Haitians were rocked to their core, but has the the rest of world of the world been shaken up sufficiently? Western politicians are pledging 100% solidarity with Haiti but where was this solidarity before when they imposed a crippling trade regime and stifling debt?
Well at least now people in the west are calling for a cancellation of this debt, we may have done wrong in past but at least now we are doing something to rectify this, no? not quite; I would like to ask, why can't Haiti cancel their own debt?
After all, it was accrued in the name of the Haitian people, but in name only. In reality it was given to corrupt leaders who, at best, spent it on 'development' projects of which sole purpose was to consolidate the power of a wealthy elite willing to slot Haiti conveniently into a bottom rung of a global trade regime based on inequality and exploitation. At worst it was spent on self aggrandizment or stashed away in swiss bank accounts.
Wester doners were complicit in this process. It is impossible for them to plead ignorance of Haiti's democratic deficit. Democracy functions far from perfectly in 'developed' countries, let alone in Haiti, which is hardly an anomaly in the developing world.
With this in mind, how is it fair that the Haitian people should be made to pay a debt which is simply none of their business? If donors want their money back they should go after the people they actually lent it to. Although repayment by these individuals isn't very likely this is a risk that donors should have taken into account when lending money to 'Haiti'; banking IS risk!
However, it is highly unlikly that Lenders will accept this argument and approach to Third World debt. Declaring a indefinite moratorium on debt will get any country ostracized from the international community and cut off from any flows of international credit, regardless of the type of debt or how it was accrued. This invalidates debt cancellation as a development tool for any single developing country as, although not essential, credit is certainly desirable.
This impies a need for concerted action by poor countries to fight for justice, equality and democracy through the collective renouncment of an unjust and profoundly undemocratic debt. I'm not quite sure this is what is implied by the UN's millennium development goal 8; 'develop a global partnership for development', but it certainly does 'address the special needs of the least developed countries'.
If this is to happen peoples' movements must take power in developing countries, denouncing those corrupt leaders implicit in the accumulation of suffocating debt.
There have been a lot of ifs in this article so I'll finish with just one more. If we truly want real development, equality and justice for all, we must support real democracy which may very well entail a reduction in profits for big business and GDP in the short term as so much of this is based on the exploitation of poor countries that would never be accepted if they were real democracies.
It is generally accepted that the debt crisis is crippling the developing world, click here for an idea of the scale we are talking about, but if we fail to get to the root of the problem - a severe deficit in democracy for the majority of the worlds population - then debt cancellation will simply represent the continuity of a patronizing Western approach to development that ensures real structural change is avoided and a 'manageable poverty' persists, pseudo-democracies flourish and the flow of resources from periphery to center persists. Development will not come from a charitable cancellation of debt but from a proud refusal of those suffering under the debt to recognize it as, in any way, either legitimate or just.
No comments:
Post a Comment