Global Justice Feeder March /// S24 DC
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Join us in Washington, DC! Protest
Military and Economic Violence
Global Justice Feeder March!
Saturday, September 24, 2005.
11:00 am
Dupont Circle, Washington D.C.
Hit the streets for global justice and
against the Iraq war! As the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) hold there annual meetings on September 24th and 25th,
there will be hundreds of thousands of people in Washington in
opposition to the war. Let's make Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the
Iraq war and current president of the World Bank, know that we have
not forgotten about him as he adds loans and grants to his arsenal.
Iraq was forced to privatize its
economy at the barrel of a U.S. gun. The restructuring followed the
same neoliberal “Washington Consensus†playbook that has
disastrously guided the policies of the IMF and World Bank. Much like
other countries, Iraq has effectively lost its economic sovereignty
-- before they even have a constitution.
Mobilization for Global Justice
(www.globalizethis.org) is organizing a feeder march to guarantee
that the longstanding economic war doesn't get lost in the mix. The
march will use puppets, props, theater and music to have a very
visible, energetic and dramatic presence.
What is the World Bank?
Created at the Bretton Woods Conference
in 1944, The World Bank Group is comprised of five agencies that make
loans or guarantee credit to its 177 member countries. In addition to
financing projects such as roads, power plants and schools, the Bank
also makes loans to restructure a country's economic system by
funding structural adjustment programs (SAPs). The Bank manages a
loan portfolio totaling US$200 billion and last year loaned a record
US$28.9 billion to over 80 countries. The current president of the
Bank is Paul Wolfowitz.
What is the IMF?
Also created at the Bretton Woods
Conference, the mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
to supply member states with money to help them overcome short-term
balance-of-payments difficulties. Such money is only made available,
however, after the recipients have agreed to policy reforms in their
economies-- in short, to implement a structural adjustment program.
Both the World Bank and IMF demand
privatization and elimination of public services in exchange for
loans. Their policies have aggravated rather than eliminate poverty
and many development projects have resulted in environmental
destruction and human rights abuses. Loans from these institutions
account for a large part of current third world debt. The World Bank
and IMF are rigged to favor the rich: votes are counted based on how
much money a country gives the institutions.