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Tuesday, April 04, 2000
By Monica L. Haynes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Correction/Clarification: (Published April 6, 2000) The Jubilee 2000 USA National Mobilization for Debt Cancellation takes place Sunday in Washington, D.C. The date was given incorrectly in a story about the rally in Tuesday’s editions.
Who can forget the images of men, women and children in Mozambique rushing to rescue helicopters or sitting in trees to save themselves from rising flood waters -- in a country drowning in world debt.
The apartheid regime may no longer exist in South Africa, but its citizens are now being held down by the debt incurred by the former government that kept many of them oppressed.
In the Philippines, former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his first lady, Imelda, lived a lavish lifestyle. The Filipino people now live with billions of dollars in debt.
These countries are not alone in their crushing indebtedness. Bangladesh owes $15.1 billion, half of the $30.9 billion debt of Peru, which is a little more than the $21.6 billion owed by Vietnam. There are 52 highly indebted poor countries owing more than $300 billion to Western nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
But that staggering figure does not deter Wanda Guthrie.
The Murrysville volunteer/activist is one of thousands involved in Jubilee 2000, a global campaign to cancel by the end of this year the unsustainable debts of the world's poorest countries. Guthrie is even trying to organize a bus trip to Washington, D.C., for Sunday's Jubliee 2000/USA National Mobilization for Debt Cancellation. It's a daylong rally culminating in the formation of a human chain around the Capitol.
Debt cancellation was a major topic of discussion during a summit on Africa held in Washington, D.C., in February. Pittsburgh Councilman Sala Udin served as chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation.
List of the 52 heavily indebted poor countries as determined by the World Bank.
Country
Debt
1.
Angola
$10.1 billion
2.
Bangladesh
$15.1 billion
3.
Benin
$1.6 billion
4.
Bolivia
$5.2 billion
5.
Burkina Faso
$1.2 billion
6.
Burundi
$1 billion
7.
Cambodia
$2.1 billion
8.
Cameroon
$9.2 billion
9.
Central Afr. Rep.
$885 million
10.
Chad
$1 billion
11.
Congo Dem. Rep.
$12.3 billion
12.
Congo Republic
$5 billion
13.
Cote d'Ivoire
$15.6 billion
14.
Equitorial Guinea
$283 million
15.
Ethiopia
$10 billion
16.
Gambia
$430 million
17.
Ghana
$5.9 billion
18.
Guinea
$3.5 billion
19.
Guinea-Bissau
$921 million
20.
Guyana
$1.3 billion
21.
Haiti
$1 billion
22.
Honduras
$4.6 billion
23.
Jamaica
$3.9 billion
24.
Kenya
$6.4 billion
25.
Laos
$2.3 billion
26.
Liberia
$2.1 billion
27.
Madagascar
$4.1 billion
28.
Malawi
$2.2 billion
29.
Mali
$2.8 billion
30.
Mauritania
$2.4 billion
31.
Morocco
$19.3 billion
32.
Mozambique
$5.5 billion
33.
Myanmar
$5 billion
34.
Nepal
$2.3 billion
35.
Nicaragua
$5.6 billion
36.
Niger
$1.5 billion
37.
Nigeria
$28.4 billion
38.
Peru
$30.9 billion
39.
Philippines
$45.4 billion
40.
Rwanda
$1.1 billion
41.
Sao Tome
$261 million
42.
Senegal
$3.4 billion
43.
Sierra Leone
$1.1 billion
44.
Somalia
$2.5 billion
45.
Sudan
$16.3 billion
46.
Tanzania
$7.1 billion
47.
Togo
$1.2 billion
48.
Uganda
$3.7 billion
49.
Vietnam
$21.6 billion
50.
Yemen
$3.8 billion
51.
Zambia
$6.7 billion
52.
Zimbabwe
$4.9 billion
Total Debt
$353.8 billion*
*Due to rounding, addition of individual numbers is less than total debt.
"One of the issues that was mentioned more frequently than any other issue was how this huge debt was choking African development," Udin said. "Even if they organized themselves and their economy to be productive, they're not able to develop schools, hospitals and roads because everything they produce is sucked up by this debt that was left over from colonial and neo-colonial [rule]."
The United Nations estimates that if money could be returned to health care and education, the lives of 7 million children a year could be saved.
"I lived in Brazil and from my experience, debt relief is beyond an idea whose time has come," said Guthrie, who lived in that South American country from 1977 to 1982. "I witnessed the problems of a regime not chosen by the people, where the oppression was evident and dissent not allowed. The government borrowed money for investment, (now debt) that the poorest people are now accountable for. The accounting comes in the form of terrible inflation, less to eat, and desperate ways to scratch out a living."
Guthrie, who's involved in a number of social causes, learned about Jubilee 2000 while visiting the Scottish island of Iona last year. The peace and social justice community there was working on the debt cancellation campaign. "I knew that I wanted to be involved, so it was just a matter of time."
In December, she attended a Jubilee 2000 conference near Ashville, N.C., and learned of a number of religious organizations involved in the effort, including the Episcopal Church of the United States, the Bread of the World and the National Council of Churches.
Recently retired University of Pittsburgh professor Dennis Brutus, once a political prisoner in his native South Africa, is co-president of Jubilee2000 Afrika, an organization based in Accra, Ghana. He's also involved with Jubilee2000 South Africa and Jubilee 2000 South, which includes Asian nations.
According to Jubilee2000, the combination of corrupt military regimes, dictatorships, poor banking practices and fickle global markets over the past 40 years have pushed the poorest countries into an economic abyss from which none of them have been able to climb.
New debt is incurred to pay off old debt. Sometimes only partial payments can be made, so the countries go into arrears and the debts grow even bigger. Mozambique is an example of that.
The country was paying $1.4 million a week on the $6.4 billion that it owes. It has been promised debt cancellation of $3.4 billion and debt relief under the World Bank and International Monetary Funds' Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. The initiative is designed to reduce debts to sustainable levels for poor countries that pursue economic and social policy reforms. It is used in cases where traditional debt relief mechanisms are not enough.
But even with this help, Mozambique will still pay out an a average of $1.2 million a week in debt repayment, according to the Jubilee 2000 Web site. The organization is calling on the country's creditors to stop taking payments and to agree to the cancellation of all the country's debts.
David Bryden, Jubilee 2000 USA spokesman, said the United States government could take the lead in discharging the debt by looking for methods of deeper relief to a broader set of countries.
Guthrie agrees.
"I think that South and Central America and Africa, all of the southern countries, are not a big priority and they need to be."
Udin said that since Republicans and conservatives have not been very receptive to President Clinton's call for debt reduction, it is crucial that Jubilee 2000 get the word out. "I'm certain if people knew how the debt undermines any effort toward development, they would be sympathetic to debt forgiveness."
Guthrie believes wiping the slate clean would give these countries a level playing field and a chance for self-determination. "I would like people to be able to make their own decisions about how they want things to happen," she said.
For more information about Jubilee 2000 and the bus trip, contact Wanda Guthrie at 724-327-2767. Additional information can be obtained at www.j2000usa.org and www.jubilee2000uk.org
(Daniel Marsula, Post-Gazette illustration) 
Who owes and how much