Source:
IFIs Latin American Monitor
Mon Nov 09 2009
The International Meeting "Economic and social impacts of the crisis and debt in the South, analysis and proposals towards a new model of Latin American development" took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from 4 to 6 November. This event was organized by Jubilee 2000 Guayaquil Network together with other national, regional and international organizations, on the occasion of the 10-year anniversary of the Andean Jubilees, Jubilee 2000 Guayaquil Network, Bolivian Jubilee Foundation and Peruvian Jubilee Network.
Based on the progress and new challenges in the fight against debt, the discussions on the crisis and proposed solutions developed this year in international forums, the latest decisions agreed upon in the G20, the IMF and the World Bank, and the launch of the debate on the new regional financial architecture, this meeting aimed to bring together different visions and initiatives the organizations and movements are carrying out and establish a program of immediate action to help build a new development model where human rights and those of nature, ethnic and gender inclusion prevail.
The onset of the activities was marked by a breakfast meeting with local and national media that were covering the event. Later, in the first panel, Juan Carlos Núñez of the Bolivian Jubilee Foundation, Carlos Bedoya, of the Peruvian Jubilee Network and Hugo Arias of Jubilee 2000 recalled the first steps of these organizations and highlighted the achievements of these 10 years. In the words of Carlos Bedoya, one of the biggest changes over this decade, is that “the irreversible has become reversible,” referring to the loss of legitimacy of the neoliberal paradigm prevailing in the 1990s.
Next, there was a panel titled “The impact of the financial crisis in development financing and the danger of further indebtedness.” The panelists were Ricardo Moro, of the Justice and Solidarity Foundation of Italy, María José Romero of the Third World Institute, Diego Borja, coordinating minister for Economic Policy of Ecuador, and Wilma Salgado, former minister of Economy and Finance of Ecuador. They discussed the causes and consequences of the crisis, the responses of the G20, IMF, WB and warned of the possibility that the crisis could re-legitimize policies that have been already been proved as a failure. Minister Borja’s words were forceful in relation to the position of the Ecuadorian government towards the G20 and the IMF. According to the minister, the G20 does not have enough legitimacy to address the crisis, but it is the UN as an inclusive and participatory space that needs to respond globally. The minister said that “we need to redefine the mode of the struggle and collective actions,” because it will be through this that the alternatives will be built.
In the afternoon there were two panels. The first one focused on ecological debt, and food and environmental crises, while the second focused on the current status of debt and new borrowing from the anti-crisis packages and their economic and social impacts.
At the end of the first day of activity, the participants of the event celebrated 10 years of the Andean Jubilees with the presence of Diego Borja, coordinating minister for Economic Policy, and Ricardo Patiño, coordinating minister for Politics of Ecuador. Patiño is a founding member of Jubilee 2000 Guayaquil Network and one of its main proponents.
Related Information:
Guayaquil Statement (Spanish)
Third World Institute presentation at the meeting (Spanish - pdf format)
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