Source:
Jubilee South
Fri Dec 30 2005
Social, religious and political leaders filed an Appeal for Legal Protection so that payment to the International Monetary Fund is declared unconstitutional and thus suspended. This instrument was signed by more than 50 petitioners and was submitted before the Chamber of Appeals in Federal Contentious-Administrative Matters.
Wednesday, December 28, 11am., at the Justice Palace
On Wednesday, December 28, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Nora Cortiñas and Mirtha Baravalle, deputy Claudio Lozano, pastors Ángel Furlan and Aldo Etchegoyen, Alejandro Olmos G., Beverly Keene, Mario Cafiero, Ariel Basteiro, sister María Bassa and other members of different social, human rights, political and indigenous peoples organizations filed an Appeal for Legal Protection so that payment to the International Monetary Fund is declared unconstitutional and thus suspended.
The above-mentioned instrument was signed by more than 50 petitioners and was submitted before the Chamber of Appeals in Federal Contentious-Administrative Matters.
The legal protection action is based on the illegitimacy and illegal status of the debt whose payment has been decided by the Executive Power, quoting as legal backgrounds the judgement by Judge Ballesteros in the Olmos Case and other investigations currently in progress under court jurisdiction. Likewise, the violation of the National Constitution, being Congress deprived of the non-delegated authority to deal with the external debt, as well as the illegality of the measures adopted by emergency decree are denounced, together with the postponement of the Economic Emergency Law.
Once the legal action was filed, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, declared the following before the media that were present: “By means of this decision made by the government, without neither asking for advice nor discussing it, the IMF is set free of any charge or liability. The state continues to postpone the obligation to give priority to the social debt owed to the people. The external debt is not payable and is also immoral and unfair, and has already been paid several times; the Fund is jointly responsible for the social crisis suffered by our people and we should break the circle of impunity that surrounds it”.
Then, deputy Lozano stated: “The government is jumping over Congress; the President is not empowered to cancel the debt to the IMF since that is a parliamentary responsibility. Nor the decree to pay was approved by the Chambers given the fact that the Executive did not send it.”
"To pay off a debt whose legitimacy is being investigated under court jurisdiction is a serious offense against the legal provisions in force which govern the democratic and republican life”, pointed out professor Alejandro Olmos Gaona. The indigenous representative Verónica Carrasco, on the other hand, joined the legal protection action, making it clear that “the needs and rights of so many millions of people – among them the indigenous peoples – can no longer be postponed in order to comply with the illegitimate demand of an institution, the IMF, which has caused so much damage to the people. We are the real creditors and it is time to pay the historical, social and environmental debt owed to us”. “The implementation of these policies prevents us from living and being and taking good care of our culture. We are here to demand justice”, added Pedro Moreiro, Coya’s representative.
In addition to this initiative, a joint declaration between Argentine and Brazilian organizations members of the Jubilee South Network was made known last week, denouncing the “dis-indebtedness” policy promoted by the International Monetary Fund. Having been subscribed by more than one hundred organizations and personalities, the Declaration also demands the governments of Brazil and Argentina to carry out an Integral Audit of debts claimed, in order to determine who owes who before going on paying for illegal and already cleared debts. Fraternal organizations as well as public in general are invited to join this demand, by sending a message to Diálogo 2000 dialogo@wamani.apc.org.
See complete text of the Legal Protection action (in Spanish): An appeal for legal protection was filed. They demand payment to the IMF to be declared unconstitutional and thus suspended.
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