Argentina announces completion of full repayment of IMF debt

Tuesday, Jan 03, 2006
Argentina announces completion of full repayment of IMF debt

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's government repaid $9.57 billion US in debt to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, a measure officials depicted as a means to help reclaim economic independence.
Kirchner announced Dec. 15 that his government would pay off its debt to the IMF from reserves that had risen to nearly $27 billion. Argentine authorities confirmed the payment was completed shortly after midday.

"Today is a day of great satisfaction. A lot of hard work had gone into making this payment and, happily, this operation has been concluded successfully," Economy Minister Felisa Miceli announced at a brief news conference late Tuesday in the capital.

She said the payment made by electronic transfer, drawing down the country's existing reserves to $18.5 million. Nonetheless, she said the remaining reserve cushion is more than adequate to manage the country's ongoing finances.
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http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=world_home&articleID=2134033

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Cogratulations to Argentina. They've come so far from the days of _Bush friend, President Carlos Menem who hid in Chile to escape corruption investigations.

Now you'll have to go try your forced exploitation PRIVATIZATION agenda on some other poor unsuspecting country.

Talks about where to get the film that documents the rise of the "reposessed factories" by the workers and the downfall of Menem. Good stuff from Avi Lewis and Avi Klein. There's also a new web site they've opened up that lets you buy stuff directly from Argentinian companies like this to cut out the corporate middlemen and make stuff cheaper.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=255&topic_id=2195

This is good that they've finally been able to get this monkey off of their back. It sounded earlier like it wasn't something that was going to be done very easily.

The Film is by Avi Lewis and Noami Klein.

Before we go bankrupt and Argentina will bail us out!

the imf is still holding other nations hostage in an attempt to gut them to corporate interests. the us needs to realize that the cheep goods we buy may as well be covered with the blood of indebted slaves.

January 3, 2006
Argentina clears IMF debt, ushers in 'new phase'

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina canceled its entire $9.5 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, effectively cutting free from the Washington-based lender after years of bitter clashes.

"This is the start of a new phase," a smiling Economy Minister Felisa Miceli told reporters after the transaction was completed.

Argentine President Nestor Kirchner announced on December 15 the government would use nearly a third of its foreign reserves to wipe out the remaining IMF debt, two days after Brazil announced it would pay its $15.5 billion debt with the IMF ahead of time.

Argentine leaders say the early payback gives the government more freedom to carry out economic policies that have not always met with the fund's approval.
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http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=26362

The twilight of Northern hegemony is at hand.

Freedom is on the march in Latin America.

Five Lessons Bush Learned from Argentina’s Dirty War and Five Lessons for the Rest of Us

Written by Renate Lunn
Tuesday, 03 January 2006

It began as a far-reaching war against a vague enemy. Any questions about the war were considered unpatriotic and dissenters risked being violently repressed by the government. The government helped the economic elite profit at the expense of the poor. When the regime was losing its grip on power, it turned to a conventional military war that became a disaster. This synopsis describes the Dirty War of 1976-1983 in Argentina…and the current US "War on Terror."

The Dirty War in Argentina is a complex story that can be viewed through a variety of lenses. During the six months I recently spent in Argentina, I found that the more I learned about the Dirty War, the more I was learning about the "War on Terror." To say that the current state of repression in the US is exactly like the Dirty War would be an insult to the 30,000 people who were disappeared and tortured in Argentina. The similarities between the two "wars," however, can indicate in what direction the US may be headed and how progressives can steer the country in another direction.

The Dirty War has its roots in the anti-communist sentiments generated by the US during the Cold War. After the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, governments throughout Latin America began cracking down on leftist groups including student organizations and unions. Fearing the spread of communism, the US government actively supported this repression by training Latin American soldiers in torture techniques at the School of the Americas and refusing to criticize or sanction human rights violations committed by right-wing governments. Under the military dictatorship in Argentina of 1966-1973, some leftist groups responded to the absolute ban on political activity with armed resistance.
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The military government detained, tortured, disappeared and killed anyone who was suspected of being subversive, including student leaders, critical journalists, and union leaders. Squads made of members of the armed forces and local police departments kidnapped suspected "subversives" from their homes, workplaces and even the streets. There were 14,000 political prisoners. Another 30,000 people were kidnapped by government agents. Because their bodies were never located and the military and police would deny that these people were in their custody, these 30,000 are considered "disappeared." Over 500 children were taken from detained parents and raised by families of members of the military. Many activists chose to flee the country. Thus, among other things, the government effectively eliminated a generation of leftist leaders.
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http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/160/1/