Correa Insists on LatAm Unity Against Transnational Thievery

[Catherina]

Correa Insists on LatAm Unity Against Transnational Thievery

Quito, May 21 (Prensa Latina) ...

During a meeting with journalists in Guayaquil, Correa described the consequences of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) as institutionalized theft, used by transnational companies to demand multi-billion settlements from sovereign nations. Correa also said that Latin America is the region facing the greatest number of such lawsuits from transnational corporations, and reiterated that a new alternative system must be created that allows for fair resolutions to disputes between states and companies.

...

Correa also stressed that this issue was denounced from the earliest days of his administration and independent legal analysis has already revealed how arbitration centers are manipulating the process for financial advantage.

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Correa said that he expects that at the level of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), members will sponsor a project to create a Regional Arbitration Center.

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"We also need a new monetary system law, due to the neoliberal law having made the Central Bank a sounding board for the interests of banking and financial capital," added the Ecuadorian president.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1433811&Itemid=1

[Judi Lynn]

1. Watch your back,President Correa!The people love him, the criminals don't.

After they try to knock off Maduro, the same right-wingers are going after Correa harder.
They can't stand his courage, and his determination to do right for the people.

Thanks for this new material.

[Peace Patriot]

2. Great idea! A Regional Arbitration Center--no more blackmail by transnational corporations!

And that subtitle is a very important point: "Correa Insists on LatAm Unity Against Transnational Thievery."

The opening paragraph of this article is a vitally important one:

"Quito, May 21 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is insisting that Latin America must act in a united way to impose conditions on capital and prevent countries from being individually subjected to corporate whims." (my emphasis)

This is the key insight that leftist leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Lula da Silva perceived about their situation--that they must stick together and form strong regional alliances to establish and defend their sovereignty, given the half century of looting and domination--mostly by U.S. transnational corporations, banksters and war profiteers--that treated Latin America as the U.S. "back yard" and left it economically and politically devastated by the time the Bush Junta took over here.

This was the circumstance of Chavez's first election in 1998, of Lula da Silva's election in 2002, of Nestor Kirchner's election in Argentina around the same time, and of the slightly later elections of many more leftists: Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Tabare Vazquez in Uruguay, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Mel Zelaya in Honduras, Mauricio Funes in El Salvador and Alvaro Colom in Guatemala. Most of these leftist leaders faced extreme and increasing poverty in the majority of the population, looted resources, rule by rich elites in cahoots with U.S. elite interests, broken democracies, very limited educational opportunities and medical care for the poor, and a rampaging and corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs" (means of U.S. infiltration of militaries and police forces and control of governments, and in Colombia the means of exterminating leftists and peasant farmers).

Latin American needed to pull together. Here was the opportunity with so many leftist leaders getting elected, often by big margins, and these brilliant leaders--particularly Chavez, da Silva and Kirchner--saw what they could do, at long last, and began organizing REGIONALLY, to help each other out and to have each other's backs. They created regional institutions and pulled Latin America together in the greatest democracy and sovereignty movement the world has seen in hundreds of years.

And it is critically important that they hang together NOW, with the U.S. government fighting back with more devastating tactics (often subtler, harder to see) than the Bush Junta's obvious thuggery. For instance: The rightwing coup in Honduras--Obama dancing around it, pretending to be against it, then being for it. The U.S. State Department holding an egregiously phony 'election' under martial law. No leftists allowed to run. Many leftists murdered or in jail. No reputable election monitoring group on earth would touch it. The rightwing 'wins.' The U.S. parades this as 'democracy.'

Another for instance: The U.S. government's propagandistic assault on Venezuela's election system. It's "the best election system in the world," according to Jimmy Carter, yet Obama refuses to recognize the election of Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, and emits this phony garbage about a "100% recount." Sounds good. Ain't.

And another for instance: The U.S./Colombia "free trade for the rich" agreement following up the Bush Junta era's thousands of murders of labor leaders, teachers, community activists, human rights advocates, leftist politicians and others and the brutal displacement of FIVE MILLION peasant farmers from their lands. Obama can support peace now and support limited land restitution now but what about all those dead bodies, murdered by the Bush Junta-funded military and its death squads (and possibly by the U.S. military and/or its military 'contractors' as well, and certainly with U.S./Bush Junta illegal domestic spying assistance) and approved in Washington DC? Oblivion. Immunity. "We need to look forward not backward."

Not subtle when you know the history. But subtle for many 'news' consumers especially here in the U.S. Part of the battle for Latin American democracy and sovereignty is overcoming corporate 'news' propaganda, here and there. Here, the lying of the U.S. government and its corporate 'news' echo chamber is, a) to prevent any outcry by our justice-minded citizens, and b) to prevent us from knowing about this rather amazing "New Deal" movement in Latin America (sovereignty and independence in Latin America = a "New Deal" for its people).

With these slicker propagandists running U.S./Latin American relations, the non-U.S. client states--such as Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and the others--really, really need to watch each other's backs. Honduras and Paraguay have been picked off. Another attempt has been made on Venezuela (and it isn't over yet). We may have just seen the start of a destabilization effort in Brazil (the "rumor" that started a panic among poor recipients of government subsidies). Chile may rejoin the leftist alliance this year, but still, U.S. operations are on-going to "divide and conquer" these independent, allied countries, to punish them economically, and to destabilize these countries and overthrow their governments and democracy itself, as we've seen in Honduras and Paraguay--successful rightwing coups with Obama as president of the U.S., following unsuccessful rightwing coups mounted against Venezuela and Bolivia, during the Bush Junta.

That is a sobering thought. The Bush Junta couldn't pull off a successful rightwing coup in Latin America (except maybe in Mexico with a rigged election). The Obama administration can, and has.

One other thought on this article: It seems to me that Correa's call for a Regional Arbitration Center could be pertinent to Argentina's situation. Argentina's was targeted for destruction by "Shock Doctrine" tactics employed by the World Bank/IMF and the billionaires they serve. Rightwing ("neo-liberal&quot governments indentured Argentina to the World Bank/IMF on very bad--indeed, ruinous--terms. The economy tanked altogether and social/economic chaos ensued. Then they elected leftist Nestor Kirchner who used a default to restructure Argentina's loans and Argentina is now PAYING THEM OFF in an orderly way on the renegotiated terms, agreed to by 92% of the creditors. But two "vulture funds" (hedge funds) have held out for full payment immediately. "Vulture funds" buy debt on spec, pay pennies for it and try to reap 1,500% return. These particular "vulture funds" may also have a political motive--overthrowing Argentina's leftist government.

Here's a good rundown on the case:
http://eurodad.org/1544914/

And here's a good article on the context ("vulture funds" in the "third world), and on Argentina's particular enemy, Paul Singer and his "vulture fund," NML. Hector Timerman (Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs) explains who Singer is and what he's doing, towards the end of the article:

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Paul Singer could be branded as the inventor of vulture funds; in 1996 he won a case against the Peruvian government for a 400 percent profit. After this success, Singer sued the Republic of Congo for $400 million for a debt it acquired for $10 million and ended up with $127 million. Needless to say, this is money that should be going to build roads, schools and other poverty reduction programs. Worst, these nations are often on the receiving end of debt alleviation and international funding -- which then goes to line the pockets of said vulture funds.

In this game political connections play an important role. Though Paul Singer has been the biggest donor to the Republican campaigns for many years, he leaves nothing to chance: when the polls reflected a political sea change during George W. Bush's presidency, he appointed Democrats to lead a task force created to lobby against Argentina.

The American Task Force Argentina (ATFA) has the mission to disqualify, intimidate and discredit my country's government, which has declared that it will not yield to vulture funds. To convey their message they conveniently forget to inform that the lobby is financed by a vulture fund. In the past, ATFA lobbyists walked the halls of Congress pretending to represent teachers that had invested in Argentine bonds. When the lie became unsustainable, they turned face: they now claim to lobby on behalf of American taxpayers. The crude truth is that NML is based in the Cayman Islands just to avoid paying taxes in the U.S.

After the 2001 default, in the midst of a crisis that threatened the very continuity of the Argentine nation, in 2005 and 2010 Argentina designed and carried out a complete swap of its debt which was accepted by more than 92 percent of Argentina's creditors.

Our message is clear: we will pay the overwhelming majority of debt holders, who have agreed to a debt swap that has contributed to Argentina's recovery, that also pays a fair share of interest on those investments. It is worth emphasizing that interests of restructured bonds were tied to the Argentine GDP performance, which after an average growth of 8 percent per year since 2003, resulted in a significant gain for bondholders who joined the swap.

However, we will not reward loan sharks who bought defaulted bonds for next to nothing and have refused a deal that would have represented a clear profit, asking much more, even several times the amount they spent.

If Argentina beats Paul Singer and others, the consequence may well be a world where vulture funds' actions against developing countries are history. A place free of these scavengers would benefit not only my country, but also other poor nations in Africa and Latin America. We encourage all good-spirited nations and organizations to help us get rid of them.

(MORE)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hector-timerman/africa-latin-america-vulture-funds_b_2100827.html

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This seems like an ideal situation for a Regional Arbitration Center to tell Paul Singer and his ilk to go to Hell!