Daily Press Cuttings

Friday 7th July 2000

The Guardian: UK/Cafod/WDM/Jubilee 2000: Coverage of the Jubilee 2000 demonstration at the UK Treasury. Picture of Jubilee 2000 supporter at a bus stop with the comment “There'll be another promise along in a minute.” Journalist Charlotte Denny says that the public has been fooled into believing the battle to reduce the third world's debt burden has been won, according to a survey published by Cafod . In reality, since leaders from the Group of Seven main economies grabbed the headlines last June with a promise to write off loans worth $100 billion from the world's poorest countries, they have delivered just $2 billion in extra debt relief. “Cafod's poll confirms our worst fears,” said Henry Northover, the agency's policy adviser. Gordon Brown and the other G7 finance ministers have the power to get the debt process back on track,” said Jessica Woodroffe, head of campaigns at the World Development Movement. “It is time to stop spinning and drop the debt.” OAU/Rwanda: The Organisation of African Unity is demanding payment of “significant reparations” to Rwanda by the countries that failed to prevent the genocide of 1994, when 800 000 people are believed to have died. A special report released today for the July 10^th and 12^th opening of this year's annual summit in Togo parallels the requested reparations with the $13 billion Marshall Plan. The uncompromising report names the US and France in particular, along with the UN security council as a whole, as guilty parties who “allowed this terrible conspiracy to go ahead.” The OAU urges the UN secretary general to establish a commission to work out a formula for reparations. It also urges the immediate cancellation of all Rwanda's debt, saying much of it was accumulated by the government that planned and executed the genocide.

FT: Jubilee 2000: Picture of Jubilee 2000 campaigners chaining themselves to buildings in Whitehall, London. The Jubilee 2000 campaign yesterday mounted a series of protests world-wide to express its extreme unhappiness over the tortuous pace at which poor country debt relief is being granted. Last year's G7 meeting in Cologne agreed a new programme of debt write-offs for 40 countries. But campaigners say not a single country has yet received any relief. The article looks ahead to the weekend meeting of finance ministers in Fukuoka, Japan, saying the health of the world economy is better than at any time in the last few years, making for a more harmonious meeting. The issue the Japanese hosts would like to focus on is the economic impact of information technology. Many aid experts and charities consider this to be a dangerously fashionable distraction. Trade/developing countries: The World Trade Organisation and five other international agencies yesterday approved a series of measures to strengthen their joint technical assistance programme aimed at helping the world's poorest countries take advantage of trade opportunities.

Agence France Press: G8/Okinawa: Group of Eight leaders may buckle to South Africa's angry demands and meet with developing nations to discuss debt relief, diplomats in Tokyo said Thursday. Details were still being thrashed out behind the scenes for a meeting between the two sides in Tokyo on July 20, said diplomats from both G8 and non-aligned nations. If confirmed, the encounter would take place on the eve of a July 21-23 G8 summit in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. It would allow South African President Thabo Mbeki and other leaders to talk with G8 chiefs including US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the diplomats said. Mbeki last week accused the G8 leaders of refusing to meet in the same room with him, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to discuss Africa's debt. But the meeting may now go ahead between key G8 leaders, the three African nations' presidents and Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, the diplomatic sources said.

Thursday 6th July 2000

FT: G8/Okinawa (yesterday's paper): FT diary makes a jokeGlobal finance: Letter from Tony Colman MP argues that a Tobin tax could deal with the long-term funding of social development across the world. There is a growing strength of feeling led by Canada and supported by the EU that there should be an investigation into the proposal. Environment: Letter from Andrew Warren from the Association for the Conservation of Energy asking whether in all the euphoria over the decision by Saudi Arabia to boost oil production, anyone stops to consider the implications for the Kyoto agreement. Philippines: Philippine President Joseph Estrada said that he would ask the national legislature to grant him “special but limited powers” to boost economic development in the southern Mindanao region, a move that will spark political controversy.

The Guardian: Sierra Leone/UN: The UN Security Council last night imposed an 18-month global embargo on diamond exports from Sierra Leone, where the gems-for-guns trade is fuelling the civil war. World Bank/poverty reduction: Letter from Professor Nick Stern, newly-appointed chief economist at the World Bank criticising a recent Guardian article which attempted to polarise the debate on poverty reduction into growth versus income distribution. He says that there is much common ground between himself and David Bryer, director of Oxfam on the issue. Indonesia: Two attempts have been made to bomb the staff of the Indonesian attorney general as they investigate allegations that the former dicatator General Suharto, his family and cronies were involved in 30 years of corruption.

IHT: China/World Bank: New York Times leader calls for the World Bank to stop a proposed loan to China, which would threaten a distinct part of Tibetan culture. Côte d'Ivoire: The military government reached a deal on Wednesday with mutinous young soldiers to end a protest that paralysed Abidjan and degenerated into a spree of looting and robbery. Congo (Kinshasa): Belgium said Wednesday that it had issued an international arrest warrant against the foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi, on charges of crimes against humanity. Refugees have alleged that he incited hatred against them in speeches referring to them as “vermin” and calling for their “extermination.” AIDS: Article looks at the failure of the west to confront the pandemic of AIDS despite the early warnings.

Wednesday 5th July 2000

Yomiuri Shimbun: (Japanese paper) Japanese and US officials have confirmed that Asian and African leaders will meet with G8 leaders in Tokyo just before the Okinawa Summit. G8 leaders will meet President Mbeki of South Africa, as the representative of the non-aligned movement, President Obasanjo of Nigeria, as representative of the G77, President Bouteflika of Algeria, representing the OAU and Thai prime minister, representing UNCTAD.

FT: Côte d'Ivoire: Côte d'Ivoire's military junta imposed a curfew last night after mutinous soldiers had taken to the streets of Abidjan, the commercial capital, opening fire in several parts of the city. The unrest was another sign of the worsening instability that has gripped the world's leading cocoa producer. Mexico: Vicente Fox, Mexico's president-elect, yesterday said that he would push to build an ambitious common market with the US as part of a marathon reform programme to transform Mexico after seven decades of one-party rule. Argentina: Argentine officials are hailing a sharp rise in tax revenues and an apparent increase in investment as fresh evidence that the economy has shaken off a recession with cut GDP by 3 per cent last year. Nigeria: Industrial unrest has spread across Nigeria for the second time in a month amid doubts about President Olusegun Obasanjo's ability to reach an early agreement on economic reform with the IMF. The strike coincides with the visit to Nigeria of IMF Managing Director Horst Köhler. IMF officials said after meeting Mr Obasanjo that there were still obstacles to a planned $1 billion standby agreement that is a vital step to relief on the country's $31 billion-plus external debt. Honduras: Chiquita Brands, the US groups, is to cut back its banana operations in Honduras substantially.

IHT: Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone's British trained army retook the strategic town of Masiaka on Tuesday, after briefly losing it to rebels, according to a spokeswoman for the UN.

Independent: Zimbabwe/EU: Europe tied future aid for Zimbabwe to the introduction of human rights reforms yesterday after a damning official report on last month's elections confirmed reports of widespread torture, abduction and rape.

Tuesday 4th July 2000

FT: Mexico: Vicente Fox, Mexico's surprise president-elect, has signalled plans for bold liberalising reforms to the country's economy including opening up Pemex, the state oil monopoly. He is also likely to keep the independence of the central bank. FT leader describes the vote as historic and welcomes the end of the longest lived one-party state. Human development/UNDP: Letter from Richard Jolly and Sakiko Fukuda-Parr of the United Nations Development Programme arguing that until now human rights and human development have represented different streams of thought. The latest human development report argues that the strengths of each must be brought together in a new alliance for the 21^st century. Mongolia: Mongolia's former communist party won power yesterday with a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, raising questions over the future pace of the country's privatisation programme and free-market reforms. Japan/Okinawa: Japanese police yesterday arrested US marine for allegedly molesting a 14-year old girl in Okinawa, casting a shadow over preparations for this month's Group of Eight summit meeting on the southern Japanese island.

Guardian: World Bank: Charlotte Denny looks at the heated debate over the emphasis of economic growth in the role of poverty reduction. On the one-side are the ultra-orthodox economists who believe that if poor countries adopt a set of tried and tested policies—conquer inflation, slash government budgets and open their economies to trade—they will reap the benefits in economic growth. A recent World Bank Report by David Dollar and Aart Kraay uses statistical evidence from 80 countries and claims that the poor benefit equally with the rich from rising incomes. On the other side are those like Professor Kanbur and Professor Stiglitz, both of whom have recently resigned from the World Bank, who believe that growth alone is not enough. The quality of growth matters and policies should make sure than the poor get the most benefit from rising prosperity.

IHT: Uganda: Voters in Uganda have overwhelmingly endorsed the nation's “no-party” political system, according to final results, though only half of registered voters went to the polls. At the same time the leaders of Uganda and neighbouring Rwanda met over the weekend to defuse tensions over fighting in the Congo. At least 600 people died in recent fighting in Kisangani. Globalisation/poverty: Journalist William Pfaff comments that it is time to write the obituary of globalism as an economic doctrine that purports to bring progress and development to international society. It has failed. The special UN General Assembly session in Geneva last week concluded that poverty, inequality and insecurity have increased in the world since globalism was launched. The joint report of the IMF, World Bank, OECD and UN is that the number of people living in absolute poverty has increased from a billion five years ago to 1.2 billion today. He concludes that it is time to re-examine recent history of globalism and try to undo its wretched excesses.

Monday 3rd July 2000

FT: Jubilee 2000/Okinawa: Jubilee 2000, the debt relief campaign, today launches a report accusing the leaders of the industrialised nations of failing to keep their promises on the issue. It claims only $15 billion in relief will be delivered by the end of this year, instead of the $100 billion promised a year ago. Adrian Lovett, deputy director of Jubilee 2000, said the G7 should immediately stop collecting debt payments from governments eligible for relief under the HIPC initiative. Finance ministers from the G8 gather next weekend before the heads of government meeting on the Japanese island of Okinawa late in the month. “After years of meeting in major cities, increasingly besieged by campaigners calling on them to cancel the unpayable debts of the poorest countries, the G8 are retreating to an island”, said Mr Lovett. UN/IMF: In a strongly worded open letter to Mr Annan last week, about 80 non-governmental organisations led by the World Council of Churches accused Kofi Annan, UN-secretary general, of taking part in a “propaganda exercise for international financial institutions”, by putting the UN's name on a joint report by the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD. Mexico: Vicente Fox, a firebrand rancher, appeared set to end 71 years of presidential rule in Mexico by the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI), according to exit polls last night. If the polls are confirmed in the final results, the victory by the centre right Mr Fox would transform Mexico's landscape, cementing the country's long transition from one-party domination to a multi-party democracy.

The Times: Jubilee 2000: A pledge by Tony Blair to write off £1.64 billion of the debt of the world's poorest nations is attacked as a sham today. No British laons have been cancelled in the year since the Prime Minister and other world leaders at the G8 summit in Cologne, Germany, promised to write off £66 billion in 2000. By the end of the year Britain will have reduced outstanding loans by only £17 million, according to a report by Jubilee 2000. Adrian Lovett, deputy director, said: “the commitments made by the Government look like a sham.” A spokesman for the Treasury said: “It takes time, but we are making progress. Obviously we would like it if we could proceed more quickly.”

The Independent: Rwanda/Uganda: The presidents of Rwanda and Uganda, former comrades estranged in Congo's two-year war, promised yesterday to improve relations and avoid future conflicts like the fighting in Kisangani last month.

Guardian: Haiti/Jubilee 2000: Report by Owen Bowcott on Haiti culture and voodoo mentions the group Boukman Eksperyans which gave a free concert in the capital to support Jubilee 2000's campaign against developing world indebtedness. World Bank: (Saturday's paper) Interview with new World Bank chief economist Nick Stern. In response to his attitude to anti-globalisation protests, he said: "The concern to reduce poverty is something that has driven the bank since at least the early 70s. The bank is explicit about combating poverty. Jim Wolfensohn has made it clear that that is the priority. People who have worked 20 years at the bank and devoted their lives to reducing poverty are understandably perturbed by the suggestion that they are doing something else." Where he says the bank differs from the past is in its acceptance that markets alone are not enough for strong development but have to be supported by good governance and healthy social and political institutions. "Is growth important? Yes. Is it exclusively important? No."

IHT: IMF: (Saturday's paper) The new head of the IMF Horst Koehler is considering easing IMF loan conditions. It may curtail the demands it makes in the future. The board plans discussions in mid-July on changes. Mexico: Mexico has signed a free trade pack with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, lifting tariffs on many agricultural and manufactured goods.