| Daily Press Cuttings |  |
| Daily Press Cuttings | |
Friday 18th February 2000
IHT: Africa/USA: President Bill Clinton called on Congress on Thursday to send him the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act by next month and said that the US must provide greater support for debt relief, disease control and conflict resolution in Africa. While Mr Clinton did not specify any amount of additional debt relief, he said that “struggling democratic governments should not have to choose between feeding and educating their children and servicing debt.” World Trade: Interview with Yilmaz Akyuz of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, discussing his support of capital controls for developing countries. When asked if he is against globalisation, he replies: “I am not against the greater economic integration of countries. What I am against is the process being swayed by the powerful players or unbridled market forces. It is not now governed by equity and fairness.”
The Times: World Bank/Indonesia: James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, flew into a potentially embarrassing storm in Indonesia yesterday after claims that loans from his institution were used by Jakarta to fund brutal militias in East Timor. An Australian documentary said it had unearthed evidence that about $800000 earmarked for welfare and development, had been directly used to suppress the independence movement in East Timor. Zimbabwe/South Africa: President Mbeki of South Africa has thrown a lifeline to the stricken Zimbabwean government with an offer to mediate with the World Bank and the IMF for emergency finance to prevent the collapse of the economy.
The Economist: Argentina: Focus on Argentina, where the new government has moved with unexpected speed and political skill to tackle an awkward legacy. Fernando de la Rua has been in office for barely two months, yet he has confounded his critics, both by the vigour with which he has moved to tackle fiscal and labour reforms, and by his understated flair for effective public relations. NGOs: Letters from Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres, contesting the view expressed in the Economist recently that NGOs and governments can be unhealthily close.
The Guardian: Angola: Britain's foreign office minister for Africa, Peter Hain, intensified his campaign to name and shame those who break UN sanctions on rebel UNITA forces in Angola. He read out a list of men who he said were violating UN sanctions: Dennis Coghlan, Jan Joubert, David Zollman, Maurice Zollman and Hennie Steyn. He described them as making money out of misery. Corruption: Two page coverage on the extent of corruption in Brussels and in countries throughout Western Europe.
FT: UK/Developing countries: Pressure by Britain and other rich donors on developing countries to cut their military spending without taking their security threats into account was “wrong headed and dangerous” Clare Short, the international development secretary said yesterday. However, she said that she was still against those wishing to sell arms to developing countries “which are either inappropriate for their needs or beyond their capacity to afford.” IMF/Ukraine: Evidence suggesting Ukraine misled the IMF even as it borrowed fund money appears set to bring the IMF further scrutiny from the US Congress.
The Guardian: HIPC/Debt relief: The west's programme of debt relief for the world's poorest countries is in danger of slipping behind schedule, the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, warned yesterday. Leaders from the G7 pledged last autumn to deliver debt relief to 11 countries by Easter, but yesterday Mr Wolfensohn admitted that they were unlikely to reach that target. He said just eight would be through by Easter and warned that the total for the year could be a lot lower than the G7 hoped. He said that the “delay was for delay's sake”. The UK International Development Secretary warned that countries were in danger of being bogged down by all the paperwork required for the poverty reduction strategy papers. “What is happening in Washington is that there's a delay looking for the perfect poverty reduction strategy, which means that the timetable for debt relief won't be kept. If you ask for perfection, you will be waiting for decades.” Security/UK: Britain is to give more money to help emerging nations review their military spending, the international development secretary, Clare Short, will announce today. Forging closer links with the defence departments of these states is seen as essential when internal conflicts are destabilising aid projects and preventing investment. The programme is controversial because it involves countries like Rwanda and Uganda, whose troops are fighting in the Congo war. Oil: Oil prices crashed through $30 a barrel for the first time since the Gulf War raising inflation fears across the industrialised world.
FT: Peru: Peru awarded the tender for the Camisea oil and gas development to a consortium from Argentina, US and Korea. It guarantees royalties of 37.4% to the Peruvian state in return for a 40-year concession to develop the rich but inconveniently-sited fields. Africa: Feature article on Africa, that looks at the turmoil experienced by Zimbabwe, and the other nations involved in the civil war in Congo.
The Independent: Sudan/USA: The USA made it a criminal offence to do business with a controversial Sudanese oil venture yesterday amid mounting international criticism of the Sudanese government over its alleged use of oil revenues to fuel a civil war.
IHT: Burma/Myanmar: Interview with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader. She says that humanitarian aid from NGOs is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed in Burma. What Burma needs is substantive change, the kind of change that will enable people to help themselves. Indonesia: Indonesia, the last of the crisis-hit Asian economies to emerge from recession, is showing signs of recovery. IT economy expanded at an annual rate of 5.76 per cent in the last quarter of 1999. UNCTAD: World Bank President argued at the UNCTAD conference that globalisation was good but that attention needed to be paid to its social effects. Meanwhile demonstrators outside carried loads symbolising the burden of IMF austerity on Thai people. Global finance: Economist Paul Krugman comments on the pie-throwing incident at the UNCTAD conference. He says that developing countries do not want affluent westerners telling them what a terrible thing the modern world is, just as they finally begin to acquire a bit of real economic power.
Newsweek: Jubilee 2000/Bono: Front page picture of Bono under the title: “Bono's Crusade: how a rock star and the Pope persuaded a bunch of white guys in suits to make debt relief a hot issue.” Four page feature article tracks the involvement of Bono in the Jubilee 2000 campaign with pictures of his meeting Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, UK Premier Tony Blair, the Pope and US President Clinton. “Bono got meetings with people we couldn't meet with,” says Jamie Drummond, who recruited the singer for Jubilee 2000. “if you're looking for the X factor, it is that we managed to win over the attention of media, which usually ignore a cause like this. And that was through Bono.”
IHT: Zimbabwe: Voters delivered President Robert Mugabe his first electoral defeat in 20 years by rejecting a revised constitution that would have safeguarded his autocratic and increasingly unpopular rule, results showed on Tuesday. The vote of no confidence in Mr Mugabe's government emboldened the opposition, with the Movement for Democratic Change calling on the government to resign. World Trade: Comment from the trade minister of Sweden arguing that workers' rights must be put on the Trade Agenda. The six core conventions on labour standards have been ratified by more than 130 countries. The inclusion of such standards in the world trade agenda would be a small price for developing countries to pay if it ensures continued support for trade liberalisation by the industrialised world. Rwanda: A UN court set up to prosecute war criminals from Rwanda's 1994 genocide said two suspects were seized in Europe on Tuesday. Southern Africa: More than 100 people were reported dead or missing on Tuesday in floods that left a trail of destruction across South Africa and Mozambique. In Mozambique 48 people died and 15 were missing after a second week of torrential rain.
FT: Zimbabwe: FT leader says that Robert Mugabe has come full circle from hero of independence and champion of democracy to betrayer of ideals and embattled autocrat. Comment from Peter Hain, UK Foreign Office Minister, calling on President Mugabe to provide strong leadership and steer the country away from impending disaster. Ukraine: Victor Yushchenko, Ukraine's new prime minister has set out on a tour of Europe's financial centres to persuade investors that his country is finally turning a corner. Faced with $3.1 billion in debt payments this year, he is hoping to restructure the country's foreign debt. Brazil: Brazil has asked WTO to intervene in a trade dispute with Argentina who has placed restrictions on Brazilian textile imports.
The Guardian: US/Pakistan: US President Bill Clinton is now likely to visit Pakistan in addition to India and Bangladesh next month. The tour begins on March 20th. Zimbabwe: Guardian leader says that the proof that Zanu-PF's dominance can be successfully challenged will greatly encourage opposition groups as April's parliamentary elections approach. In a continent in which gunfire too often drowns out reasoned argument, the referendum reminded that democracy can work wonders. There is a long way still to go but, all in all, it was a good day for the people. Germany: Germany's scandal-battered Christian Democrats have been fined DM 41 million (£14 million) for the scandal that has shaken the country's politics to its foundations. They are planning a legal challenge.
FT: Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's constitutional referendum last night appeared to be heading for a tight finish after a very low turnout. With just over 40 per cent of the constituency results announced, President Robert Mugabe was trailing badly with 42 per cent of the votes cast, compared with 58 per cent for opposition groups opposed to a new draft constitution. Russia: Germany, the biggest lender to Russia in the Paris club of official creditors, yesterday said it was not prepared to forgive Russia its Soviet-era debt despite a deal last week between Russia and the London Club of commercial creditors. The Paris Club is under increasing pressure from Russia and private investors following last week's agreement with the London Club. Cuba/Japan: Japan has become the latest country to resume official export cover for Cuba following a rescheduling agreement covering some $120 million of short term debt owed by the communist-ruled Caribbean island. Money laundering: The 26-nation Financial Action Task Force has set up four committees to assess whether financial centres around the would meet newly published criteria for judging rules and practices that impede the prevention of money laundering. The body recently threatened to suspend Austria's membership unless it abolished its system of anonymous bank passbooks.
IHT: South Africa: The death toll from the worst flooding across southern Africa in nearly 50 years rose to at least 45 on Monday as more rain deluged the region. World Bank: The World Bank's International Finance Corp unit has joined with Softbank Corp of Japan to create a $200 million fund that will finance Internet start-ups in 100 developing countries.
The Guardian: Indonesia: The Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday cemented his grip on power by suspending General Wiranto from the post of senior security minister, while retaining the support of the armed forces leadership. IMF: The 15-nation European Union last night threw its weight behind former World Bank Executive Caio Koch-Weser to be the next head of the IMF, ending months of wrangling.
FT: IMF/G8: Michel Camdessus, outgoing chief of the IMF, used his last official speech to call for an expansion of the annual summit of rich nations grouped in the G8, to include developing countries. He steps down as managing director this week with the process of finding a successor in stalemate. This is despite an intensive German government campaign to replace him with Caio Koch-Weser, German deputy finance minister. Whoever eventually emerges, it seems inconceivable that the opaque process by which the IMF chief is chosen will survive. Even the cautious Mr Camdessus said last week he hoped the “too protective” selection process would be reviewed. Russia: Russia is hoping to write off a large proportion of its $42 billion debt to foreign governments after reaching a deal with international banks to cancel more than one third of its $32 billion private sector debts. The move could cause a split between western governments in the Paris Club of official creditors, where the German government has been strongly opposed to debt cancellation. Ukraine: Focus on the irregularities concerning the Ukrainian central bank and IMF funds. G8/China: The Japanese government is considering inviting China to join the G8 summit to be held in Japan during July, Keizo Obuchi, the prime minister said at the weekend. World Trade: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is trying to put together a trade liberalisation package for 48 least developed countries to ensure that their products receive tariff-free and quota free access to developed countries markets. The move is being led by Japan, some European countries and Mike Moore, WTO director-general in an attempt to win the backing of the LDCs for a new round of global trade negotiations. Nigeria: The Nigerian government is due to set out today its privatisation's plans as part of a week-long foreign investment drive in the UK and the US. The vice-president Atiku Abubakar, said that with he was hopeful of a compromise agreement with the Paris Club over the country's $32 billion of foreign debt. President Olusegun Obasanjo has stressed that if this was not substantially reduced, the stability of Nigeria's democracy could not be assured.
IHT: Colombia/US: New York Times leader argues that the US administration should allocate much greater support for the peace talks between the Colombian government and guerrillas rather than providing primarily security assistance. The two overwhelming problems of the country, a booming trade in cocaine and heroin and a vicious, nearly 40-year-old civil war are intertwined and getting worse.
The Times: Zimbabwe: An air of nervous uncertainty descended on Zimbabwe yesterday amid arrests of opposition activists and signs that President Mugabe was facing a sharp rebuke from voters in a referendum on a new constitution that would entrench his powers and grant him the right to seize white-owned farms without compensation.
The Guardian: Congo (Kinshasa): Focus on tribal rivalry between the Hema and Lendu tribes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which erupted last June and has been responsible for the deaths of as many as 7000 people. IMF: Michel Camdessus said that poverty was the greatest menace to humanity and insisted that the IMF and the World Bank were “the best friends of the poor”. A protester from Fifty Years is Enough—which campaigns for the abolition of the World Bank—smeared a cream pie in Michel Camdessus's face as he prepared to deliver his speech. UNCTAD: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issued a report at its annual conference saying that the number of least developed countries—the world's poorest nations—had risen since 1971 from 25 to 48, with 33 in Africa. They said that the least developed countries are becoming marginalised in the world economy. There is no greater challenge facing the international community today than integrating the less-developed countries into the world economy and trading system. World Trade/UNCTAD: Andrew Simms from the New Economics Foundation argues that UNCTAD and the rest of the UN must assert themselves and stop cowering before the jaws of US-dominated institutions.
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