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Havana Conference
Southern and Northern Civil Society Unite against the Injustice of Debt

In 1985, a series of meetings organised by Fidel Castro started the process of putting the debt crisis onto the global political agenda. To mark the 20^th anniversary of these meetings, Jubilee South and several other civil society organisations from around the world convened the second South-South Global Summit on Debt, followed by the second South-North Conference on Resistance and Alternatives to Debt Domination, in the same conference centre from 26^th to 30^th September.

Coming five years after the first such conference, held in Dakar, Senegal, the Havana conference brought together delegates from 51 countries on five continents, both to rally global opposition to unjust debt and to move towards a common agenda and strategy.

Steve Mandel was at the North-South conference to represent Jubilee Research.

Despite inevitable differences in perspective among the participants, a striking measure of unanimity was achieved. In particular, they agreed

• that debt cancellation was a matter of justice rather than charity, and that the current emphasis on debt sustainability was therefore inappropriate;
• that the vast transfer of resources from the South to the North during the colonial era, irresponsible lending to unrepresentative and corrupt governments, the gross imbalance in favour of the North in the use of the global commons, and the lack of a level playing field in the international trade system meant that the true creditors were the Southern countries; 
• that debts made irresponsibly to corrupt and unrepresentative governments should be declared odious and cancelled;
• that governments’ accountability should be to their citizens, and that the imposition of any conditions by creditors was inappropriate;
• that the G8 Gleneagles deal on debt was far too little and too late, but that pressure was still needed to ensure that even these small gains were not chipped away by delay and further conditionality;
• that much wider debt cancellation was required to enable the MDGs to be achieved and that this should be without economic conditionality; and
• that debt audits of both debtor and creditor countries, such as those underway in Brazil and the Philippines, could provide an important way forward, by assessing the legality and legitimacy of each individual loan.

There was some discussion about the possibility of setting up a fair and transparent arbitration process (FTAP) to examine debt country by country. Delegates from the South expressed scepticism of the possibility of such a process being truly fair, and there was great interest in taking the issue of the legality of the debt burden of particular countries to the International Court at The Hague.

There was also extensive debate about the experiences of Argentina, whose default in 2001 led to a renegotiation of its debts; and of Nigeria, where Parliament’s discussion of the possible repudiation of debts incurred under the military dictatorships as odious, played a part in the deal which saw a promise in principle to cancel 67% of eligible Paris Club[1] debt.

The Conference culminated in the agreement of a declaration calling for

• the cancellation of illegitimate debt;
• the ending of its use as a tool of control over the countries of the South, particularly to impose neoliberal policies such as privatisation;
• for reform of the international trade regime, so that the relations between countries could be based on justice, equity and respect for human rights; and
• for support to those governments that chose to repudiate their debts.

Conferences such as this have a critical role to play in tackling the continuing debt crisis, by providing a forum in which representatives of Southern civil society can come together to coordinate their positions, and engage with Northern civil society organisations to develop a common understanding of the issues, a common agenda, and a coherent and mutually supportive approach. We are happy to have contributed to this process, in our own small way, and will look forward to taking the agenda forward

[1] An informal group of bilateral creditor governments that meet in Paris