Can’t pay won’t pay debt collective: The case foreconomic disobedienceand debt by Chicago Illinois

Author:Chicago, Illinois
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Published: 2020-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

GLOBAL INSURGENCIES

A financialized economy allows creditors to trap not just individuals but entire communities in destructive debt contracts. What happened in Haiti—a small country punished for its democratic revolution with a mountain of unpayable debt—would become a model for others throwing off the colonial yoke more than a century later.

The power imbalance between creditor and debtor nations was further institutionalized after World War II, when representatives from the world’s largest economies gathered to design a monetary system that would govern international trade. As part of that process, they created the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), two institutions charged with lending to poor countries during times of economic crisis. The loans were far from an act of generosity. They were tied to strict conditions, including a requirement that borrower nations liberalize their economies and take steps to attract foreign investment. These “structural adjustment” programs were advertised as a way to help poor countries build infrastructure and address poverty though they were anything but. From the point of view of international bankers and influential politicians, they were also seen as a way to counter decolonial, democratic, and socialist ideologies, which were on the rise during the cold war. For decades, the IMF and the World Bank have coerced poor countries to prioritize debt repayment over all other considerations, including taking care of their citizens.

Communities have fought back against these odious debts, sometimes successfully. Countries in the Global South, in particular, have long led the charge against the international lending institutions that help prop up modern capitalism. In the late 1990s, for example, activists in Bolivia launched a grassroots campaign to protest the privatization of their water. The IMF had recently lent the nation $138 million for the ostensible purpose of helping to stop inflation. Buried in the loan contract was a clause that required the city of Cochabamba to sell off its public water supply. The deal also prohibited the Bolivian government from offering subsidies to help people pay their water bills, which were expected to rise exponentially with private ownership.

Cochabamba’s water rights were eventually sold to an international conglomerate. In response, activists created the Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life (La Coordinadora) and organized a blockade of the city that lasted for four days. The group also launched a general strike, which spread to cities around the country. Next, La Coordinadora held an informal referendum on the water privatization plan. Ninety-six percent of those who voted said they opposed selling off their local water supply to international oligarchs. Within a few months, the movement had grown to include tens of thousands of people, including the rural Bolivians who stood to suffer the most under a privatized water system.

At first, the Bolivian government suppressed the movement. Officials declared a “state of siege” that permitted police to make arrests without charges and to detain people without warrants. Hundreds were killed and injured in the ensuing protests. Eventually, after months of unrest, the government gave in. Elected officials ultimately signed an agreement with movement leaders.

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