WASHINGTON: Hundreds demonstrate against World Bank/IMF policies chanting slogan ‘Feed the People, Starve the Bank’

By Pratap Chatterjee Reprint | | Print |

Pratap Chatterjee

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 1995 (IPS) - A dozen black-shrouded, scythe- wielding, grim reapers danced their way this week onto the lawn of the palatial Sheraton Hotel, site of this week’s annual meetings here of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). They were at the head of a procession of hundreds of protestors.

From Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea to Port-au-Prince in Haiti, activists from some 50 countries sang and chanted to bring their message to the finance ministers and central bank governors who have been meeting all this week to discuss global economic issues.

“More world, less Bank. Feed the people, starve the Bank,” chanted a group of young activists who had travelled from states as far away as California and Vermont as they waved banners and placards denouncing the policies of the two Bretton Woods agencies.

The rally was organised by a Washington-based coalition of environmental and social groups called “50 years is enough.” The coalition was put together last year in Madrid where the Bank and the IMF celebrated the 50th anniversary.

The Bank and the IMF are the largest source of money for countries in the Third World and the former communist bloc. Together they approved close to 50 billion dollars in new loans during the past year for projects and policies ranging from agriculture to structural adjustment.

Waiting to receive the demonstrators was Tim Cullen, the Bank’s chief spokesman, who distributed statement to journalists condemning the protests.

The one-page release said that only a few members of the “50 years is enough” coalition were taking part in the protest while others were working with the Bank to help reform it.

“Yes, some groups like Oxfam have agreed to work with the Bank and to hold a joint press conference with the Bank, but it is not true that only a few of us are protesting,” said Danny Kennedy, an activist with the Student Environmental Action Coalition in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

“The number of protesters here is unprecedented — there must be thousands here compared to the two dozen that have gathered over the past decade. We have members of parliament from Mexico and farmers from the highlands of Lesotho,” he said.

The rally was the culmination of a weekend of discussions convened by “50 years” activists. Dozens of speakers gave lectures and led strategy sessions on the campus of American University here. They included representatives of groups which continue to press for the demise of the two agencies and others who believe that the Bank, in particular, could be reformed.