facing people in Africa and other countries of the South.
If privatisation and economic liberalisation is devastating the lives of working people in advanced capitalist countries in Europe and North America, their effects • are even sharper in many countries of the south where public services are extremely sparse to start with.
In most developing coun tries, basic infrastructure such as clean water, sewerage, electricity and telecommunications services often only exist in the main cities.
It is certainly not profitable for private companies to extend them to remote rural areas or even smaller towns. Only publicly controlled services run on the basis of need not of profit can extend this essential necessities to whole population.
At the same time in many developing countries, the organisations needed to resist
such measures such as militant trade unions or are wellsupported community
campaigns are often very fragile.
There have been successful
struggles e.g. trade union
resistance in South Africa in
2001 blocked privatisation of
rail services but, despite opposition other projects have
gone ahead.
Blair and Brown's proposals to the G8 for Africa come
in a number of different packOn the question of debt relief, Gordon Brown has focused on the absurdity that the world's poorest countries currently pay £30 million every day to the World Bank and IMF and individual country donors.
But rather than arguing, as many campaigners against debt have done for years for full and unconditional debt cancellation, his proposals would only give "debt service relief" i.e. relief from interest payments for 10 years, and that only to a minority of countries.
This means that after 10 years even those who get some relief are likely to have around seventy per cent of their debts outstanding.
This is not essentially a new proposal but a repetition of a pattern that has been continuing for decades for developing countries.
In 1980, debt owed by
developing countries stood at
$600bn, while in 2001 it stood
at $2,450bn, though during
this period creditors had
received £4,500bn in repayments. In other words for.
every $1 owed in 1980, by
2001 $7.50 had been repaid
but $4 was still owing!
So Brown's proposals are
merely the latest attempt to
repeat the cycle of debt which
has strangled many countries
since the late 1960s.
In fact some campaigners
actually think that Bush's
solution is likely to be a better
one for the soutn - which
should make clear that both proposals are motivated not by philanthropy or even charity but by the interests of international capitalism.
At the same time Brown is putting forward his "Marshall plan for Africa" with its centrepiece the less nattily titled
Finance Facility.
This would raise new money for aid in the short term through bonds issued against government pledges.
But even the World Bank has expressed concern at the damaging impact of this "frontloading" mecnanisin noting that it could lead to a "substantial decline in aid when the bonds have to be repaid.
The Treasury's own figures show that the IFF will result in a net reduction of aid to the developing world of $108bn OYCL _ the lifespan of the scheme
Tony Blair's particular ontribution to the discussion was focus "Commission for which reported in March. While new Labour pushed the
WTO, this lack of democracy existence of the commission in the media, its report essentially sunk without trace.
That was because its findas campaigners from War on Want argue is a "damning indictment of UK policy" on every area including aid, tra le, privatisation and the continuation of the British arms trade
These are just some of the reasons why a massive mobilisation for the protests in Scotland in July are essential.
Neo-liberalism in Europe has been dealt some impor
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