Does anone have a handy list of congressmen's names and (email)addresses?
Would appreciate your copying it to me (and others to whom it might also
be of use).
Thanks in advance -- Kay Moseley
On Sun, 15 Nov 1998 00:49:35 -0500 (EST) Peter Grimes <p34d3611@jhu.edu>
writes:
>Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 11:01:29
>From: Njoki Njoroge Njehu <wb50years@igc.apc.org>
>Subject: Sign-on for Central America Debt Cancellation
>
>RESPOND TO: <naimanr@preamble.org>
>
>
>Support Immediate Debt Cancellation for Honduras and Nicaragua in
>the Wake of Hurricane Mitch
>
>To:
>Members of the United States Congress
>Robert Rubin, Secretary of the Treasury
>Michel Camdessus, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
>James Wolfenson, President, World Bank Group
>
>With Hurricane Mitch, Honduras and Nicaragua, two of the poorest
>and most indebted countries in Latin America, have been hit by
>what may be the worst disaster they have ever faced. In response
>to the humanitarian emergency, we call for the immediate and
>unconditional cancellation of the external debt repayment
>obligations of both countries, and substantial debt reduction for
>El Salvador and Guatemala, both also severely affected by the
>hurricane. The disaster has removed the ability of these
>countries to repay external debt. All available resources should
>be used address to the needs of the population in this crisis.
>Recent press reports indicate that the reconstruction effort
>will cost billions and take many years.
>
>Both Honduras and Nicaragua, as heavily indebted poor countries,
>were supposed be eligible to receive relief on their debt
>obligations in the future in return for complying with IMF
>"structural adjustment" economic policies. But debt cancellation
>should be immediate and unconditional so the countries can use
>their limited resources for rebuilding their social and physical
>infrastructure rather than diverting resources to export
>promotion. The devastation caused by the hurricane is making any
>delay immoral and inhuman. Honduras and Nicaragua are among the
>poorest countries in Latin America, with a per capita GDP of
>less than $700. In both countries, the burden of foreign debt
>service and structural adjustment has weakened the social
>infrastructure and contributed to the toll of the disaster. The
>health and education system in both countries has been in a poor
>state for more than ten years. A major cause is that more money
>has been spent on servicing debt than on health or education. In
>1997, Honduras spent over $410 million on debt service while
>allocating only $16 million for the purchase of medical
>equipment now so urgently needed. In 1996 debt service was 80%
>of government revenue. Nicaragua is not doing much better, with
>51% of government revenue used for foreign debt service. Total
>debt service for Nicaragua was $221 million in 1996. In 1998,
>international creditors expect debt service payments of $450
>million from Honduras and $300 million from Nicaragua, over $2
>million each day.
>
>Debts to international financial institutions, including the
>Inter-American Development Bank, should be canceled immediately.
>With the International Monetary Fund set to receive $90 billion
>in new quotas, including $18 billion from the U.S., debt
>repayments from these devastated countries to international
>financial institutions would be an obvious misallocation of
>desperately-needed resources. It would not make sense to send
>humanitarian relief to these countries while demanding that they
>pay out more in debt servicing -- over $1 million a day in the
>case of Honduras and nearly that amount for Nicaragua --than
>they will receive in aid.
>
>The bilateral debt of these countries owed to the United States
>should also be canceled immediately. Former Presidents Bush and
>Carter have both called for immediate action on the debt issue
>in the wake of the crisis. Both France and Cuba have already
>erased the debts owed them by these countries, and other
>creditor nations are supporting debt cancellation. But the U.S.
>has remained silent on the need for debt cancellation. We
>emphasize that debt cancellation must not be conditioned on
>compliance with IMF structural adjustment programs or similar
>demands. Demands for government austerity are surely
>inappropriate in the face of sudden and massive homelessness,
>disease, and hunger.
>
>More than 25,000 people have now been reported dead or missing.
>Ten times that number may be in jeopardy from malaria and other
>diseases. Tens of thousands of survivors are threatened because
>they cannot easily be reached with food, drinking water and
>medicine. Two and a half million people are homeless. Rebuilding
>will cost billions. Honduras and Nicaragua need to build homes
>for 20-25% of their population. This disaster will take the
>affected nations, already two of the poorest countries in Latin
>America, decades to overcome. Half-measures such as debt re-
>scheduling or a "debt moratorium" would be insufficient.
>Anything less than cancellation of the monumental, unpayable
>debt burden would extend and deepen the suffering of the
>victims.
>
>Broad coalitions of social organizations in Honduras and in
>Nicaragua have called for cancellation of debt. The export base
>of Honduras and Nicaragua has been devastated, so these
>countries will lack the foreign currency for repayment of debt.
>The governments of both countries estimate that reconstruction
>will take between twenty and forty years. We call for the full
>cancellation of foreign debts, including both bilateral and
>multilateral debt, in the face of this overwhelming catastrophe.
>
>Thank you for your consideration of our concerns.
>
>Nicaragua Network
>Latin America Emergency Response Network
>50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice
>Friends of the Earth
>Essential Action
>Preamble Center
>Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign
>: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
>
>
>Njoki Njoroge Njehû
>Director
>50 Years Is Enough Network
>1247 E Street, SE
>Washington, DC 20003 - USA
>Phone: 202/IMF-BANK; 202/544-9355
>Fax: 202/544-9359
>Email: wb50years@igc.org
>Web: http://www.50years.org
>
>
>
>
>
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