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International Viewpoint, the monthly English-language magazine of the Fourth International, is a window to radical alternatives world-wide, carrying reports, analysis and debates from all corners of the globe. Correspondents in over 50 countries report on popular struggles, and the debates that are shaping the left of tomorrow. International Viewpoint—magazine of the Fourth International IV449 June 2012 European Crisis - “All the loans accorded by the Troika are illegitimate” P1 Greece - Toward a government that will break with the Troika? P5 Greece - A Pyrrhic victory P6 Greece - Fear triumphs, but hope continues P7 Greece - Fear versus hope P8 Greece - The cradle of what kind of Europe? P9 Greece - “You can cancel the debt” P21 Greece - The IMF and Lagarde get it wrong P26 Greece - Exchange between the FI Bureau & OKDE-Spartakos P27 Spanish state - The bank hurricane continues along its path of destruction P30 Quebec - Red Square, Everywhere P32 Syria - Scenes from the revolution P35 Syria - Understanding the regime and the revolutionary process P37 Algeria - “It’s time for the left forces to come together” P39 Egypt - The revolution stolen P42 Tunisia - No to the repression of social demands P42 Darfur - Debunking the myths: The material roots of the Darfur conflict P43 Nigeria - The January awakening P53 South Africa - The ANC transformed P59 Pakistan - Prime Minister Gilani gone, problems remain intact P61 Pakistan - Employers’ terror against Karachi weaving loom workers P62 Pakistan - Call for an international week of action for the release of Baba Jan P64 Pakistan - “The LPP is a socialist party, very much involved in the day-to-day problems of the people” P67 Turkey - Abortion ban: attempted femicide P69 Turkey - Abortion is a Right, Decision Belongs to Women P70 Nepal - One divides into two – Nepal’s Maoists in crisis P70 Philippines - “The democratic content in self-determination struggles must be safeguarded” P78 Indigenous movement - The International Indigenous Movement for Self- Determination P82 Environment - The people of the world confront the advance of capitalism P85 Environment - On the agenda: the relaunching of social & ecological Destruction P88 Environment - Land grabs and food sovereignty P91 Environment - Ecology and Socialism P94 Ecology and Feminism - A summary of an “ecofeminist worldview” P99
INTERNATIONAL VIEWPOINT European Crisis - “All the loans accorded by the Troika are illegitimate” Eric Toussaint interviewed by Ana Benačić Éric Toussaint, Ana Benacic In this interview first published in Croatian on the portal net.hr and taken up by several websites in Croatia, Eric Toussaint develops ways out of the debt crisis which are very useful for different countries in Europe and beyond. He comments on the situation in Greece after the elections of May 6, 2012. He tackles the issue of the accession to the EU and the Eurozone that some countries like Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia are seeking. He also answers to more general questions. Ana Benačić : Mr. Eric Toussaint, you are a political scientist and historian. PhD in Political Science from the University of Liege (Belgium) and Paris VIII (France), Senior lecturer at the University of Liege, President of the Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (an international network based in Liege) CADTM, member of the International Council of the World Social Forum since it was founded in 2001, member of the CAIC (Presidential Commission of Integral Audit of Public Credit) in Ecuador, member of the scientific Committee of Attac France[1] and of the scientific network of Attac Belgium as well as the International Committee of the Fourth International. Having taken part in Ecuador’s presidential audit committee, which provided the basis for the nonpayment of $3.2 billion, could you tell us how this was set up and how it worked? Eric Toussaint : The Ecuadorian government took the independent and sovereign decision to suspend the repayment of thirty percent of their foreign debt, accumulated over thirty years to 2006, following the results of a public debt audit. I was one of 18 members of the Audit Committee created by the new presidency of Ecuador in July 2007. Twelve members were Ecuadorian, and six from other countries, selected among public debt experts. There were also four state organs involved: Anticorruption Commission, Government Accountability Office, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice. For fourteen months we analysed all the contracts concerning the country’s public debt - to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund - bilateral debts to France, Spain, Japan, USA and Ecuadorian government bonds traded on Wall Street. After four months, we had identified a huge amount of illegitimate debt. Ana Benačić : Thirty percent of the debt? Eric Toussaint : No, no. There was more. But the government decided to suspend only a part (thirty percent of the total amount) of what we considered illegitimate. They feared that suspending the totality would unify the creditors. So the suspension was concentrated on the Wall Street bonds. Of course the creditors angered and put on a lot of pressure, Raphael Correa held good for six months then offered a thirty-five percent deal: for every thousand dollars of bonds, the offer was three hundred and fifty dollars. Ninety-one percent of bondholders accepted. The government saved seven billion dollars that could then be used on public expenditure such as education, public health, infrastructures and job creation, etc. Ana Benačić : This resulted in an embargo by the financial markets, but there were no catastrophic consequences – the economy grew by 3.7% in 2010 and by an estimated 5% in 2011 (final figures are not yet available). Eric Toussaint : Absolutely nothing! No retaliation. No more than creditor’s rhetoric, there was absolutely no retaliation. Ana Benačić : What about the credit rating agencies? Did they penalise Ecuador in any way? 1
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Page 5 and 6: Eric Toussaint : That should also b
Page 7 and 8: Greece - Toward a government that w
Page 9 and 10: Which means? Which means cancelling
Page 11 and 12: Greece - The cradle of what kind of
Page 13 and 14: The champions of charity are also t
Page 15 and 16: labour market" after a period of un
Page 17 and 18: In fact, the ECB purchases on the s
Page 19 and 20: e concretized in terms of rights, o
Page 21 and 22: SYRIZA was formed, in 2004, as an e
Page 23 and 24: parliamentary elections. An exit fr
Page 25 and 26: Exactly. What they are doing in Gre
Page 27 and 28: And there was also the participatio
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Page 31 and 32: planning. If anything, you should b
Page 33 and 34: the 60% threshold stipulated in the
Page 35 and 36: The current strike is the ninth gen
Page 37 and 38: Alan Sears is active with the Great
Page 39 and 40: The regime passes from attack to de
Page 41 and 42: with more than 40 martyrs and hundr
Page 43 and 44: Socialism means a society without c
Page 45 and 46: the Democratic Patriots’ Movement
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change, were in turn construed as m
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[30] Susan Rice, arguing in favor o
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local university teachers union cha
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The National Assembly made what man
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South Africa - The ANC transformed
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masses. The successful concluding o
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measure of coercion. The worker dis
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Support from personalities. - On Ma
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NOTES [3] See Amanullah Kariapper a
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Is there a future for left politics
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’Torch rally against the dissolvi
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Red faction Already before the sign
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insurrection and lead to the taking
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has declined among siginificant par
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Visayas). We were tasked by the CPP
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warlords. Even as we try to organiz
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Americas. By the 1950s, Marxist-ins
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This presents us with a conundrum.
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of these environmental services are
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growth. The root of the problem is
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Environment - Land Grabs and Food S
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in Orissa have taken various forms:
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eal democracy of the people—in co
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overlooked entirely or barely given
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down so that they couldn’t get tr
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peace camp surrounding an important
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