Iceland, Ecuador and the IMF, World Bank
Debt, not only odious, but also illegitimate and unconstitutional.
"We have national commitments, more urgent than international ones. We'll fulfill our international obligations as soon as we are able. But our priorities are clear. Life comes first, repaying debt second."
-Rafael Correa President of Ecuador.
Almost 50% of the [Ecuador] government budget was used to repay debts. eg. $4 billion US per year debts, versus $400 million US per year spent on health care.
Rafael Correa studied economics in Europe and the USA, and knows very well how to handle the World Bank and the IMF, as long as one has the political will. As Minister of Finance, in 2005, Correa declared that it was unnatural to use oil revenue in order to pay back the debt. That this was unfair to the people. He said that 80% of the [oil] revenues should be used for health benefits, education and the creation of jobs, and only 20% should be channeled towards repayment of the debt. The World Bank said that they wouldn't lend to Ecuador if such a law passed.
This was an obvious interference with Ecuador's internal policy. Correa declared that he would never follow such instructions from the World Bank. He chose to resign rather than succumb. This made him very popular with the people.
Correa was finally elected in 2006. One of his first actions was to deport the representative of the World Bank, and demand that the IMF delegation vacate the Ecuador Central Bank's premises. Saying; "Those callous, dishonest bureaucrats have to respect our country. This is why we deported the WB delegate. We maintain the right to restore the damage done to our country and declare our debt to the WB illegitimate."
Correa commissioned an Audit Committee to examine all debt contracts from 1956 to 2006. They were astounded at what they found, that a large part of the debt was illegitimate. Based on these findings the government declared cessation of payments for 70% of Ecuador's debt in bonds.
"Ecuador is no longer for sale." -Rafael Correa President of Ecuador.
So. Did Iceland take a page out of Ecuador's play book? Or did both countries come to the same conclusion at about the same time? That the World Bank and the IMF are nothing more than 'hand maidens' to the criminal infested Wall Street/London banking cartel?
Now you may understand why Jullian Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, and why Ecuador has freely given him such refuge. Ecuador and Iceland are two truly free, brave and courageous nations, that have shown the rest of the world the way forward. Telling the banks and their owners, to stuff it where the sun don't shine! Vive la Revolution
