SERB SOCIALISTS CALL 'AID' PROMISES SUCKER BAIT

Socialist Party of Serbia blasts the "Washington-has-Yugoslavia-over-a-barrel" argument. [31 May 2001]

Yugoslav authorities - including Voyislav Koshtunitsa and Zoran Djindjic - are going all out to push a law through the Yugoslav Federal Parliament. That law would legalize cooperation with the notorious Hague War Crimes Tribunal. The Montenegrin Socialists, who hold the decisive votes in Parliament, have so far held firm against this law.

Meanwhile, many Yugoslavs believe the claim made by the Belgrade authorities that if Yugoslavia does not help railroad Yugoslav leaders to the Hague Tribunal, the U.S. will prevent a June Donors' Conference from giving Yugoslavia much-needed aid.

People are being tricked, says the Socialist Party of Serbia. Here's their scathing refutation of the "we have to do it because we're being financially blackmailed" argument.

WE ACCUSE: AID PROMISES ARE A TRAITOROUS LIE!
Socialist Party of Serbia Statement, 31 May

For the leaders of a country to tell the people in that country that they should extradite patriots in exchange for money from the forces which have bombed that country - is an outrage.

But for leaders of a country to pretend that they are getting money from the bombers when they know perfectly well they are not - to tell the people that they should support the jailing of their patriots in exchange for money which these leaders know does not exist - this is the worst treason.

The present authorities in Belgrade are guilty of treason.

No Donors' Conference has ever given any money to any country. The term "Donors'' is itself a deception. The proper title is "Creditors' Conference." If a "Donors' Conference" takes place in June it will be a meeting of the banks that claim Yugoslavia owes them money. The purpose of that meeting, like the purpose of all Donors' Conferences, will be to plan how to sell Yugoslav property so they can get back the money they claim they are owed as quickly as possible.

To whom will they sell Yugoslav industries to get their money? To themselves basically.

How much will they sell it for? Pennies on the dollar.

How much of the so-called Yugoslav debt will get paid in this way? Very little.

What will happen to the industry that the 'Donors' scoop up in this fashion? Wherever such industries might compete with some industry from the 'Donor' countries, the factories will be closed down.

Let us take an example that occurred in Hungary, a country whose leaders have more than cooperated with the U.S. The U.S. firm, General Electric, bought the big light bulb factory in Hungary and closed it down. Now Hungarians have to buy light bulbs imported by GE.

This has happened in dozens of countries.

Donors' Conferences helped plan the devastation of the economies of:

* Ukraine - went from the bread basket of Europe to being dependant on Western surplus "food")

* Bulgaria - industry stripped and shut down)

* Russia - wages fell almost 90% overnight)

* Vietnam - after the "Donors' Conference" its industry was stripped to raise the money to pay off 'debts'. This was particularly vicious because those 'debts' had been accumulated by the puppet regime of South Vietnam. South Vietnam incurred the 'debts' when it bought weapons from the U.S. to fight Vietnamese patriots!

That's what a Donors' Conference does.

Sometimes the real work takes place after the official Conference is over, in meetings of the so-called Paris and London Clubs, which are made up, respectively, of big commercial and national banks from the US and Europe.

But one thing no Donors' Conference has ever, anywhere in the world done is give 1 billion dollars - or in fact any money - to a country which supposedly owes these banks money. If they do lend any money on paper they immediately take it away.

That is, a little money may be lent with one hand, but it will be immediately taken away with the other hand, to "repay the debt."

This has already happened with millions of dollars supposedly "given" to Yugoslavia by the international community. As is reported in a text by Dr. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky: "

"The [IMF] Board approved a loan [of] US $151 million under the IMF's policy on emergency post-conflict assistance in support of a program to stabilize the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's economy and help rebuild administrative capacities. Of this amount, the [Belgrade] authorities will draw... US $130 million to repay the bridge loans they received [from Switzerland and Norway] to eliminate arrears with the IMF."" (Quoted in "Economic Terrorism," by Dr. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky)

In other words, the authorities in Belgrade borrowed money from Switzerland and Norway to pay money owed to the IMF. Then they borrowed money from the IMF - and that was used to pay Switzerland and Norway!

Sometimes the truth about the phony "Donors' Conferences" leaks out. Consider this excerpt from a 'Reuters' news dispatch. 'Reuters' lists all the terrible things that will happen if Yugoslavia does not cooperate. The first thing is:

1. "The US will oppose Yugoslav loans and assistance from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. At stake will be a planned $260 million loan from the IMF to back up reform of an economy on the verge of collapse after years of sanctions and warfare."

NOTE that they speak of loan not gift. No donation here!

Based on the evidence from past experience, this money may never be loaned. And even if it were loaned, it would immediately be used to pay back part of the supposed debt. No money would go to the economy or reach ordinary people. And then the $260 million that we never received would have to be paid back by selling our industries, by agreeing to purchase shoddy goods from the NATO countries and by agreeing to laws that eliminated social services in our country.

That is why every country that has relied on these phony loans has suffered. For 8 years we had no loans. Plus we had sanctions. But Rumania and Bulgaria which had no sanctions and which had loans lost all their industry and now their unemployed come to Yugoslavia looking for work.

We will always be better off helping ourselves than being saddled with parasites from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank who are in business to strip countries like ours of everything we have sweated to build.

Here's the second 'disastrous' consequence of not cooperating with Washington:

2. "[This will mean putting off] Belgrade's plans to start negotiating a debt settlement with the Paris Club of sovereign creditors and commercial banks of the London Club... Of its total $12.2 billion external debt, Yugoslavia owes some $5 billion to the Paris Club and around $3 billion to the London Club." ('Reuters', April 2, 2001)

So the "international community" claims Yugoslavia owes it at least $12 billion (US). And if Yugoslavia does not hand over Milosevic it will not have the pleasure of stripping all its industry to repay this debt. Wouldn’t that be terrible?

And how does the "international community" figure that Yugoslavia owes it $12.2 billion dollars? This is almost entirely interest on debts supposedly owed by the now nonexistent Yugoslav Socialist Republic. Here is a news report from Dec. 31, 1992, which explains it all:

"From: 'Facts on File World News Digest,' December 31, 1992

"Headline: IMF Revokes Yugoslavia's Membership

"Text: The International Monetary Fund December 15 revoked Yugoslavia's membership and apportioned the country's foreign debt among what the financial institution designated as Yugoslavia's five successor republics. The IMF took the action on the grounds that Yugoslavia had ceased to exist as a legal entity.

"Yugoslavia's foreign debt was about $15 billion, including $217 million owed to the IMF and $2 billion owed to the World Bank.

"A total of 36.5% of the debt was apportioned to Serbia-Montenegro, the new Yugoslav federation, which the IMF treated as a single republic. Croatia was deemed to owe 28.5% of the debt; Bosnia-Herzegovina, 13.2%; Slovenia, 16.4%; and Macedonia, 5.4%."

[End of 'Facts on File' news dispatch]

So in 1992, the IMF simply decided to say that the Federal Republic owed 5.475 billion US dollars. Since it now says we owe over $12 billion, that means that almost $7 billion of the supposed debt is interest! And when did that interest get charged?

That interest got charged during the years of sanctions imposed by the same international community that now claims we owe all this interest!

Those sanctions hurt the Yugoslav economy to the tune of billions of dollars U.S.

By what right do these men, who starved Yugoslavia with sanctions, costing us billions, and then bombed Yugoslavia, causing us at least $60 billion in damage not to mention the incalculable cost in human death and suffering, the pain of relatives who lost loved ones, the psychological damage to children, forced to hide in shelters from bombs, the long term damage of depleted uranium - how dare these starvers and bombers now claim that Yugoslavia owes them money?

A Donors' Conference would give no money to Yugoslavia.

The only result would be: devastation of the Yugoslav economy. The Donors would order a forced sale of Yugoslavia's precious industries for pennies on the dollar to the same bankers who make up the Donors' Conference.

And when it was all over, the debt would still be there.

Because the money raised would be too little - as it is always too little, in every country where these bankers have imposed this scam - to pay the debt. Because you see that is the whole idea. They use the inflated debt to get hold of the industry, and when it is all over, they leave the country stripped of all it sweated for years to build, of everything except - billions of dollars in debt.

We would gain nothing from this Donors' Conference.

But some things would be gone.

Our industry would be gone.

Our pride would be gone.

Our honor would be gone.

And our patriots, they would be gone as well, starting with Mr. Milosevic, but not ending with him. Not ending with him.

Let us not follow this fool's gold chase proposed by the present authorities in Belgrade. Let us rely on ourselves, on our integrity and our own hard work. Let us trade with friends, not with thieves who try to break us with the fake lure of suckers' gold.

When they speak of the urgency of this Donors' Conference, the present authorities in Belgrade speak with passion.

Their passion is real.

But it is not because they fear that if we do not go along with their proposals, Yugoslavia will lose money that it needs. On the contrary, they fear that if they do not produce for their masters in Washington, they will be punished.

For Washington has no friends, only future victims.

Washington has laid down the law to these Belgrade authorities.

It has told them: you are taking too much time. Give us Milosevic. Give us the patriots of the Yugoslav Army. Give us those who fought us in Bosnia and Croatia. Give them to us NOW. And give us everything of value in Yugoslavia.

Because if you do not we will take you - the DOS leaders - in their place.

***
The SPS Statement refers to "Economic Terrorism" by Michel Chossudovsky. This article can be read at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/eco.htm

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