Bolivia's president declares "Total Independance" from World Bank and IMF
I don't make a habit of reposting external articles but in this case I am going to make an exception, such is the joy I experienced on behalf of the Bolivian people when I read it. This is what happens when real people get elected into office. People like Evo Morales, the first president to come from the indiginous population of Bolivia. Someone who believes in social justice and refused to be bossed around by the World Bank and the IMF.
So scared are the west of the idea of true socialism that they have poisoned and stiffled any genuine attempts at achieving it so that now socialism is a dirty word to many.
People like Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez could see a better world was possible but also knew how the world works and how it is run. They knew that by allowing parasitic neoliberal organisations like the World Bank or the IMF to operate in thier countries and dictate policy, things would never change (that is of course the point of the World Bank and IMF)
I've spent a bit of time in Bolivia and thought it was a beautiful place full of lovely people. If I could find a way of moving out of the UK with my family, Boliva would be high up on my list of places to settle.
Anyway here is the article. I found it here
Bolivia's President Declares 'Total Independence' from World Bank and IMF
Bolivia's President Evo Morales has been highlighting his government's independence from international money lending organizations and their detrimental impact the nation, the Telesur TV reported.
"A day like today in 1944 ended Bretton Woods Economic Conference (USA), in which the IMF and WB were established," Morales tweeted. "These organizations dictated the economic fate of Bolivia and the world. Today we can say that we have total independence of them."
Morales has said Bolivia's past dependence on the agencies was so great that the International Monetary Fund had an office in government headquarters and even participated in their meetings.
Bolivia is now in the process of becoming a member of the Southern Common Market, Mercosur and Morales attended the group's summit in Argentina last week.
Bolivia’s popular uprising known as the The Cochabamba Water War in 2000 against United States-based Bechtel Corporation over water privatization and the associated World Bank policies shed light on some of the debt issues facing the region.
Some of Bolivia’s largest resistance struggles in the last 60 years have targeted the economic policies carried out by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Most of the protests focused on opposing privatization policies and austerity measures, including cuts to public services, privatization decrees, wage reductions, as well the weakening of labor rights.
Since 2006, a year after Morales came to power, social spending on health, education, and poverty programs has increased by over 45 percent.
The Morales administration made enormous transformations in the Andean nation. The figures speak for themselves: the nationalization of hydrocarbons, poverty reduction from 60% to less than 40%, a decrease in the rate of illiteracy from 13% to 3%, the tripling the GDP with an average growth of 5% annually, the quadrupling of the minimum wage, the increasing of state coverage on all fronts, and the development of infrastructure in communications, transportation, energy and industry.
And above all, stability, an unusual word in the troubled political history Bolivia, of which today, with the economic slowdown experienced by many countries in the region, is a real privilege.
Hi, I am in the United States and have been watching the way the world is becoming controlled by world government peer pressure or by threats. Blackmail I believe is causing this change to follow the IMF and World Bank and is causing a moving away from having a Christian belief. I am of part indigenous of the Cherokee and Mohawk decent here in the United States and see what is going on here too.
I am so glad that at least one country's leader will stand up and be it's own government.
Thanks for taking the time to read/reply. You're right about the blackmail and if you start digging you will find some pretty uncomfortable truths about the sorts of things that are used as blackmail, just make sure you have a strong stomach.
It is such a shame that the United States has become the way it has. The founding fathers appeared to have put things in place to stop from happening, what has happened, but slowly, over the passage of time, decisions have been made and people put into power that has turned America into a shadow of what it could and should be. I hope one day that the American people will wake up to the lies and propaganda which has become so powerful that barely a murmer is heard from the Amercan people while over 50% of tax receipts are spent on war and destruction. The problem is, that when things happen slowly enough they become accepted and normal. People don't even think there is a fight to be had such is the 'exceptionalism' of America they have been brainwashed into believing.
Yes... I see it... no one listens to me. So I cannot keep talking to those who are blind. It is a shame they are just immune to worrying about it.
Thank you very much for this post @jimbobbill.
It is certainly promising that Bolivia managed to break through and elect somebody promising into power.
The main concern now is to 'not' see the coming period sabotaged by (foreign-sown) "dissident" groups ("Arab" Spring-style), or an outright military intervention by the usual suspects and their puppet satellites.
I would not go as far as to consider Socialism a panacea to the ills of the World - but neither would I consider Capitalism to be such. In fact I reside in a micro nation where elements of both are quite able to function side-by-side - and further exploration of the concept is definitely a worthwhile exercise.
Oh and I don't mind people posting articles if they credit them properly and add to it in some way. So you're alright in my books. ^_^
Thanks for the comment. There are so many articles I see everyday that I want to publish on Steemit but I feel guitly about doing it. I'm not really sure why because a lot of the stories I see are not covered on Steemit at the time I see them (I monitor at least 40 RSS feeds from various sources throughout the day). When I do post an article I have found elsewhere I always make it clear it isn't my work and link to the source but I wonder how many times @cheetah has to leave a comment saying the story is on the web somewhere before my reputation starts suffering or I get put on the blacklist.
I can think of a solution to this. :c)
Take a quick look at my later 'rundown' posts. You could similarly create a rundown of the articles that you want to share - in a single post (the post title could hint at what you want us to focus on).
Post a link to the source.
An image.
An important excerpt.
Nothing more. :c)
People will still want to click on the source link to get the full story but will also get the jist of your message if they don't.
You get to share it all while not risking plagiarism accusations. ^_^
That poverty reduction is good hey. Problem is that there is still 40% remaining :P
This is absolutely true "This is what happens when real people get elected into office". In India also we have witnessed the same thing when Mr Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister.
Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad Mr Modi's policies are working for you but he is pretty much the opposite of Morales in terms of policy. He is a neoliberal and one of the first things he did when he took office was cut social welfare and poverty reduction programmes. If you're middle or upper class, Modi is your friend, if you are poor like millions of Indians he is not. I can only assume you were either born into the middle classes or have managed to raise yourself up so well done for your hard work but it wouldn't have been Mr Modi who helped you I doubt.
In my opinion Modi is yet another western puppet leader who will make the rich Indians richer while the poor get poorer. The opposite from what Evo Morales has done. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Not really, as Rome is not built in a day. Same way you cannot remove the poverty in 2-3 years. He was a CM of Gujarat and you will be surprised to hear that it is one of the richest states in India. Less Poverty, electricity all over the state. I would say give him time for 5-10 years and you will see a changed India.
I hope you're right but the moves he has made so far do not give me much confidence. I'll watch with interest though.