Call to Action: Dignity, Autonomy, and Solidarity over Greed and Corporate Power!
Disrupt the IMF and the World Bank meetings: Washington DC, October 19-21, 2007
www.octoberrebellion.orgThe misery forced on millions by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank is unacceptable and renders them illegitimate. The IMF and World Bank, controlled by the G8 countries* in corrupt complacency with national elites all over the world, claim to lead the fight against poverty but their role as global loan sharks; their cruel imposition of privatization, cuts to social services, and free trade policies; their funding for environmentally disastrous projects; their secrecy and undemocratic decision making processes, make them an enemy of the people worldwide. Today, these two institutions are on the defensive. Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador are in open revolt against the IMF and World Bank. South African shantytown dwellers are fighting water privatization; Korean workers are striking against "free trade" agreements; and thousands of people successfully blockaded the G8 meeting in Germany earlier this year. In the U.S., in the heart of empire, millions are struggling against the oppressive system of capitalism for dignity, autonomy and solidarity. Tens of thousands gathered for the first ever United States Social Forum; millions of immigrants have marched for their rights; and in Washington DC, in the belly of the beast, residents are organizing against the policies of gentrification and displacement. This year social movements from all over the world gathered at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya to devise the next stage in the assault against the World Bank and IMF. In solidarity with our allies in the Global South, and recognizing the toll corporate capitalism takes on our own lives, Washington DC-based activists are calling for actions at the IMF/World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, during the upcoming annual meetings, October 19-21. Our demands are simple:
* Cancel all impoverished country debt to the World Bank and IMF, using the institutions' own resources.
* End neoliberal structural adjustment policies, which prioritize profit for the few over the lives of the many.
* End the social and environmental devastation caused by oil, gas, mining and big dam projects.
It's time to strike another blow against Global Capitalism. Tear Down the World Bank and IMF. Raise up the resistance. Join us in Washington DC on October 19-21, 2007. *G8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States. Together these countries make up two thirds of the world's wealth. The World Bank and IMF are wreaking havoc on our communities:
* Immigration
* "Free trade" agreements and IMF and World Bank policies have resulted in extreme poverty and marginalization, forcing millions from Mexico, Haiti, and elsewhere in Central America, Asia, and Africa, to flee their countries, risking their lives at sea, only to be treated as criminals, detained and deported once in the U.S. Effects at Home
* The same ideology that fuels the IMF and World Bank destroys communities here in the United States. The privatization of water and electricity services, the closures of public housing, the transformation of homeless shelters into luxury condos, the transition of public schools to Charter schools, and shutdowns of public hospitals show the increased strangle-hold corporate capitalism has over our lives. Global Warming
* The World Bank exacerbates global warming through existing polices, such as funding fossil fuel extraction and deforestation, while promoting false solutions such as carbon trading. Post-Conflict Re-Destruction
Wars waged by the U.S. and its allies open countries to economic takeover. The IMF eliminated Iraq's fuel subsidies, driving up prices of food and other necessities. The World Bank privatized Afghanistan's healthcare, and is helping mining companies rob Congo's resources. The U.S-backed UN MINUSTAH forces are brutally occupying Haiti, repressing people’s resistance against privatization of state-owned flour mills, electricity utilities, telecommunication, public schools, and other essentials. U.S. military intervention and free trade policies have the same goals – ensuring corporations' access to resources, cheap labor, and markets.
Labels: activism, d.c., event
