(June 1, 2005) Iraq and Argentina each launched a $100 billion debt restructuring last year. The two cases are rarely mentioned together.
Other News Sources
Odious or just malodorous? Patricia Adams Letter to Finance and Development, IMF
(June 1, 2005) IMF should back, not belittle, odious debt regime
June 2005 Campaign Letter
Momentum to challenge the Third World’s odious debts is building so much that western countries are worried their loose lending will be exposed under international odious debt arbitration, and end their claim to repayment.
Geneva fast for economic justice in Iraq
(June 1, 2005) International social justice activists are gathering in Geneva, Switzerland from June 15 to June 30 to demand economic justice for Iraqi citizens, reports the London-based debt campaigner Jubilee Iraq.
Wolfowitz’s Move to the World Bank
(May 31, 2005) Presidency and the sharpening of economic policy as a weapon of mass impoverishment.
Africa is crying out for justice
(May 28, 2005) In the lead up to the G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland, this July – where Africa is expected to be a main focus of discussion – Demba Moussa Dembele, of the African Forum on Alternatives, cautions Africans to curb their expectations.
Lugar ties reforms to US$3.7 billion reauthorization for multilateral development banks
(May 26, 2005) U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar today introduced legislation calling for reforms to bring greater transparency and accountability at the five multilateral development banks.
Past corruption is Nigeria’s ‘biggest single problem’
(May 25, 2005) The “biggest single problem” Nigeria faces today is the “corruption of the past” which is “hanging over” its future economic growth in the form of a large external debt, an international corruption and transparency expert has told the United States Congress.
Artificial water reservoir-triggered earthquakes with special emphasis at Koyna
(May 25, 2005) Globally, about one hundred sites are known where filling of artificial water reservoirs triggered earthquakes. It is noteworthy that a majority of the sites where triggered earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 have occurred are in Stable Continental Regions.
Beating the oil-for-food system
(May 23, 2005) The U.N.-run oil-for-food program for Iraq ended up being easily manipulated by Saddam Hussein’s regime. One Iraqi businessman who gamed the system to import forbidden dual-use technology told The Washington Times how easy it was.
Declare Nigeria’s debt null and void
(May 22, 2005) In the same situation, western leaders would “quickly declare the debt null and void” and “drag our leaders and business people” involved in “debt fraud to every court in the world … for dare conniving with their illegitimate leaders.”
Experts scramble to tackle a colossal trouble zone
(May 20, 2005) Chinese environmental scientists are worried that the future operation of the Three Gorges dam could cause a wide strip of land stretching for thousands of kilometres to become geologically unstable, seriously polluted and a dangerous source of epidemic disease.
British MP rebukes US panel as oil-for-food inquiry widens
(May 20, 2005) British parliamentarian George Galloway has angrily rejected accusations he helped Saddam Hussein exploit the UN oil-for-food program.
A Hong Kong outsider aids a troubled Manila
(May 20, 2005) Corruption in the Philippines is so pervasive that, according to experts, it now requires an outsider with a formidable background and, perhaps, no known local roots to deal with it.
Chile’s Pinochet briefly hospitalized after stroke
(May 19, 2005) Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who faces a court investigation for possible crimes related to his multimillion dollar secret bank accounts, suffered a mini-stroke on Thursday and was hospitalized for several hours.


