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Here’s a nice Friday news dump. Tim Geithner just announced support for a full cancellation of Haiti’s debt, and the IMF will join him:
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the United States will work with its partners around the world to relieve all debts owed by Haiti to international institutions and to ensure grant financing to support Haiti’s reconstruction and recovery from the devastating earthquake in January.
“The earthquake in Haiti was a catastrophic setback to the Haitian people who are now facing tremendous emergency humanitarian and reconstruction needs, and meeting Haiti’s financing needs will require a massive multilateral effort,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Today, we are voicing our support for what Haiti needs and deserves – comprehensive multilateral debt relief.”
Secretary Geithner also welcomed International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s call to provide full relief for Haiti’s outstanding IMF debt, including the $102 million emergency loan approved on January 27, 2010.
In addition, Geithner stressed that future aid to the ravaged island nation should come in the form of grants and not loans, to reduce the burden on a suffering people.
Haiti actually owes no debt to the United States, after a September 2009 agreement on debt relief. Their total outstanding debt to other international institutions equals around $1.3 billion, a paltry sum for the world but an impossible sum for Haiti after the earthquake. Haiti’s debt troubles go all the way back to French colonization, and the 150M in francs it demanded after Haiti secured independence. No other country required former slaves to pay such a debt for their freedom.
The ONE campaign gathered over 200,000 signatures in their effort to convince the Treasury Secretary to call for debt cancellation.
This also represents another policy victory with respect to Haiti for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who urged Geithner to support debt relief on Jan. 22. I’m sure Harold Ford would have joined her in that request, but if his knowledge of world geography is anything like his knowledge of the geography of New York City, he may not know where Haiti is.
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Excellent!
This is great news. We have to keep up the pressure to assure we don’t have a repeat performance of foreign governments destroying Haiti for their own personal gain.
Might be the cynic in me David, but if the US AND the IMF are going to write off Haiti’s debt, then watch out for their real plans. The IMF helps no nation. Just rich corporations and banks. When all is said and done, Haiti might not be so thankful for the world’s aid. These vultures do not help any nation out without some strings of some kind.
There’s got to be a catch here.
Is Goldman shorting Haiti bonds?
Geithner is assuredly a man in need of a public image makeover, and fast. We can all hope that, rapidly, all of Haiti’s international debt obligations are relieved, and that then Timothy Geithner is fired and replaced by someone whose aim is to use government power to improve the economic prosperity of working Americans, not bankers.
Maybe the IMF is going to refocus it’s economic attacks on Jamaica. They just “loaned” Jamaica almost the exact same amount that Haiti owes. Betcha there are lots of strings attached. Just leave the rum alone, ya bustards!!
I couldn’t agree more. I am very concerned.
Great news! Now if we could just get China to relieves some of our debt …
I’d have to agree too. Genuine altruism by government is so uncommon today that you’d wonder what their real motive is.
Republics are not currently in charge, so altruism is possible.
However, Limpy Limbaugh will explain to you how this is really
evil on Monday.
Brilliant !! then they’ll need new money, coming from us workign stiffs, and the same ol same ol IMG / World Bank / Goldman / Fed / AIG senior parasites can take the BIGGEST cut of the new money pie for their advisory & strategic brilliance!
and in 5 and 15 and 25 years, most of the people of haiti will be living in f’king squalor, eking out some marginal existence at the margin – BUT
for druggie perverts like Rush, think of what a great vacation spot it will be – all the 13 and 15 and 17 year olds you could want, any drug you crave …!!!
a rich person fantasy world.
rmm.
My comment doesn’t really concern debt relief, but addresses self-serving capitalists regarding Haiti. I don’t think this story was covered nationally.
Northern Indiana is known as the RV capital of the world. This area made hundreds of thousands of temmporary RV’s for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Since local politicians are in the pockets if RV manufacturers there was an over run of 100,000 RV’s. Also they were deemed inhabitable because of formaldehyde poisoning and other assorted unsafe conditions. The US government was going to auction off the over run but the RV manufacturers were afraid of a glut on the market and suggested “giving” them to Haiti.
The story ran for a couple days locally but I have heard nothing more since. The moral of the story is; big fucking deal if a few of them get sick and die from these death traps. They’re already poor and it will help us out.
Oops, my bad. Should have read “uninhabitable”.
Hmm, it sounds like a very small downpayment on the twenty billion dollars extorted and stolen by two hundred years of French colonialism and American imperialism. All US troops out of Haiti, Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iceland now.
Every time I hear this I have to shake my head. To me, that was 100% backwards.
Maybe the IMF is thinking it’s cheap, favorable, PR. Like humanitarian work done by for-profit corporations.
Yeah. It’s like being made to pay one’s rapist for inconveniencing him by fighting him off.
Since we’re 13 trillion in debt, would Haiti lend us the money to forgive their debt?
Would someone in Washington please stop sending my money overseas!!! If you insist on giving it away, take care of Americans first!!!