"When thousands of young Americans and people around the world gather in the streets, it's an enormous mistake to dismiss them as a group of overindulgent, dissatisfied technological Luddites who ought to be disregarded. That cry is a voice of skepticism about the hubris of modern technology, about science, and other forms of globalization."
--Bruce Babbitt, US Secretary of the Interior and a civil-rights activist"Their No. 1 enemy, the evil empire, as they see it, is corporate power in the world, the international corporations which, many of whom, are, of course, responsible for bringing the last 20 years of prosperity to at least the United States, Western Europe and Japan."
--Walter Rodgers, CNN "Snr. Int'l Correspondent"
1. Color Lines, Fall 2000, Vol. 3, No. 3; Pg. 28; ISSN: 1098-3503, 02563903, 2048 words, Here's the Movement, Let's Start Building: An interview with Barbara Smith, Diehl, Kim 2. BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, September 29, 2000, Friday, Part 2 Central Europe, the Balkins; CENTRAL EUROPE; CZECH REPUBLIC; ANTI-IMF PROTEST; EE/D3958/A, 77 words, Police handling of IMF clashes "very professional" - president, Source: Czech Radio-Radiozurnal, Prague, in Czech 1400 gmt 27 Sep 00 3. BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, September 29, 2000, Friday, Part 2 Central Europe, the Balkins; CENTRAL EUROPE; CZECH REPUBLIC; ANTI-IMF PROTEST; EE/D3958/A, 137 words, Minister praises police, says some 80 policemen injured in clashes, Source: Czech Radio-Radiozurnal, Prague, in Czech 1700 gmt 27 Sep 00 4. The Express, September 29, 2000, 164 words, 26 BRITONS HELD AS RIOTS SET CITY ALIGHT 5. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Home Edition, 853 words, WORLD IN BRIEF, From our news services 6. BANGKOK POST, September 28, 2000, 296 words, Moore urged to help poor reap benefits 18. BusinessWorld, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Pg. 1, 618 words, IMF-WB gab hit by violent demonstration, Daxim L. Lucas 19. Business Day (South Africa), September 28, 2000, National; Pg. 6, 250 words, SANGOCO SEEKS STRATEGIES TO FIGHT POVERTY, Nomavenda Mathiane 20. BUSINESSWORLD (PHILIPPINES), September 28, 2000, 612 words, IMF-WB gab hit by violent demonstration 21. Calgary Herald, September 28, 2000, Thursday, FINAL, 386 words, IMF, World Bank gets down to business despite violence: Loan conditions will be eased to help the poor, Bloomberg, PRAGUE 22. Calgary Herald, September 28, 2000, Thursday, FINAL, 553 words, Protesters claim summit victory, The Associated Press, PRAGUE 23. The Calgary Sun, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Early EDITION, NEWS, Pg. 36, 227 words, ACTIVISTS CLASH WITH POLICE, CP, PRAGUE 24. The Christian Science Monitor, September 28, 2000, Thursday, FEATURES; IDEAS; Pg. 12, 1568 words, Making global connections, Laurent BelsieStaff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, ASPEN, COLO. 25. The Christian Science Monitor, September 28, 2000, Thursday, NEWS IN BRIEF; Pg. 24, 464 words, USA, Robert Kilborn,Judy Nichols, Noel Paul,and Sara Steindorf 26. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON), September 28, 2000, Thursday, Pg. 19, 549 words, We've won, say Prague protesters The IMF and World Bank meeting ends a day early after violence in the Czech capital. Francis Harris reports, By FRANCIS HARRIS 27. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON), September 28, 2000, Thursday, Pg. 28, 1027 words, The dwarves who posture on the shoulders of giants Daniel Johnson castigates the spoilt middle-class protesters who exploit the Czech Republic's freedom and patronise those they claim to champion, By Daniel Johnson 28. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON), September 28, 2000, Thursday, Pg. 29, 132 words, Contemptible riot 29. The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), September 28, 2000, Thursday, BUSINESS;, Pg. B07, 539 words, Protesters claim victory as IMF, World Bank close summit early 30. Financial Times (London), September 28, 2000, Thursday, WORLD NEWS;, Pg. 16, 525 words, WORLD NEWS: A jamboree just made for protests and protocol, By STEPHEN FIDLER, PRAGUE 31. Financial Times (London), September 28, 2000, Thursday, LEADER;, Pg. 26, 467 words, LEADER: Protesters for poverty 32. Financial Times (London), September 28, 2000, Thursday, COMMENT & ANALYSIS;, Pg. 27, 1115 words, COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Protest against the protesters: For all its ills, western capitalism has brought about an unprecedented increase in world living standards, By SAMUEL BRITTAN 33. The Guardian (London), September 28, 2000, Guardian Leader Pages, Pg. 23, 363 words, Letter: Capitalism in hiding, Alex Callinicos 34. The Guardian (London), September 28, 2000, Guardian Foreign Pages, Pg. 18, 384 words, Delegates retire hurt: World Bank and IMF cut short Prague meeting, Kate Connolly in Prague 35. THE HINDU, September 28, 2000, 385 words, Sinha's call to IMF 36. THE HINDU, September 28, 2000, 626 words, The Hindu-Editorial: Prague protests: hoodlums or people with a cause? 37. The Independent (London), September 28, 2000, Thursday, FOREIGN NEWS; Pg. 14, 677 words, VELVET REVOLUTION LEADER CONDEMNS PRAGUE RIOTS, Justin Huggler In Prague 38. The Independent (London), September 28, 2000, Thursday, FEATURES; Pg. 1, 7, 2092 words, WHAT DO WE WANT? REVOLUTION. WHEN DO WE WANT IT? AFTER WE'VE BEEN TO THAT NICE MUSEUM ROUND THE CORNER, Mark Steel 39. International Herald Tribune (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), September 28, 2000, Thursday, News; Pg. 5, 607 words, World Bank Ends Meeting A Day Early After Protests, By Peter S. Green; International Herald Tribune, PRAGUE 40. International Herald Tribune (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), September 28, 2000, Thursday, News; Pg. 5, 336 words, Officials and Some Protesters Condemn Violence in Prague, By Joseph Kahn; New York Times Service, PRAGUE 41. Investor's Business Daily, September 28, 2000, A; Pg. 1, 454 words, By, Investor's Daily 42. Investor's Business Daily, September 28, 2000, A; Pg. 13, 535 words, IMF, World Bank Finish Early, Claim Protesters Had No Role, By, Investor's Daily 43. The Irish Times, September 28, 2000, CITY EDITION; BUSINESS & FINANCE; Pg. 16, 588 words, Protesters claim victory after IMF meeting ends early, By DENIS STAUNTON, PRAGUE 44. Korea Times, September 28, 2000, Thursday, 729 words, Security Groups Placed on High Alert Amid Fear of ASEM Protest 45. The London Free Press, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Final EDITION, NEWS, Pg. A5,, 57 words, IMF MEETING CLOSES EARLY AS RIOTERS BATTLE POLICE, FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES, PRAGUE 46. Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Home Edition, Page 6, 782 words, IN WAKE OF PROTESTS, WORLD BANK, IMF ADJOURN A DAY EARLY, DAVID HOLLEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, PRAGUE, Czech Republic 47. The Mirror, September 28, 2000, Thursday, NEWS; Pg. 4, 66 words, RIOTS END BANK TALKS, Mark Dowdney 48. The New York Times, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Late Edition - Final, Section A; Page 9; Column 1; Foreign Desk, 553 words, Protests Diminish at Conference in Prague on Worldwide Aid, By JOSEPH KAHN, PRAGUE, Sept. 27 49. THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, September 28, 2000 Thursday, METRO, EDITORIAL; Pg. A18, 459 words, VIOLENCE NO ANSWER; AS A CENTRAL FLORIDA PROGRAM DEMONSTRATED, PROTEST DOESN'T HAVE TO STEAL THE SHOW WHEN THE WORLD BANK COMES TO TOWN. 50. THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, September 28, 2000 Thursday, FLORIDA, MONEY; Pg. C5, 1 words, NOT-SO-SUBTLE MESSAGE 51. WHAT THE PAPERS SAY, September 28, 2000, Thursday, PRESS EXTRACTS, 912 words, CHUBAIS WILL SURVIVE THE WINTER, Konstantin Smirnov 52. The Record (Bergen County, NJ), September 28, 2000, THURSDAY; ALL EDITIONS, BUSINESS; Pg. B2, 182 words, GLOBAL MONEY SUMMIT ADJOURNS DAY EARLY, BUSINESS REPORT, Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg News reports., PRAGUE, Czech Republic 53. The Scotsman, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Pg. 12, 787 words, SUMMIT FINISHES EARLY IN THE WAKE OF RIOTS, Jonathan Ledgard In Prague 54. The Toronto Star, September 28, 2000, Thursday, Edition 1, NEWS, 614 words, PRAGUE PROTESTS FIZZLE AS IMF SUMMIT CLOSES EARLY, Michael Winfrey 55. Chicago Tribune, September 28, 2000 Thursday, CHICAGO SPORTS FINAL EDITION, Business; Pg. 6; ZONE: N; Market report., 704 words, NASDAQ HITS 5TH STRAIGHT DECLINE; TECH STOCKS DIVE ON PRICELINE OUTLOOK, Bill Barnhart. 56. Chicago Tribune, September 28, 2000 Thursday, CHICAGO SPORTS FINAL EDITION, News; Pg. 18; ZONE: N, 246 words, IMF-WORLD BANK SUMMIT FINISHES EARLY, Associated Press., PRAGUE, Czech Republic ___________________________________________________
The Christian Science Publishing Society
The Christian Science Monitor
After nearly a year of protests, the signs and chants are familiar: "Dump the Debt." "Worker Rights, Not Corporate Rights." "World Bank, what are you for? You feed the rich and starve the poor." Never mind that this isn't Seattle, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. The police here sport bicycles, not riot gear, and the biggest business around these parts is tourism. Nevertheless, at the gravel entrance to the Aspen Institute, a nonprofit ideas forum, some 75 men and women have come to protest a conference on globalization. Not since the Vietnam era has an issue so galvanized people. Old-line hippies rub elbows with Gen-Xers. Women nearly outnumber the men. And the movement is gaining momentum. If protesters can organize an alternative conference and a credible street protest in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, they can make their presence felt in any major American city. Just like the antiwar movement - except it's different. "In the '60s, you still had a hierarchical structure," says Stan Wilson, a Vietnam era protester who saw the war end before he got drafted. "It was very male dominated. The women of the '60s never got the ink that the men did." "Now the movement is more honest," he adds. "It's really a leaderless revolution." He is seated with some 30 other anarchists (the more extreme part of the protest movement) in an apartment rented for the weekend. Over a lunch of vegetarian soup from Styrofoam trays, the group gets down to business. One woman serves as facilitator, handling the "stack" (the order of people who want to speak). The mood is upbeat because the Aspen Institute allowed the group to send four representatives to ask questions of the conferees. "We have learned a lot from the '60s," explains Mark Cohen after the meeting. But "in a lot of ways, people are more sophisticated today. Sixties people were still trying to work through the Democratic Party." The protest movement has its own internal divisions. Some want to reform the capitalist system; others, including these anarchists, want to replace it. But even these anarchists don't oppose globalization; they merely want to guide it in a new direction. And because of that, they have made a big impact on the elite whom they criticize. "When thousands of young Americans and people around the world gather in the streets, it's an enormous mistake to dismiss them as a group of overindulgent, dissatisfied technological Luddites who ought to be disregarded," Bruce Babbitt, US Secretary of the Interior and a civil-rights activist in his own day, warned conferees. "That cry is a voice of skepticism about the hubris of modern technology, about science, and other forms of globalization." (c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society _________________________________________________
Published on Wednesday, September 27, 2000 in The Nation's Online Beat
From Prague to Pennsylvania Avenue -
by John Nichols
WASHINGTON — "There's a divide between rich and poor that's becoming
more and more global every day," said Nancy Harvin, as she allowed
Washington, D.C, Police officers to wrap white plastic cuffs around
her wrists.
Harvin, one of dozens of activists who blocked a busy Washington
street during rush hour Tuesday, said she was willing to be arrested
in order to raise awareness about the failure of the World Trade
Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to
address inequities in the global economy.
A 37-year-old Washington activist with a deep commitment to social and
economic justice causes, Harvin joined hundreds of other American
critics of corporate-driven globalization in a protest timed to
parallel street actions in Prague, where the mandarins of the World
Bank and the IMF are meeting this week.
The Washington protests — which linked the actions of the global
economic agencies to the plight of low-wage immigrant workers in the
nation's capital city — were more peaceful than demonstrations in
Prague, where 8,000 activists clashed with police and paralyzed
traffic around the meeting site in the Czech capital for more than six
hours. But they were a reminder that, a little less than a year after
protests in Seattle disrupted the WTO's Millennium Round talks, the
challenge to corporate-dictated models of globalization is broader
than ever.
That challenge resonates from the capitals of Europe to the capital of
the United States, where demonstrations, rallies and educational
events were set to coincide with the Prague protests.
Even as the movement matures — a phenomenon examined in, of all
places, The New York Times Week-in-Review section — there remains an
exhileration about this international campaign for economic justice.
It's not because of the violence that is sometimes associated with the
protests, not even because of the theatrical nature of the
puppet-wielding challenges to corporate power. The excitement with
this movement is rooted in the faith that it is bringing to the fore
gentler sentiments — like those expressed by Nancy Harvin, as she was
arrested in Washington this week.
The notion that people of good will can no longer stand aside and
watch as the gap between the world's rich and poor grows exponentially
wider is difficult to deny. And the message of those who are
protesting in the streets is being heard.
Indeed, on the same day that Nancy Harvin was being arrested in
Washington, a distinguished gentleman addressed the World Bank/IMF gathering in Prague. He told his elite audience, "We live in a world
scarred by inequality. Something is wrong when the richest 20 percent
of the global population receive more than 80 percent of the global
income... and when 2.8 billion people still live on less than $2 a
day."
The speaker was James D. Wolfensohn, the increasingly conscious
president of the World Bank. Wolfensohn, who once dismissed potesters
against the institution he heads, has come to recognize that the
activists can no longer be denied. "Many of them are asking legitimate
questions," he says, "and I embrace the commitment of a new generation
to fight poverty."
Yes, of course, there is a heavy spin on that comment. Wolfensohn is
trying to reposition his agency as a middle-ground force between
rapacious free-market capitalism and the cries for justice that come
from the streets outside World Bank/IMF meetings. Skepticism is
entirely appropriate.
Yet, the willingness of Wolfensohn to admit the legitimacy of these
protests begs the question: Why have we heard nothing from Al Gore and
George W. Bush on these issues? If James Wolfensohn feels compelled to
comment, surely, the men who would be president of the United States
ought to have something to say.
Perhaps they could start talking about fundamental issues of wealth
and poverty next Tuesday, when the Democratic and Republican
presidential nominees meet for their first debate in Washington. That
is, if they can take a break from their stimulating dialogue over how
to pronounce "subliminal."
Copyright ©2000 The Nation Company, L.P
###
_____________________________________________________
September 27, 2000, Wednesday ,THIRD EDITION
PRAGUE - From the middle of their street, Martin Palan and
Honza Novak stood stunned yesterday as black-clad demonstrators pelted
police with rocks and firebombs, set barricades ablaze, and later
trashed banks, two McDonald's restaurants, and a Mercedes-Benz
dealership.
The whirring of police helicopters and the wafting black smoke and
tear gas were reminiscent of protests past in Prague, broken up by
Soviet tanks or ending in triumph with the fall of the hated communist
rulers.
But yesterday, as up to 9,000 people, most of them foreigners,
sought to prolong the cry against global capitalism, Palan and Novak
felt outrage and anger toward those who were stripping the
cobblestones from Prague's historic streets and hurling them at
police. By last night, scores of people were injured.
"I respect everybody's right to express their opinions," said Palan, a
20-year-old student, "but people should not come here, to our country,
to destroy things."
Those protesting yesterday's opening of the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank meeting included environmentalists, human rights
activists, and labor groups. But also present - and much more
visible - were radicals of various stripes, including anarchists,
communists, and right-wing skinheads.
"It is a paradox. A decade ago our people demonstrated peacefully and
successfully against communism. Now there are foreigners coming here
waving Communist flags demonstrating violently against capitalism,"
said Novak, 20. "They don't know what it means to live under
communism."
The number of protesters was less than half the 20,000 that organizers
had hoped to gather. Authorities, determined to prevent the violence
that erupted at World Trade Organization talks in Seattle last year,
kept hundreds of people with arrest records from entering the country.
In trying to storm the meetings yesterday, activists pelted police
with bottles, rocks, and firebombs. Police fought back with tear gas
and water cannons. Several stick-wielding protesters got within yards
of the Prague Congress Center, where the meetings are being held,
injuring a Japanese and a Russian delegate. They also stormed a hotel,
pelting delegates with rocks until truncheon-wielding police repelled
them.
Protesters had hoped to barricade IMF and World Bank officials inside
their meetings. But at the end of the day, police herded the delegates
into a subway station, where they boarded specially prepared trains.
The Czech Republic president, Vaclav Havel, a playwright who led a
bloodless revolution that overthrew Czechoslovakia's Communist
government in 1989, called on protesters to end the violence. IMF and
World Bank officials said the annual meetings, which conclude
tomorrow, would continue on schedule.
"We're really disappointed. We were really hoping for a nonviolent
protest on the basic issues of the IMF and the World Bank. But instead
now the focus has shifted," said Chelsea Mosen of the Initiative
Against Economic Globalization.
Other demonstrators said the violence should show the world how angry
people are about the policies of the IMF and the World Bank. The two
organizations, they say, perpetuate poverty by forcing developing
countries to cut social programs to receive loans.
"Today people trashed some sidewalks and broke some windows. The IMF
destroys entire countries," said Genevieve Moore, 23, a Seattle native
who also participated in the protests in that city.
But most locals were unimpressed by such logic.
"I am so frustrated that I could just kill them," said Andrea
Macurova, 25, wiping tear gas from her eyes as she made her way home
around police barricades. "They are a bunch of idiots and they should
just leave our city."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Police arresting a demonstrator during protests in
Prague aimed at disrupting the opening of the IMF and World Bank
meetings yesterday. / AP PHOTO
________________________________________________
[A blatantly biased piece of reporting by Walter Rodgers, but it looks like it's top of the news - DL]
CNN
SHOW: CNN MORNING NEWS 09:00
HIGHLIGHT: Protesters have been clashing with police near the site of the joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Prague. Earlier today, 20 police were injured by Molotov cocktails thrown by demonstrators; 10 demonstrators are also said to have been hurt. BODY: THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go ahead and start with world news and go to Prague where, today, protesters have been clashing with police near the site of the joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Joining us now from the Czech Republic's capital, our senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers. Walter, has it been shades of Seattle where you are? WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been Seattle, but on a much smaller scale, Daryn. Right now, the demonstrators, there aren't enough of them to carry out their threat to barricade the building where the International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials are meeting, but they have been able to stage sit-ins and lie-ins on some of the streets, similar to the one behind me, so that some of these delegates who found it easy to get here to the IMF and World Bank meeting this morning may find it much more difficult to get home. Things got very violent about an hour or two ago, although the police were successful in turning away and keeping most of the protesters a mile or so away from the conference center, the Congress Hall. Some managed to traverse a ravine, a deep gorge, and then climb up and charge the police lines in some very severe clashes. Czech news agencies are reporting 20 policemen were injured when Molotov cocktails burned some of the policemen, the Molotov cocktails thrown by the demonstrators; 10 demonstrators are also said to have been hurt. It was a very, very ugly scene. The police used tear gas, stun grenades, water cannon, and things have quieted down a little now, but they could pick up again in a few hours when some of these IMF and World Bank officials try to leave here in their automobiles -- Daryn. KAGAN: And, of course, Walter, this story isn't just about what the protesters are doing but what's being said inside. And as I understand it, some of the World Bank leaders actually commending, in a way, the passion that these young people, the protesters, have for world poverty. RODGERS: It is interesting that that has been the case. There are some who have been calling it pandering. They're praising the young people for their support of antipoverty campaigns in the world and the elimination of the debt for the developing countries. The problem with all of that is that many of the protesters, in particular the hard-core ones, are out-and-out, avowed Marxists. And their equal aim in all of this, if you read their placards and their banners, are to smash capitalism. Their No. 1 enemy, the evil empire, as they see it, is corporate power in the world, the international corporations which, many of whom, are, of course, responsible for bringing the last 20 years of prosperity to at least the United States, Western Europe and Japan. But they are carrying and renewing some of the old Marxist slogans: workers of the world unite, and smash the International Monetary Fund, smash NATO, smash the European Union. That seems to be the message of the more hard-core protesters — Daryn. KAGAN: So does this seem like it's going to be a standoff where the protesters don't get what they want and World Bank officials can't get their work done, or will something actually happen at these meetings, unlike in Seattle, Walter? RODGERS: Well, the — there is a standoff right now, Daryn, and it's far from over, because, as I say, the streets to the conference hall, many of them, are blocked by the demonstrators who are just sitting down, lying down in the road. And for the more than 10,000 IMF officials and World Bank officials to get home tonight, the police are going to have to start clearing those protesters. That could get very, very ugly. Statements have been made here, that is the political statements in the streets, as I say, ranging from the Marxist to some environmental and some religious statements. But this isn't over. And while it hasn't been on the scale of Seattle in November of last year, it has not been a very pleasant scene — Daryn. KAGAN: OK, Walter, you stay safe there in Prague. Thank you for that report. Walter Rodgers in the Czech Republic in Prague, thank you very much. ___________________________________________________
HIGHLIGHT:
The International Monetary Fund and its sister organization, the
World Bank, are holding their annual meetings in Prague starting
tomorrow. Protesters opposed to their policies have threatened to
shut down the meeting.
BODY:
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the streets
are quiet here in Prague, David, this morning. The U.S. treasury
secretary, Larry Summers, spoke to the Development Committee
of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank today. He
pronounced the global economic climate stronger than it has been
in many years.
Nonetheless, Secretary Summers said the over-arching imperative
must be to fight global poverty. He noted that half of the world's
population, that is over five billion people, half of that population
lives on less that $2 a day per individual. He noted that the
HIV/AIDS pandemic, especially in Africa, has set back economic
development, hard-fought economic development many years. And
he noted that the life expectancy in Africa — many African countries
is now below what it was in 1950 because of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic.
Additionally, he said another threat to the global economic strength
is money laundering and corruption in many of the developing
countries.
Still the U.S. treasury secretary hung firm to the United States'
position vis-a-vis debt relief for the developing countries. He said
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund must not
relinquish its authority over the rules by which it lends money to the
developing countries. Perhaps our viewers know that there has
been a massive movement, particularly in Europe, to cancel the
debt of the developing countries, particularly in Africa, but also
some in Latin America, 100 percent cancellation.
MARCHINI: Walter, since the meeting in Seattle, anti- globalization
protesters have been much feared in these kinds of environments.
Tell us about the security presence and the likelihood of mass
demonstrations?
RODGERS: Well, the security presence is massive on the building
behind me. If you could see over the roof, you would see snipers
with masks there. These are, of course, the Czech SWAT forces.
The Czech police is very much in evidence throughout the city. And
there have been complaints even of some — what you would call
low-grade harassment, that is to say, Czechs checking almost
anyone on the streets who fits the profile of a possible Seattle-type
demonstrator and asking for their identification.
But the Czechs seem to have kept demonstrations peaceful so far.
We've had a number of them, several which I covered yesterday,
one which was essentially a mainstream religious organization
campaigning for debt relief. There was absolutely no problem there,
and the Czech police kept a low-profile.
________________________________________________
September 25, 2000; Monday
World Finance Ministers Address Problem of Third
World Poverty
Daryn Kagan, Walter Rodgers
HIGHLIGHT:
In a preliminary round of meetings in the Czech Republic, the
world's finance ministers have adopted increased consciousness
and sensitivity toward potential protesters, addressing the needs of
the Third World, where half the people on the planet live on less
than $2 a day.
BODY:
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Another world issue we want to
get to, the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank in the Czech Republic.
Joining us from Prague is CNN senior international correspondent
Walter Rodgers.
Walter, we've heard the threat of protesters taking over there.
What's the situation with that?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN ST. INTERNATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, there have been no protesters
anywhere near the congress hall, today at least, where the IMF and
World Bank officials are meeting.
What's been amusing to watch in this preliminary round of meetings
here is what you might call the increased consciousness- raising
and sensitivity lessons that the world's finance ministers and World
Bank officials seem to have undergone since Seattle when there
were some rather serious riots on the American West Coast.
What we're watching here is an attempt on the part of the finance
ministers and World Bank officials to more keenly address the
needs of the Third World and the poverty stricken Third World,
where half the people on this planet now live on less than $2 a day.
The U.S. Treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, earlier today
addressed the Development Committee of the IMF and the World
Bank. And he said that while the current economic climate, the
global economic climate, is stronger than it's been in many years,
the overarching concern has to be the poverty in the world; that is to
say, the poverty in the Third World. And he's again trying to redirect
the attention of the ministers in that direction.
And then just more recently, the president of the World Bank,
James Wolfensohn, was keen to announce that, in fact, the debt of
some of the worst and poorest countries, debt of countries in Africa
that have borrowed from the World Bank — at least 20 of the
countries in Africa and Latin America will probably have debt relief
by the end of the year. That's not total debt forgiveness, but it
means those countries can now begin devoting some of their
budgets, which they would have used to service their debt, pay their
interest to the World Bank — use their budgets to build better health
care systems, schools, water, pollution control, that soft of thing.
Again, there's an overall effort on the part of everyone here, and
particularly the bankers in their pinstriped suits, to show that they
have learned the lessons of Seattle and that world poverty does
need to be addressed — Daryn.
__________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 CNBC, Inc.
CNBC News Transcripts
SHOW: BUSINESS CENTER (6:30 PM ET)
September 25, 2000, Monday
U2'S BONO IS IN PRAGUE, CALLING FOR RELIEF
OF DEBTS OF WORLD'S POOREST NATIONS
ANCHORS: SUE HERERA
BODY:
SUE HERERA, co-anchor:
U2 singer--lead singer Bono is in Prague, calling on the IMF and World
Bank to agree on what he calls an 'historic act' to mark the new
millennium.
He's among those demanding the cancellation of the debts of the
world's
poorest nations. He argues that at a time of unimaginable prosperity
in the
world, it is an obscenity that poor nations are paying far more in
debt
payments than they receive in aid.
_________________________________________________________
SHOW: CNN WORLDVIEW 18:00
September 24, 2000; Sunday
Transcript # 00092402V18
TYPE: PACKAGE/INTERVIEW
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 1139 words
HEADLINE: World Bank and IMF Officials Get Set to Meet in
Prague
GUESTS: John Donaldson
BYLINE: Andria Hall, Walter Rodgers
HALL: Sir, I want to start with a comment that one of the protesters
said in
our tape piece, she basically accused the World Bank and the IMF
of being responsible for the deaths of 19,000 children. How do you
respond to that?
JOHN DONALDSON, SPOKESMAN, WORLD BANK: Well, I think
it's certainly a dramatic statement. The World Bank is focused on
poverty and on equity, and I think that's the main message that we
are trying to discuss this week in Prague.
This is the first — the annual occasion of a meeting of all 182
member countries who basically own the World Bank and the IMF
and — to discuss issues of literally life and death, as Ms. Pettifor
said in her comment, because it's true that children are dying every
day, thousands of children. It's not, I would suggest, due to debt
alone, but due to the effects of poverty in the world today. So we are
very much focused on the same issues that many of the people who
have concerns in — outside the building are focused on. In fact...
HALL: And yet those poor countries that you are talking about are
basically having to choose between paying their debt to the World
Bank, and education and health care, so inadvertently, if you will,
they are having to redirect their resources, however meager they
are.
DONALDSON: Well, I don't agree with that statement. I think that
debt repayments are an issue in and of themselves, and
insupportable debt payments are an issue. But, in fact, the World
Bank lends enormous amounts of resources and in conjunction with
other donors for exactly the things that they are concerned about,
education and health.
Almost half of our lending portfolio is directed for these areas, so
while the debt burden is an issue that we all share — and we are at
the forefront of hoping that the debt issue can be addressed more
forthrightly and rapidly — I think that you can't really put the two
issues together, because we are also, at the same time, investing
in education and health care, and maternal health care, among
other things like AIDS and HIV prevention in Africa and other parts
where this is a major developmental issue.
_______________________________________________________
SHOW: CNN WORLDVIEW 18:00
September 25, 2000; Monday
Transcript # 00092502V18
TYPE: PACKAGE
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 450 words
HEADLINE: IMF/World Bank Protesters Receive Scant Support in
Prague
BYLINE: Bernard Shaw, Walter Rodgers
HIGHLIGHT:
Protesters are threatening to disrupt the annual meeting of the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank opening Tuesday
in the Czech Republic capital, Prague. But the protesters ranks are
thin, and the Prague police might outnumber the protesters by a
margin of two to one.
BODY:
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):
After violent clashes paralyzed Seattle a year ago, finance
ministers and World Bank officials are clearly paying more attention
to global poverty in the third world and specifically debt relief for
the
world's poorest countries.
JAMES WOLFENSHON, WORLD BANK PRESIDENT: We will
have 20 countries through to decision point by the end of the year.
The average debt relief that we'll have for these countries is 65
percent of their total debts.
RODGERS: Religious activists are demanding 100 percent
forgiveness on third-world debt, forcing debt repayment on the
poorest countries impoverishes them and leaves them nothing left
to spend for health care, education or infrastructure.
Debt relief advocates, like U2's Bono, claim red tape and
bureaucracy in lending institution, like the World Back and the
International Monetary Fund, are so vexing the world's poor have no
hope.
BONO, ENTERTAINER: We're not making it easy for people to rip
off the money here. In fact, we're making it so hard that we're — you
know, that the patient is dying on the street while we're, you know,
questioning the ambulance man.
RODGERS: Global poverty is universally acknowledged as severe,
and there appears a consensus that much of the world has missed
out on the benefits of economic globalization enjoyed by the United
States, Europe and Japan.
LAWRENCE SUMMERS, TREASURY SECRETARY: There's no
higher moral priority than doing something about countries where
more than a billion people live on less than a dollar a day.
RODGERS: So farm, the threatened anti-globalization
demonstrations in Prague have been scant, the most dramatic
being these men dangling off a bridge at least 100 meters above
the ground.
(on camera): Prague police say there are now about 5,000
protesters in the city. Some of the demonstrators are threatening to
form a human chain around this building, where lending officials are
meeting. But the protesters ranks are thin, and the Prague police
might outnumber the protesters by a margin of two to one.
_________________________________________
SHOW: CNN AHEAD OF THE CURVE 05:00
September 26, 2000; Tuesday
Transcript # 00092602V62
TYPE: LIVE REPORT
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 1467 words
HEADLINE: Protesters Gathering Around IMF/World Bank
Meeting in Prague
BYLINE: David Haffenreffer, Charles Hodson
HIGHLIGHT:
Demonstrators are gathering in the streets to Prague this morning.
They are protesting the annual meeting of the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank. But, at the moment, their numbers are far
less than the 20,000 predicted.
BODY:
Charles Hodson joins us now live from Prague with more on this.
And good morning, Charles. What's the latest here?
CHARLES HODSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, well, David,
the latest is actually going on right behind us. There are a couple of
helicopters in the sky over Prague. What you're seeing there, that
long line is the bridge, which is essentially a bridge which spans a
deep ravine, which cuts off this congress center from the center of
the city.
What you can see lined up there is probably a couple of a dozen
police vehicles.
Now, what we do understand it is that there have been some
protesters, that things are hotting up in the center of the city, the
old
center of the city, on the other side of that bridge. But very
clearly, in
order to come here to the congress center, they will either have to
go across some other way, across this deep ravine, or they will
have to come across that bridge.
So it looks as if the police, who would be about 12,000 in number,
have the demonstrators fairly closely in hand. But, of course, what
always happens on these occasions is that a small and perhaps
imaginative group of protesters can always undermine all the best
efforts to keep the situation under control.
Three o'clock, which is roughly 3 1/2 hours from now, 3:00 p.m.
local time, will be the time when the protesters say that they will
surround this building, that they will make a lot of noise, and that
the
meetings, which really get down to talking business, will go on
against a background of really being besieged.
Back to you, David.
HAFFENREFFER: Is there any expectation that they'll prevent any
of the — what's on the agenda from proceeding here?
HODSON: No. I mean, I think the agenda here has been
proceeding as smoothly as one could possibly imagine. The — as
you mentioned briefly earlier, the Czech president, Vaclav Havel,
has been holding his speech, a speech in which he very much set
the tone, saying that, for security, as well as moral reasons, richer
nations should help poorer nations.
___________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CBC TV SHOW: THE NATIONAL ( 9:00 PM ET )
September 26, 2000, Tuesday
LENGTH: 361 words
HEADLINE: Clashes in Prague.
GUEST: PAUL WORKMAN, Reporter;
ANCHORS: PETER MANSBRIDGE
BODY:
PETER MANSBRIDGE: Thousands of police and protesters turned the
streets of Prague into a battlefield today. It was a clash of both
people and
ideologies as demonstrators opposed to globalization tried to shutdown
a
summit of the IMF and World Bank. The CBCs Paul Workman was there.
PAUL WORKMAN: The protestors threw cobblestones and Molotov
cocktails. The Czech Police fired water cannon and teargas. Opening
day of
the World Bank International Monetary Fund summit — welcome to
Prague.
There was little chance of the marchers ever breaching police security
here.
That would have been a major embarrassment to the Czech Republic. They
were blocked by thousands of riot police who surrounded the city's
congress
centre, site of the economic summit, with the protestors forcefully
kept away.
______________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Burrelle's Information Services
CBS News Transcripts
View Related Topics
SHOW: CBS EVENING NEWS (6:30 PM ET)
September 26, 2000, Tuesday
TYPE: Newscast
LENGTH: 70 words
HEADLINE: VIOLENT PROTESTS AT A MEETING OF THE
WORLD BANK AND IMF IN PRAGUE
ANCHORS: DAN RATHER
BODY:
DAN RATHER, anchor:
A meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in
the Czech capital of Prague drew violent protests today.
Thousands of anarchists and others opposing what they call
expansion and manipulation of the global economy without
democratic process took on riot police. That turned the picturesque
city into a battleground. Vandals especially targeted US fast-food
franchises.
_____________________________________
SHOW: CNN TODAY 13:00
September 26, 2000; Tuesday
Transcript # 00092606V13
TYPE: LIVE REPORT
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 307 words
HEADLINE: Protests Turn Violent Outside IMF/World Bank
Meeting in Prague
BYLINE: Natalie Allen, Walter Rodgers
HIGHLIGHT:
Protesters who were violent outside the IMF/World Bank meeting in
Prague today have another pass tomorrow at trying to besiege the
delegates there. Throughout the day today, demonstrators charged
police lines and threw cobblestones from the streets, thrashed
police with big sticks, and burned some of them with Molotov
cocktails.
BODY:
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those who were
violent here this afternoon have another pass tomorrow at trying to
besiege the meeting of the world monetary fund — or the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. At this hour,
they're in downtown Prague. They've left this area because most of
the delegates have gone and they're reportedly trashing
McDonald's.
These are people who have tried to break repeatedly through
police lines this afternoon. They have a message. Their message is
they are the champions of the world's poor, and they carried that
message out today here in Prague by declaring war on the Prague
police force. Repeatedly, they charged police lines here and they
threw cobblestones that they dug out of the streets, they thrashed
the police with big sticks, and some police were even burned with
Molotov cocktails that the demonstrators had thrown at the police
here in the — at the Congress Hall.
At times, they were within 50 meters of the building itself .
_______________________________________________
//
HOW: CNN EARLY EDITION 07:00
September 26, 2000; Tuesday
Transcript # 00092604V08
TYPE: LIVE REPORT
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 433 words
HEADLINE: Protesters Vow to Disrupt IMF-World Bank Meeting in
Prague
BYLINE: Leon Harris, Walter Rodgers
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT:
Hello, Leon.
The protesters had promised to try to disrupt the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund meeting about half of a mile from here,
but so far they haven't been successful. Their goal was to paralyzed
Prague the way they paralyzed the World Trade Organization
meeting in Seattle nearly a year ago. They have failed to this point.
About 5,000 demonstrators marched out of Prague's East Square
about an hour ago shouting, revolution, revolution. But their's was an
orderly march through streets of Prague. This lovely old baroque
town has been shut down merely to avoid violence, which has not
occurred on any large scale at this point. There is a confrontation
line formed just behind me in front of the Newselski (ph) Bridge,
which is the bridge leading out of this part of the city and across to
the Congress Hall where the World Bank and IMF meetings are
being held.
It's most unlikely the demonstrators could reach that police
confrontation line. The police are out-decked in combat gear, riot
gear. They have bulletproof vests on, very heavy plastic helmets
with visors. Each helmet has a gas mask built into it. And behind
that initial police shock line there are armored cars, water cannons,
which, by the way, have not been used at this point.
___________________________________________________________
SHOW: CNN TODAY 13:00
September 26, 2000; Tuesday
Transcript # 00092603V13
TYPE: LIVE REPORT
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 508 words
HEADLINE: Anti-IMF/World Bank Demonstrations Become
Violent
BYLINE: Lou Waters, Walter Rodgers
HIGHLIGHT:
A minority of the Marxists and anarchists protesting the IMF and
World Bank meeting today in Prague caused the demonstrations
to become violent when they attacked police, which resulted in tear
gas and concussion grenades being used against them and other
protesters.
BODY:
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT:
Well, it's dusk here and dusk seems to have brought some quiet to
the city. But it has been an afternoon of pitched battles between
protesters and the Prague police. Pitched battles, perhaps not as
bloody as Seattle a year ago, but nonetheless bad enough to send
dozens of people to hospital.
The protesters, claiming to champion the poor, declared war on the
Prague police. They tore cobblestones out of the streets and
assaulted the police lines with cobblestones. Eventually, the police
had to respond with tear gas and concussion grenades and the
police waded in. But, at times, the perimeters of the police lines
were actually breached and some of the demonstrators got within
75 meters, even 50 meters, of the Congress Hall, here in Prague,
where the International Monetary Fund officials and World Bank
officials are meeting.
The protesters see these officials, these capitalists, as the root of
all evil in the world. They have declared war on capitalism. They
carried many placards that said smash capitalism, smash the
International Monetary Fund. They are vehemently opposed to the
economic system which exists in the world today and want to bring
down the large corporations, which they see as stepping on the
poor and destroying the environment — Lou.
WATERS: Walter, who are these demonstrators? Do we know?
RODGERS: Yes, I walked through the crowds more than a few
times today and they are young Marxists, young anarchists. Some
of these people are, very clearly, legitimate protesters championing
the environment, but the vast majority of people who were out today
and those who were violent are clearly Marxists. These are young
Communists, neo-Communists, and they want to smash the existing
world order. Many of their placards revealed their agenda. It said,
smash NATO, smash capitalism, smash the International Monetary
Fund, smash the European Union. And that's what they tried to do.
But we should point out very clearly that, while there were some
5,000 demonstrators today, the vast majority of them were
peaceful. Still, there was a hard core of 200-300. They are the ones
who have repeatedly assaulted the police lines here, again,
thrashing police with staves and throwing cobblestones at the
police, which, then, in turn, brought the police response, which was
tear gas.
HOW: CNN MORNING NEWS 09:00
September 26, 2000; Tuesday
Transcript # 00092606V09
TYPE: LIVE REPORT
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 348 words
HEADLINE: IMF/World Bank Meeting Protests Relatively Peaceful
BYLINE: Kyra Phillips, Walter Rodgers
HIGHLIGHT:
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Prague, as the
IMF and World Bank hold their annual joint meetings. So far, the
protests have been relatively peaceful, with only a few clashes
between protesters and police.
BODY:
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of protesters have
taken to the streets, as the IMF and World Bank hold their annual
joint meetings in the Czech Republic.
CNN's Walter Rodgers joins us now, live, from the capital, Prague,
with the latest — Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.
There is something of a confrontation line here at the Nurselski (ph)
Bridge in Prague. About 2,500 demonstrators still remain in this
area. They are squared off against a police line. This is relatively
peaceful here. Some missiles have been thrown at the police. No
tear gas, however, and no one appears to have been hurt in this
immediate area.
.
SHOW: CNN MORNING NEWS 09:00
September 26, 2000; Tuesday
Transcript # 00092609V09
TYPE: LIVE REPORT
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 741 words
HEADLINE: Protesters, Police Clash Near IMF/World Bank
Meeting in Prague
BYLINE: Daryn Kagan, Walter Rodgers
BODY:
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT: It's been Seattle, but on a much smaller
scale, Daryn. Right now, the demonstrators, there aren't enough of
them to carry out their threat to barricade the building where the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials are meeting,
but they have been able to stage sit-ins and lie-ins on some of the
streets, similar to the one behind me, so that some of these
delegates who found it easy to get here to the IMF and World Bank
meeting this morning may find it much more difficult to get home.
Things got very violent about an hour or two ago, although the police
were successful in turning away and keeping most of the protesters
a mile or so away from the conference center, the Congress Hall.
Some managed to traverse a ravine, a deep gorge, and then climb
up and charge the police lines in some very severe clashes.
Czech news agencies are reporting 20 policemen were injured
when Molotov cocktails burned some of the policemen, the Molotov
cocktails thrown by the demonstrators; 10 demonstrators are also
said to have been hurt. It was a very, very ugly scene. The police
used tear gas, stun grenades, water cannon, and things have
quieted down a little now, but they could pick up again in a few
hours when some of these IMF and World Bank officials try to leave
here in their automobiles — Daryn.
KAGAN: And, of course, Walter, this story isn't just about what the
protesters are doing but what's being said inside. And as I
understand it, some of the World Bank leaders actually
commending, in a way, the passion that these young people, the
protesters, have for world poverty.
RODGERS: It is interesting that that has been the case. There are
some who have been calling it pandering. They're praising the
young people for their support of antipoverty campaigns in the world
and the elimination of the debt for the developing countries. The
problem with all of that is that many of the protesters, in particular
the hard-core ones, are out-and-out, avowed Marxists. And their
equal aim in all of this, if you read their placards and their
banners,
are to smash capitalism. Their No. 1 enemy, the evil empire, as
they see it, is corporate power in the world, the international
corporations which, many of whom, are, of course, responsible for
bringing the last 20 years of prosperity to at least the United
States,
Western Europe and Japan.
______________________________________________________
THE NATIONAL ( 9:00 PM ET )
September 27, 2000, Wednesday
PETER MANSBRIDGE: The IMF and World Bank wrapped things up
early today, ending their meeting in Prague a day sooner than
scheduled. But
denying it was because of yesterday's violent protests. On the streets
most of
the demonstrators were also calling it quits. There was a small march
against
capitalism and globalization. But nothing like the battles from the
day before.
____________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Media Corporation of Singapore Pte Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
Channel NewsAsia
September 27, 2000 Wednesday
About 5,000 anti-globalisation activists have marched on the IMF and
World Bank summit in Prague, throwing fire bombs and rocks at riot police
who responded with tear gas, water cannons and concussion grenades.
Protesters, mostly foreign youths, waved banners and demanded the
cancellation of debt to poor countries and a shutdown of the IMF.
Police say 30 people were injured including 20 police officers and 10
protesters while an undetermined number of people have been arrested.
Chanting "Stop the economic terror now," the activists erected
barricades in
the streets and set them ablaze filling the skies with black smoke.
Their aim is to abolish the two giant lending institutions they call a
menace to
humanity.
______________________________________________________________
CNN
September 27, 2000; Wednesday
Lionel Barber, of the "Financial Times," discusses the impact of the
Prague protesters on what is going on inside the IMF and World
Bank meetings.
DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take a
focus now for a few minutes on what's going on inside those IMF
and World Bank meetings.
HAFFENREFFER: What is going on?
BARBER: You know, it's really interesting — yes, it's very interesting
that, in fact, despite all the protests, inside the buildings, the leaders
of the international financial institutions, the likes of Jim Wolfensohn
of the World Bank and also Horst Kohler, IMF, and their colleagues,
are, I believe, showing some of the — showing the same concerns,
trying to deal with the problems of globalization, trying to explain
what their agencies are actually doing to meet the needs.
And I think, if you look at the speeches for example, the World Bank
is trying to project itself, really, as a over-arching development
agency, not just someone who is lending billions to build dams that
nobody wants, or that are environmentally destructive. So I think that
the authorities are taking this on board.
MARCHINI: Lionel, we knew pretty much going into this meeting
that there was not likely to be any debt relief for poorer nations.
What, if anything, will emerge from these meetings?
BARBER: I think that on debt relief they're going to tread very
carefully. We know that the British, for example, Gordon Brown, the
chancellor of the Exchequer, the finance minister, has produced a
high-level initiative trying to push the process along. Americans are
somewhat more reluctant, and it's very difficult to get a consensus
there. And there are also some ideological divisions over, you
know, how far this is actually — it makes a lot of economic sense.
Having said that, I think the real importance of the concrete results
of this meeting were on two fronts: one was the currency
intervention, the coordinated currency intervention involving
Americans, Japanese and Europeans in support of the euro, which
I think has had some positive impact, the euro has stabilized after a
considerable fall; and second, a clear statement on the risk to the
world economy on rising oil prices, and the intervention from the
Americans on the strategic petroleum reserve, and that's had a
dampening effect.
So those are two very important, concrete results, which have had
an impact, and I think a good impact for the future of the world
economy.
MARCHINI: All right, Lionel Barber, of the "FT," thanks.
________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 CTV Television, Inc.
CTV Television, Inc.
September 27, 2000 23:00:00 - 23:30:00 Eastern Time
ANCHOR: LLOYD ROBERTSON
BODY:
LLOYD ROBERTSON: And briefly in other news tonight. Riot
police in Prague arrested more than 600 protestors at a summit of
the International Monetary Fund. The IMF ended its conference a
day early, though organizers denied it was due to street
demonstrations.
________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Minnesota Public Radio. All Rights Reserved
MARKETPLACE MORNING REPORT
September 27, 2000, Wednesday
DEMONSTRATIONS SURROUND THE ANNUAL
MEETINGS OF THE IMF AND THE WORLD BANK IN PRAGUE
CHERYL GLASER, anchor:
Good morning. I'm Cheryl Glaser in Los Angeles.
Today is getting off to a quieter start in Prague. That's giving police and
residents in the eastern European city an opportunity to pick up the pieces
after demonstrations surrounding the annual meetings of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank turned violent yesterday.
Anti-globalization critics were protesting against the two agencies, which they
say do more harm than good in their work with developing countries.
Reporter Kate Connolly has more.
KATE CONNOLLY reporting:
The Czech interior ministry has reported that 400 people were arrested, half
of them foreigners. During Tuesday's riots, 54 police officers were injured,
along with 18 protesters and one Japanese delegate who got caught in the
fray. INPEG, the initiative against globalization had planned a peaceful
non-violent direct protest. But, say organizers, hard-core anarchist groups
infiltrated the protest ranks causing riot police to be brought in. Tear gas,
water cannons, pepper spray and percussion grenades were used to disperse
activists. Yet some 200 did manage to gain entry to the Congress Center,
causing the police to block all entry points and trapping many delegates and
journalists inside until late evening. Protests continued throughout the night
and on into Wednesday. And INPEG said it would continue to try and
disrupt the meeting. In Prague, I'm Kate Connolly for MARKETPLACE.
______________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Minnesota Public Radio. All Rights Reserved
MARKETPLACE
September 27, 2000, Wednesday
IMF AND WORLD BANK CUT SHORT THEIR
MEETING DUE TO VIOLENT CONFRONATATIONS BETWEEN
POLICE AND ANTI-GLOBALIZATION PROTESTERS
DAVID BRANCACCIO, anchor:
Following violent confrontations between police and anti-globalization
protesters, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank today
decided to beat a retreat from the capital of the Czech Republic, cutting short
their three-day meeting by a day. World Bank Vice President Mats Carlsson
confirmed that the demonstrations did play a part in that decision. We spoke
to Kate Connolly with London's Guardian newspaper earlier today from
Prague.
Ms. KATE CONNOLLY (The Guardian, London): When the
announcement was made, there were even very few delegates there to listen
to it. There have been hundreds of police outside hotels all through Prague
today trying to protect delegates. But word on the ground is that actually lots
of them have been very, very scared. Thirty-one of the delegates were
injured, one of them fairly seriously. The direct experience of the delegates
has really influenced this decision.
Obviously, the question being asked at the moment is whether this decision
will--under protest yesterday, will--whether this will actually affect the way
that future conferences are held. One idea is being put forward that possibly
in the future the meetings would be held in one place, i.e. in Washington,
where one would have a police force that knew exactly how to deal with it
and knew very well the lay of the land.
BRANCACCIO: Kate Connolly, Prague correspondent for Britain's
Guardian Newspaper.
___________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
September 28, 2000, Thursday 12:15 PM Eastern Time
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND PRESS
CONFERENCE WITH IMF MANAGING-DIRECTOR HORST
KHLER, WORLD BANK PRESIDENT JAMES WOLFENSOHN AND
SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE MINISTER TREVOR MANUEL (AS
RELEASED BY THE IMF)
MR. MANUEL: Good morning. My name is Trevor Manuel. I am the
Finance Minister of South Africa. I am the Chair of the Board of Governors
for these meetings.
Welcome to all of you to this concluding press conference. You will know
that it is traditional that the press conference be held at about this time on the
Thursday of the Annual Meetings each year to conclude and to share the
observations of the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
and the President of the World Bank Group.
This year is no different. The plenary meetings concluded a bit early
yesterday, and they concluded in the same spirit as has prevailed at Annual
Meetings anywhere, the two years in the United States or the one year
rotating elsewhere.
We have checked that there is no country that asked for permission to speak
that didn't have the opportunity to speak. And the numbers of speeches was
the same as they have been over many, many years. Those records would
speak for themselves.
I would like to invite Mr. Kohler to address you and share with you his
observations of the meetings. Thereafter, Mr. Wolfensohn will be asked to
do the same. I will chair the conference and ask the Managing Director and
the President to take the questions.
Mr. Kohler.
MR. KoHLER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am quite surprised that so many showed up here this morning because
yesterday evening I got the question: "Are you rushing out of Prague?" I
wondered why, because we still have a lot to do in bilateral meetings, but I
also see that the journalists remained in Prague. That is a good sign for
Prague and also for the Annual Meetings.
Let me begin by saying first that I want to sincerely thank the Czech
authorities for the excellent organization of these Annual Meetings. Everything
worked. Everything worked very well, and the delegates, the delegations,
staff, and all who contributed felt the Czech authorities took care in the best
sense. And I would also like to particularly thank the police and security
forces of the Czech authorities who showed such composed restraint in their
operations. All of this together demonstrates strongly the process that has
taken place here in the Czech Republic to create a democratic and humane
society.
Prague and the Czech Republic can be proud about this meeting, how it was
conducted, about the outcome. And I have no doubt that at the end it will
strengthen the stature and the reputation of this city.
Second, I would like to express my conviction that we should strongly
deplore the acts of violence of a small group of people who have not come to
Prague for dialogue but for destruction. And you have seen that Jim
Wolfensohn and I are really open to dialogue and discussion. But we reject
violence, pressure in this way, because this will not contribute to an
improvement of the policy of the operations and improvement for a better
world.
Third — and this is the fortunate thing — these violent forces did not distract
us from our work, and that is to find ways to make globalization work for the
benefit of all. I am, of course, happy that this global theme came out of these
Annual Meetings. It is really the decisive theme for the next decades. And we
are starting here from Prague to make globalization work for the benefit of
all, and we are looking for ways and means that allow us to give this
objective concrete meaning.
Fourth, in my view, the IMF — and I include in this also the World Bank --
leaves Prague clearly strengthened. We got the strongest support from the
entire membership and, in the case of the Fund, these are 182 members for
the mandate and the work of the Fund. Our membership urged us to continue
our work, to continue the process of reforms in the IMF, but they urged us to
do our job and they particularly also urged us, the Fund, to stay strongly
engaged in the poor countries.
Fifth, the IMF received strong guidance from its members. It has to be
focused; that was the main guidance from its membership. And this focus of
the IMF should, in particular, be to strive to promote strong economic
growth that benefits all people of the world. The benefit of all people of the
world means particularly to open markets in order to get products and
services from the developing world to the industrial countries.
Then, the membership urged us that the Fund should be the center of
competence for the stability of the international financial system, and this
stability is a global public good. I think if we are making progress, further
progress to stabilize and to work for a stable international financial system,
this will be also the most important contribution for strong growth and
creating an environment where the huge pool of savings in the world will also
be available at the end for poor countries, emerging market countries.
The membership also urged that the IMF should be an open institution and
work with other institutions in a complementary fashion to provide global
public goods. I was, of course, personally heartened by the strong
endorsement of my vision of the future role of the Fund by the membership,
and I must say all members. I didn't see a lot of differences here. And this is,
of course, encouraging. I have now to cope with the problem of managing
expectations, but that is part of our life. I also want to include in this
endorsement — and to express my own gratitude to — particularly my
management colleagues and the staff of the Fund, because they have worked
with me on structuring a concept for the future role of the Fund, which in my
view will contribute to a better world and particularly also to make a
difference in the poor countries. This is the commitment of the institution as a
whole.
In this context, I want also to underline from my side that I feel a new spirit of
cooperation between the World Bank and the IMF, and this is not just
rhetoric. I said — and this is my honest position — that I was grateful for Jim
Wolfensohn's openness, for his cooperation with me, for his ideas, for his
creativity. The close cooperation between the World Bank and the IMF
based on its respective focus in my view should be a strong asset in this
continuous work to make globalization work for the benefit of all.
My last remark is that we also had a very intensive and important discussion,
particularly in the IMFC, but also in the plenary meetings, about the outlook
for the global economy. Of course, we are concerned about the oil prices. Of
course, we know about the risks, about global imbalances between exchange
rates and the growth cycle of the economies. But clearly, it also came out of
this meeting that there is a broadly shared conviction that the outlook is
positive, and will remain positive if there is a good policy management behind
it. And this meeting, particularly the IMFC meeting, where multilateral
surveillance was in the foreground of our discussions, will help us to secure
this good policy management. So I am optimistic that the world economy will
stay on track with growth and job creation.
Thank you very much.
MR. MANUEL: Thank you, Mr. Kohler.
We will now invite Mr. Wolfensohn to speak.
MR. WOLFENSOHN: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me thank
you for your chairmanship, and let me at the outset say that I reciprocate the
warm feelings which Horst has expressed about the dialogue that he and I
have had and the ever-growing partnership between the Fund and the Bank.
I think all our shareholders were delighted with the progress that we have
made, about the clarity with which we have set forth the respective roles of
the institutions. Certainly I believe this is a remarkable start, and I want to
congratulate Horst on an absolutely first class first meeting.
Let me also express my thanks to the Czech authorities for what has been a
remarkable event, under very difficult circumstances.
___________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 The Financial Times Limited Financial Times (London)
Many of the protesters in Prague may not have mastered the economics of globalisation, but they certainly understand the politics. Their complaints about the International Monetary Fund and World Bank destroy any pretence that these are global institutions with more than 180 member countries. The truth, of course, is that they are the instruments of a few rich governments, which hold a majority of the dollar-based votes and would rather pretend that all is well in the world than ask their taxpayers to address the urgent problems of the poor. The US is the most egregious of the lot. A country that has an annual income of Dollars 10,000bn (Pounds 6,850bn) scrapes together about Dollars 1bn of development assistance for sub-Saharan Africa - 100th of 1 per cent of its national income. In Nigeria last month, US President Bill Clinton had the temerity to trumpet the US's token support of Dollars 9.4m - 3 cents per American - for the estimated 2.5m sufferers of HIV/ Aids in Nigeria. If he had stayed at home and spared the expense of the trip, he probably could have doubled the amount. The IMF and World Bank have been mouthpieces of this deceit, with their charade of analysing the "debt sustainability" of the poorest countries. These analyses have nothing to do with debt sustainability in any real sense, since they ignore the needless deaths of millions of people for want of access to basic medicines and nutrition. Money that could be directed towards public health is instead siphoned off to pay debts owed to western governments and to the IMF and World Bank themselves. When push comes to shove, the IMF and World Bank side with the creditor interests of the rich countries, even when such policies violate the most basic precepts of market economics. Take the "success" of the Korean bail-out operation. Under the IMF deal, the creditor governments forced Korea to guarantee the repayment of bad debts owed by private Korean banks to private US, European, and Japanese banks. The Korean people are paying billions of dollars in taxes so that their government can make good bad private loans. The truth is that we need the Bretton Woods institutions - but as truly global institutions representing all of their members, not as creditor collection agencies designed to shield taxpayers in rich countries from bad news about world poverty. The IMF has a very important role to play in monitoring global financial markets. It even performs the vital function of providing short-term emergency funds to maintain liquidity in international markets and to member countries facing financial panics. It has absolutely no business trying to run dozens of impoverished countries, mainly in Africa, from 19th Street in Washington. The IMF knows very little about economic development challenges, from disease to tropical agriculture to environmental degradation. Advocates for the poor accept that export-led growth raises incomes of the needy, when based on a steady shift to higher technology goods (as in China and elsewhere in Asia). But the IMF's policy recommendations have left Africa every bit as dependent on primary commodities as that impoverished continent was 20 years ago. The World Bank is equally ineffectual. To shield US taxpayers, it pretended for 20 years that public health disasters in Africa could be solved by "cost recovery" measures imposing higher fees on the poor. It stood by paralysed as HIV/Aids became the greatest pandemic in history and as malaria swept across the continent. The Bank says poverty alleviation is its main business but directs most of its lending to creditworthy countries not in need of public-sector support. It preaches good governance to the poor countries, but has itself been unable to set meaningful priorities. The simple truth is that we do not need a public-sector bank at all for the problems of the poorest countries. We need a World Development Agency that would use grant funding to help spur technological solutions to the problems of the poor, and would provide grants to deliver urgently needed healthcare and education. The World Bank has about Dollars 30bn of capital, generating about Dollars 2bn in income each year, which could be used to support programmes in technology, disease control, and related areas. This money should be supplemented by substantial new grants and capital contributions by donor governments. Increased funding is also urgently needed by specialist agencies such as the World Health Organisation. The bank lending operations of the Bank could be spun off, indeed privatised. Globalisation underpinned by global ethics is the best hope for the poor. An IMF focused on global financial markets and a World Development Agency devoted to the poorest peoples could yet make a valuable contribution to the world. Neither is yet on offer in Prague. The writer is director of the centre for international development at Harvard university
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