Debt, Vaccines and Food as a Weapon: When International Aid is Used for Population Control

[Judi Lynn]

Debt, Vaccines and Food as a Weapon: When International Aid is Used for Population Control
By Aaron Dykes on August 26, 2014

No strings attached? Yeah, right. Here’s a rundown of some of the major ways that international loans are used to control entire populations.

Those seeking dominance wield control in modern society largely through the manipulation of finance and economics. Power over entire countries comes not only through the debts themselves, but through the conditionalities tied to the financial agreement, as is done regularly by the IMF, World Bank and other aid programs. Notoriously, many locales – free in name – have been brought under the yoke of international domination, altering the shape of its development and its population.

Here’s a look at how the dangerous agendas tied to these loans have been used to takeover regions around the world for the benefits of the ruling global corporations....

One overt example comes from John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, who claims that he was as an international agent of influence, to convinced leaders of developing nations to accept enormous development loans from institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, USAID and others. These loans then gave leverage that effectively forced leaders to capitulate to political pressure and outside meddling. According to Perkins, these economic hitmen use “extortion, sex and murder” as well as the manipulation of documents, elections or official data to tilt the outcome desired by the lenders.

GMO FOOD AID

• In 2002, several needy nations in southern Africa – including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique – controversially rejected food aid, despite being in the middle of a famine, because it was comprised of genetically modified crop staples. Leaders in these countries questioned the safety of biotech foods, expressed suspicions about hidden risks as well as contamination. The diplomatic row stirred emotions, with one supposedly anonymous USAID official telling the Africans “beggars can’t be choosers.” But should even the poorest nations be forced to accept food they consider tainted?

• In U.S. occupied Iraq, an agricultural program was instituted under Paul Bremer’s 100 Orders that essentially forced farmer’s to use registered seeds controlled by biotech. It mandated a policy of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) that clearly favored corporate giants like Syngenta and Monsanto, while making it difficult or impossible to use heirloom seeds traditionally saved by farmers since the early days of the Fertile Crescent – threatening the biodiversity and heritage of the region’s rich agricultural history.

More:
http://truthstreammedia.com/top-10-cases-where-international-aid-was-used-for-population-control/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Timeline: Cochabamba Water Revolt

Timeline: Cochabamba Water Revolt

September 1998
IMF Loan to Bolivia Requires Privatization

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves a $138 million loan for Bolivia to help the country control inflation and bolster economic growth. In compliance with IMF-drafted "structural reforms" for the nation, Bolivia agrees to sell off "all remaining public enterprises," including national oil refineries and Cochabamba's local water agency, SEMAPA.

June 1999
World Bank Discourages Water Subsidies

In its Bolivia Public Expenditure Review, an economic report prepared for the country, the World Bank maintains that "no subsidies should be given to ameliorate the increase in water tariffs in Cochabamba." Countries receiving loan assistance from the World Bank and the IMF are often discouraged from heavily subsidizing public services, as such expenditures counteract IMF and World Bank formulas for reducing debt, controlling inflation and attracting foreign investment.

September 1999
Bolivia Leases Cochabamba Water System to Multinational Consortium

After closed-door negotiations, the Bolivian government signs a $2.5 billion contract to hand over Cochabamba's municipal water system to Aguas del Tunari, a multinational consortium of private investors, including a subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation. Aguas del Tunari was the sole bidder for the privatization of Cochabamba's water system.

October 1999
Aguas del Tunari Announces Its Plans; Bolivia Legalizes Water Privatization

On October 11, Aguas del Tunari officially announces that it has been awarded 40-year concession rights to provide water and sanitation services to the residents of Cochabamba. The consortium also announces that it will generate electrical energy and irrigation water for the region's agricultural sector. The major shareholder of Aguas del Tunari, Bechtel subsidiary International Water Ltd., claims that water delivery coverage and sewage connection will increase by at least 93 percent by the fifth year of private water management in Cochabamba. That same month, the Bolivian parliament passes Law 2029 (the Drinking Water and Sanitation Law), which allows for the privatization of state drinking water and sewage disposal services. In effect, the law would make residents pay full cost for water services in Cochabamba.

January 2000
Rising Water Prices Spark Cochabamba Protests

Cochabamba protesters shut down the city for four days, going on strike and erecting roadblocks throughout the city. Residents protest the privatization of their municipally run water system and Aguas del Tunari's rate hikes, which have doubled and tripled their water bills. Aguas del Tunari had informed Bolivian officials that water rates would increase only by 35 percent, to cover the cost of expanding water delivery and to upgrade the city's water infrastructure.

February 4-5, 2000
Peaceful Protests Turn Violent

Fed up with government inaction, The Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life (La Coordinadora), led by union organizer and antiglobalization activist Oscar Olivera, makes a peaceful demonstration march to Cochabamba's city plaza.The march is marred by violence for 2 days -- riot police meet demonstrators with tear gas, injuring an estimated 175 and blinding two.

February 8, 2000
Word of the"War Over Water" Hits Western Press

"A War Over Water," an "on-the-scene" report on the clash between riot police and protesters in Cochabamba, is published by Pacific News Service correspondent Jim Shultz, who also serves as executive director of the Cochabamba-based The Democracy Center. Shultz will come to play a major role in educating the public and the Western media about events in Cochabamba by helping to expose the Bechtel Corporation's involvement and organizing a mass email-writing campaign directed to Bechtel's CEO, Riley Bechtel, to protest the company's actions.

March 22, 2000
La Coordinadora Holds Unofficial Referendum - 96 Percent Want Out

La Coordinadora holds an unofficial referendum in which an overwhelming majority -- 96 percent of 50,000 voters -- disapproves of water privatization and Aguas del Tunari's water contract in Cochabamba. Government officials refuse to consider terminating the contract.

April 3, 2000
Protests Spread Beyond Cochabamba Borders

Protests originating in Cochabamba's central plaza spread to La Paz and other cities and outlying rural communities. Thousands clash with riot police, erect roadblocks, and protest not only the water-rate hikes but the country's overall economic malaise and high unemployment.

April 6, 2000
La Coordinadora Leader Arrested

In what water protest leader and La Coordinadora spokesperson Oscar Olivera claims was a "trap," Olivera and his colleagues agree to meet with government officials in Cochabamba about the water-rate hikes. Police descend upon the meeting with Cochabamba's mayor, the governor and other civic leaders, briefly arresting Olivera and other coalition activists present at the talks.

April 8, 2000
State of Siege: 17-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead

President Hugo Banzer declares a "state of siege," a condition similar to martial law, which can be enacted for 90 days under the Bolivian constitution. It allows for the arrest and detention of individuals without warrants and the enforcement of curfews and travel restrictions. A 17-year-old boy, Victor Hugo Daza, is shot dead by a Bolivian Army captain who opened fire into a crowd of demonstrators. In March 2002, the captain -- allegedly trained by the School of the Americas, a U.S. military academy that has trained tens of thousands of Latin American soldiers, intelligence officers and law enforcement officials in combat tactics -- would be acquitted by a military tribunal.

More:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/timeline.html