ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders open their two-day intersessional summit here on Thursday with the sorry state of regional economies high on the agenda for the first full working day of the meeting.
The issue is expected to dominate discussions with the President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, along with the President of the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who have been specially invited to take part in the Roseau deliberations.
Amid the ongoing global economic and financial crisis that has adversely affected the entire 15-nation grouping, CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington is hopeful that the talks will result in the identification of new and viable approaches to the treatment of economic matters, including the crippling debt burden being carried by those member states, which do not now qualify for concessionary debt reduction following their graduation from middle income status.
The status of implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is also among the main items on the Dominica agenda, as well as CARICOM’s continued support to Haiti that was devastated by a powerful earthquake on January 12, killing more than 300,000 people and leaving more than one million others homeless.
Haiti’s President Rene Preval, who met with United States President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday, is expected to join in those discussions on Friday.
The leaders will also zero in on the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement; the status of implementation of the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement and the renewal of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act.
Consideration will also be given to climate change in the context of the region’s follow-up action to the Copenhagen Summit held last December, as well as preparations for upcoming summits, including a CARICOM-Brazil Summit in April.
However, at least five leaders are expected to miss out on the deliberations, namely the Prime Ministers of Belize, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the President of Suriname and the Chief Minister of Montserrat even though no official reason has yet been given for their absence.
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European & American state aid is interlocked into the International Bank of Settlements, which is tied to World Bank, which is tied into the IMF, which is like all things: Tied into Goldman Sachs!
AIG (American International Group)which is bankrupt is run by Edley of Goldman Sachs!
All roads lead to: Goldman Sachs!
Goldman Sachs is a bunch of arbitrage wielding sycophants & sociopathic criminals who profit by destroying the system
There several new alternatives to the IMF-World Bank now! Why deal with the IMF?
The IMF (World Bank) admits it is bankrupt! So it has little or no real resources to act as lender very soon – In fact, even the IMF is scrambling to replace the US Dollar as the world currency because the Chinese are about to unfold their new alternative to the IMF! One CURRENT alternative permitted by the IMF is alternative currency swaps between Asian countries without the US Dollar, (google: Chiang Mai Initiative)
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2001/2847imf_bankrpt.html
Joe Stiglitz is a leading critic of international development organizations — especially the International Monetary Fund, (IMF & World Bank). And yet, in his book, Globalization and its Discontents, he points to one country that got it right — Botswana. How did it succeed? By ignoring advice from Washington-based institutions, as Mr. Stiglitz explains. He also speaks how Botswana beat the criminal Diamond monopoly De Beers:
http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?storyid=2507
Here is news on the developing Asian alternative to the IMF & World Bank:
http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/2009/05/watch-out-imf-and-watch-out-washington-dc/
60 Questions about the World Bank debt scam:
http://www.cadtm.org/60-Questions-on-the-IMF-World-Bank
Actually, there are several excellent books on the World Bank debt scam here:
http://vakindia.org/shop-online-page4.html
How the World Bank caused America & European financial bankruptcy (free download):
http://vakindia.org/pdf/IE.pdf
How Malaysia dumped the World Bank (IMF) & thereby prevented economic and social chaos:
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/gtrends1.htm
Another interesting book on the topic – World Bank & IMF, Fifty Years is Enough:
http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/KEND001.shtml
In summary, the IMF and World Bank will only extend loans if countries agree to accept ‘structural adjustment programmes’ (SAPs). SAPs are forced down the throats of the people of the former colonial world. To pay off the loans, the IMF and World Bank demand governments raise money by selling off public assets and companies (privatization) and cutting state expenditure on social services like health care, education, and pensions. SAPs require countries de-regulate and “open up” their economies by cutting subsidies to local industries and creating bogus trade barriers and tariffs. Countries must open up their economies to the multinationals (usually based in Western countries), remove restrictions on foreign investments, and allow corporation’s access to the workers and natural resources of the country at bargain basement prices.
The vast majority of the profits made by the multinationals are taken out of the country and brought home (repatriated) to the West. SAPs encourage export-oriented growth (selling cheap raw materials or commodities on the world market, like cash crops, garments, or computer chips) to generate hard currency. All in all, the IMF and World Bank SAPs turn countries into loan repayment machines, generating easy profits for the world’s biggest companies and banks. IMF policies also both directly and indirectly impact on workers in, for example, Europe and the US. Because they are partially funded with public money, the IMF and World Bank redistribute wealth from working people in the West (through their taxes) and funnel it to programmes which benefit the multinationals.
The effects of IMF/World Bank programmes are to lower wages and working conditions worldwide, which exerts a downward pressure on workers’ living standards in the industrialised countries as well.
The IMF and World Bank loans have created a huge debt trap. This overwhelming debt has led to the poorest countries in the world allocating enormous portions of their national incomes towards paying interest. Debt is one of the most important weapons with which the big capitalist powers dominate poor countries. It is used as a means of blackmailing the poorest countries and tightening the screw on the vast majority of the people in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
However, due to the collapse of the US Dollar & all Central Bank controlled European nations, many alternatives to the World Bank have opened up! Dominica will be wise to use an alternative to the World Bank – Besides; even the World Bank admits it & the US Dollar are bankrupt!
@Dominican to the bone
That’s a file photo from Barbados.
Isn’t this really all about portraying a type of pseudo national/regional prominence in order to try and back the court into a corner??
Its all smoke and mirrors bluff and bluster. Criminal desperation at its highest.
Its an open and shut criminal violation of the constitution WITH ONLY ONE POSSIBLE RESULT.
The case judges itself.
May the integrity of the court prevail. GOD cannot be bought or bribed Thank God
Caricom Chair, so what if he have french passport most of dominicans are french descendants. We even speak french Creole. so we going bac to our native home. Now is those forigners that jalou, they not dominican.
I AM SO PROUD OF OUR PM FOR WHAT HE IS DOING. AS DOMINICANS WE NEED TO UNITE AND HELP BUILD OUR COUNTRY INSTEAD OF ALL THESE NEGATIVITY. MY PM GOD WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU AND I WILL CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR YOU.. GOD BLESSINGS
I love the back ground of this picture. Nature at its best.
I am surprised where are the comments when our Water will be one of the topics up for discussion during this SUMMIT when some of our Vilages are having water shortage some of them haven got water for 2 & 3 weeks, what’s happening to us would we rather see others struggle than to confront the issues for fair we may offend the Government . Our water system need attention now because water is one of life sustaining elements and I dont understand why the people of DOMINICA would take such a cavalier attitude about such an im,portant issue.
The Government should first make sure that all DOMINICANS have a satisfactory drinking Water system before thinking of shiping our Water to other ISLANDS in the region.I hope that our people wouldnt be taken for granted..
I am happy to see that DOMINICA was chosen for the SUMMIT.
Great to see Haiti will be there since they are the major item on the agenda acording to D/ca’s presss secretatary.
Will those of you writing on behalf of the DLP stop Embarrassing us labourites?
It is a pity our party and our country is not being represented by a Dominican.
Is it not also a serious conflict of interest that the Caricom chairman is in fact a French agent who happens to have a Dominican passport to enable him to strategically operate as PM and CARICOM chairman?
Are you trying to tell the world that we only have one option to lead our party/country?
Skerrit has clearly made a fool of us by hiding and. fooling us about his dual citizenship.
This is far Worst than when Earl embarrassed the UWP. They got rid of him without hessitation and their campaign depicted an educated deputy leader.
What are we doing? Are we going to be the laughing stock of the world on the 17th?
Don’t you realize we will be the 1st party in mordern history to have its only leader facing the gallows if the law is upheld?
The old boys club!
I hope this is not a show of sovereignty but a commnuion to really seek alternative measures to reduce the pressure on poor people.
PM SKERRIT YOU ARE BLESSED AND WITH OUR PRAYERS GOD WILL SEE YOU THROUGH. YOU HAVE A COUNTRY TO LEAD AND YOU ARE LEADING IT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. YOU ARE TAKING DOMINICA TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND WE ARE IN IT WITH YOU.
WHO JAH BLESS NO MAN CURSE. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD. I WAS OUT OF THE ISLAND OVER THE WEEKEND AND IT WAS AMAZING TO HEAR FOREIGNERS TALKING SO HIGHLY ABOUT YOU, WHO ALSO TOLD ME IF WE DONT WANT YOU IN DOMINICA SEND YOU FOR THEM. THAT ALONE SPEAKS FOR IT SELF.
MY VERY GOOD FRIEND SKERRIT, YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB! WE ARE ALL PRAYING FOR YOU. WE LOVE YOU
DUAL CITIZEN? HA HA THE MOVEMENT FOR …… DOMINICA ARE IN FOR A SHOCK OF THEIR LIVES!