Foreign debt is the burden of the people, and the only lasting solution to this problem is the complete debt cancellation, said Demba Moussa, member of the Worldwide Counsel of Churches, who stated that a proposal regarding the elimination of external debt should be included in the final document of the Global Forum: Financing for the Right to Sustainable and Equitable Development.
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL), in the last year, the foreign debt of Latin America has reached 737 billion dollars, this is immoral and intolerable said Mexican ex-deputy Ifigenia Martínez.
In a document sent to the Global Forum, that ended this morning, at the historical Steel Mill of Monterrey, Ifigenia Martinez, of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), said that the politics of foreign debt payment are incompatible with development.
Cuban expert Marlen Sanchez, agreed, stating that the debt of Latin America is unpayable, what’s more, Peter Lance, spokesperson of the Jubilee 2000 Campaign, announced that new goals regarding foreign debt that take into account human rights are necessary, so that poor countries have social and economic development opportunities.
Representatives of civil society are in agreement that foreign debt is illegitimate and is used to dominate and exploit developing countries. The debt, if continued, will only serve to make people poorer.
They believe that the problem of debt is more political than economic and remains a burden of the poor.
«Whether or not we like the final document of the International Conference of Financing for Development, NGOs will continue the fight for the elimination of external debt», said Moussa, a religious representative of Senegal.
Translated by: Sarah Stuteville
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