People’s Assembly Against
IMF-WB and Imperialist Globalization
MEDIA
RELEASE
April
11, 2000
IMF-WORLD
BANK MEETINGS FORCE SHUT DOWN OF UNIVERSITY OPPONENTS OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM VOW
TO CONTINUE RESISTANCE
Washington DC—Riding the crest of victory from shutting down the
Third Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle in
November 1999, delegates of the People’s Assembly began arriving in Washington
DC on April 3. They vowed to continue their organized militant
resistance and to join others in the mass protests to shut down the meetings of
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) scheduled for
April 16-17.
Streets in Washington are
being shut down in preparation for the IMF/World Bank meetings and George
Washington University announced Monday, April 10, that the University will be
closed from Friday evening until Tuesday morning. “The IMF/WB invisible
power is finally being unmasked as the mailed fist of the US,” said Dr. Ana
Leung of the People’s Assembly Secretariat. “The downtown area of Washington DC
is becoming a virtual martial law zone. We only learned from a letter sent by
the University Vice-Presidents that the Univerisity will be closing, forcing us
to find another venue for our forum. Almost all activities at George
Washington University have been cancelled, students are required to carry IDs
and we aren’t even allowed to meet in our own churches. This is a direct
suppression of the people’s democratic right to free speech, that we would hope
our Nation’s capital should honor.”
“Our presence in
Washington is a continuation of our militant organized resistance that has been
seen from Manila, to Seattle and now to Washington DC, “ said Jay Mendoza,
Executive Director of the Pilipino Worker Center in Los Angeles.
“We are here to show that the IMF and World Bank cannot be reformed, because at
their very core they exacerbate global poverty at the expense and off the backs
of the people of the Third World. Beautifying the words and projecting a
false democratic face, belies the hidden costs and the dark underside of the
IMF/World Bank programs, which have forced Third World countries to shift
monies from public spending to debt servicing.”
The actions in Washington
are part of a coordinated campaign organized by the People’s Assembly Against
the IMF/WB and Imperialist Globalization.
“Imperialist
globalization in all its disguises must be unmasked and fully discredited,”
said Dr. Carol Araullo, Vice-Chair of BAYAN. “It is monopoly capitalism
masquerading as a new and wonderful product, but it ravages the environment,
devastates countries and subjugates entire peoples with unequaled force and
ruthlessness.”
“It is time that we show,
through international solidarity and militant resistance, our opposition to the
programs put forth by institutions like the IMF/World Bank. These are tools of
the imperialist states and multinational corporations for dictating financial
and monetary policy on client states,” said Ace Saturay, Sentenaryo ng Bayan,
and convenor of the Seattle International Peoples Assembly. “Through
coordinated actions and joining with others, we can be as successful as we were
in Seattle when we shut down the WTO and move beyond Seattle in forging
people’s solidarity and resistance against imperialist globalization.”
“These are important
meetings for the IMF and World Bank’s committees which will determine the
future of international monetary standards and set policies for the capital
resourcing of countries in the Third World,” said Arnedo Valera, Esq, an
immigration lawyer with a practice in Virginia and Maryland and a member of
Diwa. “It is important to show our opposition now.”
“The People’s Assembly
will be hosting a number of events during the week of April 9-16, “said Leslie
Byster of the People’s Assembly Secretariat. “Events include a press
conference on Thursday, a youth caucus is scheduled for Saturday, April 15 at
12 noon, at Malcolm X Park at 15th and Euclid, and a forum on
Saturday evening at Church of the Brethern, Fourth Avenue and North Carolina
SE. After we were forced to find another location when George Washington
University was shut down, sympathetic church people have gracioiusly
offered their facilities to us, and we appreciate their willingness to open
their space to us. The People’s Assembly will also be holdng a rally at
the Philippine Embassy at 9:00 AM, Sunday April 16, before joining the mass
convergence on the Ellipse.”
As the People’s Assembly
joins with progressive forces in Washington DC, actions BAYAN Philippines is
calling a demonstration in front of the Central Bank of the Philippines in
Manila, to coincide with the actions happening in Washington DC. Rallies
are also planned in San Jose, CA and other cities.
DIWA and BAYAN are
hosting the People’s Assembly. The People’s Assembly is an expression of
organized resistance to imperialist globalization led by people of color.
It was launched by BAYAN in Manila in 1996 to expose the anti-people policies
of US-dominated institutions such as APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic
Conference). The People’s Assembly has continued its resistance at the
APEC meetings in Vancouver, Canada in 1997 and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in
1998. Most recently, the People’s Assembly contributed to shutting down
the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Seattle, Washington in November 1999.
Diwa and BAYAN are
hosting the People’s Assembly. Diwa (Diwang Iisa sa Wastong Adhikain) is a
community based Filipino organization in the Washington DC area and an
affiliate of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN). BAYAN is an alliance of people’s organizations in the Philippines
struggling for genuine democracy and liberation in the Philippines. BAYAN
has international chapters in the US and countries around the world. ###