Posted by Lynn Holland on February 04, 2002 at 19:22:17:
In Reply to: Opportunities & Obstacles in the Global Justice Movement posted by Alejandro Bendaņa, Centro de Estudios Internacionales on February 04, 2002 at 18:58:11:
I thank Alejandro Bendana for an insightful and motivating piece. From my rather limited perspective, I would disagree with his characterization of Argentine resistance to the IMF-imposed debt structure or external debt in general as the linchpin in the movement.
Within Argentina, there are those who have profited and those who have suffered by the mounting of government debt. There is also an element of corrupt in government which has accompanied the progressive accumulation of this debt. So the experience among Argentines, as with those in other debt-ridden countries, varies and the motivation to resolve the problem at the roots varies as well. I expect that with time, the usual compromises will be reached, the debt-load will be renegotiated, people will suffer but will be compensated just enough to withdraw their protest and the debt-cycle will begin again. Any long term solution will have to address the export-led model of growth which arises from the continuation of the concentration of ownership of agrarian-based production in the hands of a relatively small group.
I believe instead, that the situation in Colombia, where the resolution of the internal dispute over land reform and the role of social programs is at stake, is the more likely linchpin of the struggle. Granted this issue is greatly complicated by the role of drug trafficking in Colombia and new concerns over terrorism. In the long run, however, the key question for antiglobalists that of the breadth of effective representation in the halls of government, not just in places like Colombia, but in the U.S. as well.
Respectfully,
Lynn Holland
Department of Political Science
University of Colorado, Denver