[asia-apec 1355] Fwd: Colombia strikes against IMF

[bayan]

From: Robert Weissman <rob at essential.org
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999 00:31:40 -0500 (EST)

WB Devt News 9/1/99

NATION-WIDE STRIKE BRINGS COLOMBIA TO A STANDSTILL. Colombia yesterday
woke up to virtual silence yesterday, as the country's labor unions began
the first day of an indefinite national strike in protest at the
government's political, social, and economic agenda, reports the Financial
Times (p.4). The unions also want the government to declare a moratorium on
the payment of its
internal and external debt, a petition seen as a direct attack on an
imminent agreement with the IMF to secure a loan of up to $3 billion.

The Fund has made the loan conditional upon severe budgetary adjustment,
fiscal reform, and modification of social legislation, adds Le Monde (p.2),
noting that a delegation from the IMF that was expected this week in
Bogotá, will now continue the negotiations in Washington.