Debt restructuring has always been the result of economic and geopolitical calculation, rarely producing a favourable long-term outcome for the debtors; unless the creditors saw a strategic advantage for themselves in it says Toussaint. Sovereign debt “restructuring”, as it is now called by the IMF, the Paris Club and the big banking corporations, and more recently by the left in Greece, Portugal and Spain, is not a satisfactory expression, in fact using the actual term “restructuring” is dangerous, because the creditors have loaded it with what they want it to mean. He recommends that progressive governments place great importance on carrying out comprehensive debt audits (with popular participation), linked where necessary to suspension of payments. This audit must lead to the abolition of the part of the debt that is illegal, illegitimate, odious and/or ubsustainable and to imposing a reduction on the amount of the remainder. This remainder may be restructured, but in no way can a restructuring be considered, by itself, sufficient. Eric Toussaint was interviewed by Maud Bailly
24M elections - a new era in the regime’s crisis
6 July 2015, byThe local and regional elections of last May 24th arrived four years after the great social upheaval symbolized by the 15M Movement and the Indignados. The starting point of a long and deepening political crisis, the 15M was both a moment of change and a genuine foundational event within the contemporary political and social history of the Spanish State. The popular mobilizations of May and June 2011 inaugurated a cycle of social struggle that translated during 2012 and 2013 into the so-called “citizenry tides” against cutbacks, particularly those regarding public health and education. Although they had few concrete victories, the “tides” witnessed the capabilities of popular resistance and its limits vis-Ã -vis austerity measures.
Peace, development and the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL): The Lumad view
5 July 2015, byThe burning issue between and among indigenous people leaders on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which was highlighted in the May 25, 2015 Senate hearing, is whether or not to make reference to Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) or RA 8371, as the basis for the the recognition of indigenous peoples rights in the BBL.
Viewpoints from the Greek left
3 July 2015, by ,Below we publish two viewpoints from parts of the left in Greece on Sunday’s crucial referendum - both calling for a No vote but with different appreciations of the course followed by the Syriza leadership. First from OKDE-Spartakos, Greek section of the Fourth International and second from the Red Network a left current inside Syriza.