The scene was very unusual this Wednesday right in front of the International Monetary Fund building in Washington, where dark and formal suits abound. Three dancers defied the security of the venue and within minutes improvised a tango to symbolize a claim before the authorities of the global financial world with Argentina as the protagonist.
With the drought afflicting our country as a test case, an organization of activists presented a proposal for the restructuring of Argentine debt in exchange for nature, a model to be extended to other nations burdened with international loans and rich in natural resources.
The event took place within the spring assembly of the IMF and the World Bank, which is being held this week in the US capital, and where the ministers of Economy and Finance from all over the world meet.
A dancer dressed in red impersonated China and another IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, in her classic little dress. Our country’s top two creditors danced the call”Debt Tango”while a third dancer dressed in blue, representing Argentina, tried to be part of the dance.
The event was organized by Avaz, an online community of activists with more than 70 million members, including 900,000 Argentinians, working on campaigns for human rights, the environment and justice. Beyond the demonstration, the economists of the organization presented this Wednesday a technical proposal IMF officials to respond to the impact of the “drought on the country’s fragile economy and an unpayable sovereign debt,” they said.
The debt-nature exchange It is a statement that Argentina has made in several international forums. It was raised by President Alberto Fernández at the Glasgow climate summit and also by Minister Sergio Massa at meetings of the G20 and other global bodies. “Our country is a financial debtor, but it is an environmental creditor,” said the minister. For now the Argentines have not had much success.
This was stated by Oscar Soria, director of campaigns for the Avaaz organization Clarions: “It is time to put aside the environmentalist rhetoric by the governments of developed countries and we need to make room for concrete measures where countries implement the commitments they have made in the fight against climate change. Exchanging the debt of which the developed countries are creditors, with the countries of the South which are financial debtors but are environmental creditors, is not only an act of ecological justice, but also a real measure to stem the climate crisis for the benefit of the entire planet.” . .
Climate change is always the subject of debate and concern for credit agencies, but no progress has been made for the benefit of countries with natural resources.
Source: Clarin
