These are the ambitions of the Bank of the South, whose statutes were signed in December 2007 by Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. This new bank, which will begin its work over the course of 2008, is a Latin-American bank which will propose alternative mechanisms of financial support to those of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, built on a better recognition of the needs of Southern nations. Over the last year, the campaign For a People’s Bank of the South (Por un banco solidario del Sur), organised by the association Jubileo has been bringing together civil society across South America, supporting the project, and involving itself in the Bank’s formation so that its values can help shape the organisation.
Open letters, website, and counter-summit
The mobilised associations, benefiting from the support of 200 non-governmental organisations, and private citizens the world over, are trying to campaign on as many fronts as possible in order to acquire maximum influence over government. First, in June and December 2007, they sent two open letters containing their detailed proposals to the presidents of the member nations. Next, a summit of Southern peoples was held in Uruguay from the 16th to the 18th December 2007, in parallel to the Mercosur presidents’ summit on South American free trade. A workshop on the People’s Bank of the South was organised with the participation of 40 representatives from different associations, like Sul/ Américas and MOCASE/Vía Campesina, from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuala, Bolivia, and Uruguay.
For a people’s Bank of the South!
© Jubileo Sul/Américas
For a people’s Bank of the South! © Jubileo Sul/Américas
Amongst the points which the associations highlighted was that of the decision-making structure: which might consist either of a voting system, according to which everyone’s voice carries the same weight, or a system which depends on the amount of capital contributed to the bank. If the bank was to recover its market funds and install a system of $1 US = 1 vote, it would follow the model of existing multilateral financial institutions, like the World Bank. The associations, therefore, support an equal voting system, irrespective of a nation’s economic influence. Generally, they aim to avoid reproducing the unequal mechanisms of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, so that the Bank of the South can be fairly established, transparent, and sensitive to civil society.
For a people’s Bank of the South
The website www.banco-sur.blogspot.com has recently been founded for easier exchange of information and to make material available which will help raise civil awareness. In Brazil, the national campaign is led by Rede Brazil, which fights to secure meetings with government representatives in order to influence decision-makers: the group already has obtained audiences with Parliament. Fabrina Furtado, who works for the group, tells us that Rede Brazil is now preparing a workshop on financial mechanisms for September 2008. They are also negotiating for the participation of the Ecuadorian representative of the Technical Committee of the Bank of the South, Pedro Paez, with whom they are in regular contact. This grand plan for socially just financial co-operation touches South American government just as much as civil society. The associations relish the challenge and are ready and willing to work on behalf of the people so that the Bank of the South can truly offer new solutions in the fight against poverty.
Also read: Resonances Latin America N° 22 - March 2008
