by Herbert de
Souza
This satirical commentary originally appeared in Folha de Sao Paulo. It was translated and published in English in BankCheck (December, 1996)
Recently, I had the opportunity to read a confidential, official document of the World Bank, written to its executive directors, regarding Bank strategies for helping Brazil. Everything I read made me remember an old saying about Lincoln Gordon (former U.S. ambassador to Brazil): "Eliminate the middlemen -- Lincoln Gordon for President". Why, I asked myself, do we fight amongst ourselves over whether to support president Fernando Henrique Cardoso if everything has already been arranged by the World Bank? By handing over the presidency to those who are really governing, we could dedicate our time to other things.
An updated version of the old saying about Lincoln Gordon would be "Eliminate the middlemen -- the World Bank for President". Fernando Henrique is merely a figurehead, travelling as our Prince Charles. The decisions of government have already been made through prior agreements that have been signed, sealed, and delivered -- not in the form of government platforms, nor based on elections, but rather in the much more serious and more effective official policy and loan documents of the Bank.
Everything that was stated and agreed upon, for example, in that June 1995 paper prepared for the Bank's directors is now taking place. Let's take a look at what it prescribed for Brazil.
"Stabilization, through structural reforms. A period sustained by low inflation constitutes the best instrument against poverty and inequality." This is the principal and perhaps the only argument that our government uses to defend itself. Stabilization, through the Plano Real, is the fundamental weapon of its economic and social policy, the fundamental instrument for combating misery. With stabilization, the government insists, misery will end one day. It is not important that those who are miserable don't believe this.
"National reforms. Privatization will strengthen public finances, increasing tax revenues through the growth of the private sector." And then came the government's announcement of what has already been and what will soon be privatized: petrochemical companies, railroads, mining companies, and computer companies, in addition to two distributors of electrical energy. And there are more sales to come. Once the rules are defined, the entire electricity-generating sector is slated for privatization, as are national and state banks.
"Privatization of mining companies, oil companies, and energy-generating companies will be helped by the passage of a constitutional amendment, now in the Congress, which will eliminate restrictions on the investment of foreign capital. Foreign interest should be greatest in the mining company (CVRD) and in concessions for oil and hydroelectricity." These plans are being followed to the letter.
"State reforms. More than half of public expenditures are made by Brazilian states." The text of the Bank document defines state obligations and the extent of the crisis: a debt of $100 billion. The prescription is the same: privatization and belt tightening. This particular problem has not been addressed with the urgency recommended by the Bank only because of recent elections. But what goes around comes around. State governors of Brazil, your days are numbered.
"Policies of specific sectors: training, infrastructure, health, environment." Here, finally, is some concern expressed for the human side of development and for the poor. Nothing new, however; just the same old thing, without a single detail to reveal a greater sense of urgency.
"Specific policies against poverty, including rural as well as urban initiatives, and efforts to mobilize communities and increase the participation of NGOs." The Bank summons the courage to state: "The central objective of the assistance plan is to fight poverty, and all initiatives ofthe Bank must be judged by these fundamental criteria."
It's truly incredible how the economic rhetoric of the bank hides behind poverty to sell its model and to make various governments in Latin America, ineluding Brazil, follow its program. So is the ever-present appeal to communities and to NGOs. When dealing with social questions, the Bank states intentions only. When dealing with economic questions, its list of privatizations is so complete that you can see clearly what is about to happen.
With all this - and the inglorious results of 50 years of Bank actions against world poverty that have resulted not in its decrease, but in its increase -- we have to ask ourselves if a national government, with all its bureaucracy, its costs, its crises, and the grief it causes, really makes sense. Wouldn't it be cheaper to do away with intermediaries and hand over the government once and for all to the one who really governs -- the World Bank? Then presidents could have a more tranquil life, travel even more, and we could finally become a truly global state.
Known popularly in Brazil as "Betinho", Herbert de Souza is a sociologist, Director-General of IBASE (Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analyses) and national spokesperson for Citizen Action Against Misery and for Life.
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