U.S. Corporate Interests
Drive Cha-Cha Moves
Contrary to the
propaganda of the country's economic managers, charter change is not a
solution to the country's economic problems. Rather, charter change is
part of an economic restructuring agenda advanced by the U.S. and other
rich countries to open the country further to exploitation by their
transnational corporations. This is shown by the experience of other
countries undertaking U.S.-promoted charter changes.
BY IBON FOUNDATION
Posted by Bulatlat
Contrary to the
propaganda of the country's economic managers, charter change is not a
solution to the country's economic problems. Rather, charter change is
part of an economic restructuring agenda advanced by the U.S. and other
rich countries to open the country further to exploitation by their
transnational corporations. This is shown by the experience of other
countries undertaking U.S.-promoted charter changes.
The neoliberal agenda
for charter change is clearly reflected in the U.S.-imposed constitutions
of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the U.S.-encouraged drastic overhaul of
some 25 erstwhile "socialist" constitutions of former Soviet bloc
countries in Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Neoliberal
reforms involve removing restrictions on the movement of foreign capital
and goods, easing of government regulatory power and the privatization of
state-delivered services, in order to create new profit opportunities for
transnational corporations and financial institutions.
In Iraq, for example,
the U.S.-led coalition provisional authority (CPA) issued a whole series
of laws opening the country to private investors in blatant violation of
international laws. The CPA also privatized 200 state-owned firms, which
produced everything from cement to paper to washing machines, throwing
thousands of state employees out of work.
When Iraqi
politicians resisted privatization of Iraq's state-owned companies, the
U.S. appointed an interim government that would be bound by an "interim
constitution", which protected the U.S.-supported investment and
privatization laws.
Across Latin America
and the Caribbean,
constitutional public controls over trade, investment and the national
patrimony were rolled back and key economic sectors were denationalized.
In Africa, the "globalizing" presence of stabilization and structural
adjustment programs of the U.S.-dominated International Monetary Fund and
World Bank (IMF-WB) reined in the nationalist stridency of
post-independence constitutions.
Among the
Constitutional provisions that the Arroyo government proposes to be
changed or removed entirely are those involving the country's economic
sovereignty, such as provisions restricting foreign ownership in vital
sectors such as mining and media, and allowing foreign ownership of land.
Any changes in the
Charter should be undertaken in the context of better meeting the people's
needs, rather than the interests of foreign corporations and their local
allies. Posted by Bulatlat
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